I'm A Judge for The Geekie Awards

This actually happened a few days ago but I didn't want to announce it until it was official (on their website). I am a judge of the upcoming Geekie Awards. If you don't know what they are here is more info..

The Geekie Awards presents the best indie-created, high production value, awe-inspiring geek-genre content, art, products and experiences in the world.

We, as creators, have never found one show that covered all of our multi-faceted talents, and often, we’ve discovered that the rest of the world didn’t take our work seriously because it was “geeky.” So we created our own show to give indie “geekmakers” a place to shine and be seen by leaders and experts in their respective industries.

Our goal is to create an impact on mainstream media, putting the true geek culture in the spotlight as a collection of valid award-winning genres for storytelling and creation.

This award show was created by the lovely Kristen Nedopak

A friend contacted me on facebook and said that The Geekie Awards were looking for a judge for in a certain field and he thought of no one better then me. I was excited, I quickly emailed them and offered my services to judge and the next day I got a response welcoming me to the team.

So now I'm an official judge for The Geekie Awards.

You can check out my bio page HERE 

I Need A Kick In The Butt

Typical Monday... got up, looked for work... nothing :( Made some plans of what I needed to get done. Then I procrastinated, I mean I really should have worked on my podcasts but instead I cleaned up the house, did some yard work (It was way to hot outside), watched some TV, organized and cleaned up some stuff on my computer. I watched the latest episode of Defiance and I'm still really enjoying this series.. I'm not loving it but it's good enough to make me want to come back each week and see more.. As for my podcasts I did start to prep my MASH and Alien Nation podcasts for tomorrow. I wrote down an hour by hour schedule for tomorrow as well..

Being out of work really takes away the structure in life. I get up when I feel like it. I pretty much do anything I want all day long with no regards to what I actually need to get done. I tend to be very motivated in the morning thinking I'll get so much done today and then a few hours in I start to get lethargic and tired, then it's a struggle all day to keep myself motivated. So I'm hoping with a schedule I can organize my life a bit better, I do like goals. I hope this is the motivation I need to get things moving again.

Dungeons and Dragons and Friends... oh my!!

D&D today.. we normally play every other Sunday but since one member of our party is leaving this month we wanted to get one more game in with him so we pushed it up a week. Before D&D Anthony and I went over to Dallas and Jes' a few hours early. Jes and Anthony were going to work on making "the internet" (it's an IT Crowd thing). Anthony knows about electronics and Jes wanted to learn. So he actually showed her how to read specs and solder. At first it didn't work and then did and then broke but in the end they got it to work and now Jes has her very own Internet.

While they were doing this I chatted with Dallas for an hour or so before he had to get back to work on finishing up our D&D sheets. I knew these guys had HBO Go so I figured I'd watch an episode of Game of Thrones.

I read/listen to the first book but only got about 2/3d's of the way through it before not being able to continue. I was told that Game of Thrones was a fantasy so I was expecting swords and sorcery kind of thing.. it's not. It's all about political intrigue, incest and underage rape. I had a hard time with these topics. It wasn't a fun to read so I gave it up. Now that I know what kind of "fantasy" it is I do want to go back and read the books. And I've been wanting to see the series for a while now.  I did enjoyed the pilot a few months ago with Jes, Dallas and Chris. I was excited to see some more so I watched episode 2 and loved it.

It's slow, there isn't really any action. It's more of a story/character base series. Very dramatic, lots of harsh living, some sex and nudity. The drama kind of reminds me of  Downton Abbey. I mean it's not the same kind of drama but still very mellow-dramatic, very serious. But there is something about that kind of drama that I love.

Was going to try and watch episode 3 but Jes and Anthony were done with the Internet and Dallas was finished with his D&D stuff so we walked over to a shopping center to grab some snacks and lunch before we play.

3:30 came and now it was time for D&D. This round we still had a large group; Adam, Dallas, Jes, Josh, Kenny, Anthony, Will, Luis, Matt, Aaron and Rupert. Jen arrived during the last half hour or so of play. This game was completely different then the previous two. We had no battles other then a small skimish between our group and the blacksmith. I'm happy to say that Dash (my halfling Wizard) actually put a sleep spell on two of the three people. The story continued to progress as we walked around the town trying to get more information about the Dragon cult. I did a bit more interaction with the gang, but it went a bit to far when they wanted my character to decide what we were going to do next. Over all another fun evening of Dungeons and Dragons. (Pathfinder).

Afterwards I hung out with Jen and we talked for hour straight, catching up on each others lives. I miss her, we haven't really hung out in over a year. She's been extremely busy but recently moved in with my buddy Will. We talked about having a one on one day again soon. She and I are able to talk about anything, that's what I always loved about your relationship.

Anyways at 10:30 Anthony and I left Jes and Dallas' place and headed home. Can't wait for another D&D game in two weeks.

Doctor Who S7 Finale

~SPOILERS~

Not only did a get to see the AWESOME Star Trek Into Darkness (check out my previous blog) but afterwards I came home and got to watch Doctor Who Season Seven Finale. Now if you've been reading my blog you know that I haven't been a big fan of the second half of season seven. I mean this season hasn't been bad, all the episodes have been good, some even really good but none of them left me with the OMG moment like they have done in the past.

I so loved Clara in the Dalek episode and the Christmas special, but they haven't really done much with her in the series. I loved the whole "Who is Clara" storyline and why is she showing up through out the Doctor's lives. But again none of the episodes really dealt with that. It was mentioned here and there but nothing to serious. For the most part episodes have been stand alone episodes not really relating to the others.

Like I said I'm still enjoying the series but alot was riding on this finale and I have to say it didn't disappoint. I loved it, they finally explain who Clara is and why there are multiple versions of the same person. I loved how they blended her into all the other Doctor adventures. I like that they brought back the trio (Vastra, Jenny, Strax) and I really loved that River was back. This is one of those episodes that after it's over you are throughly confused but as I read more online and other peoples thoughts things start to make a little sense. 

The final shot of John Hurt and then they title it As The Doctor, but he's the one that was never called the Doctor. Many are speculating that he's actually the 8th Doctor, the one during the time war. This entire episode is leading up to the 50th Anniversary episode in November. Should be pretty EPIC!!! Can't wait. 

So did this finale change my thoughts about the second half of season seven. Not really it's still a season that I really don't need to go back and watch.. but I think the finale did get me super excited for the 50th anniversary.

Star Trek Into Darkness - My Review

So here are my thoughts on Star Trek Into Darkness (be warned there will be spoilers)

First let me say that I'm a HUGE Star Trek fan. I really got into Star Trek when The Next Generation had started. I mean I saw alot of the Original series but I was more of a Star Wars fanboy then a Trek fanboy... like I said... until TNG.

I enjoyed the reboot and the first movie from JJ. I like how he didn't destroy all that had happened in the past, they just created an alternate universe, brilliant idea. Keep the original fans happy and bring in a whole new crop of new fans.

So it's Saturday and the movie came out here in the U.S. on Wednesday, and actually came out in other countries a few weeks ago so it's been the tough avoiding spoilers. I am happy to say that I avoided most of them.

When the movie was over I was grinning from ear to ear, this was such an incredible movie. Action packed, amazing camera work, the acting was superb and the story was great.

Yes the main bad guy was Kahn and yes they pulled scenes directly from Wrath of Kahn and switched them up a bit. Do I wish they would have had a different bad guy.. of course. The Trek universe is vast and I was really hoping they would use someone that we didn't already know. I mean we are in a different universe why not see different bad guys. But with that said Kahn being the bad guy was pretty much out there, we all knew it was going to be him or Gary Marshal and everyone was leaning towards Kahn. So when he revealed his name I wasn't shocked or disappointed. And I have to say Benedict Cumberbatch did an amazing job portraying this iconic villain.

Most of the twists and turns I did not see coming which made it fun. I like that Uhura got a more substantal role in this movie. She was pretty bad ass. Scotty and McCoy's roles weren't that large but they had some crucial scenes. Chekov and Sulu didn't have a ton of screen time or much to do. Sulu had a bit more then Chekov and he also had a great scene where he became temp Captain of the ship which of course is foreshadowing of him becoming Captain of the USS Excelsior.

I loved the interaction between Kirk and Spock. These two actors have such great chemistry and really play well of each other. The scene that was directly pulled from TWOK but with a twist was when Kirk sacrifices himself to save his crew and subsequently dies in front of Spock. Of course in the original Spock dies but here Kirk does and the interaction between those two brought me to tears. I mean I knew Kirk wasn't going to die, as soon as this scene started I knew where it was going, I knew Kirk would die but they were going to bring him back with Kahn's blood. But even knowing that the acting from those two guys still moved me. The audience may have known that Kirk would be brought back to life but those two did not.. this was their final goodbye. Quinto's Spoke was amazing here. And of course once Kirk is dead you get Spock (instead of Kirk) doing the infamous yell of KAHHHHHNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!! Some folks are comparing it to the NOOOOOO from Vader in Episode 3. I thought it worked for the scene as well as being a nod to the original. I loved it.

I enjoyed seeing the Klingons.. I'm so glad they had their ridges. It was great getting the cameo of the original Spock (I didn't have a clue he was going to be in it). I like that they introduced the future wife of Kirk, Carol Marcus to the story.. look forward to seeing where that goes. I like the final battle scene with Spock and Kahn and the fact that Spock would have died if it wasn't for Uhura beaming onto a moving transport and attacking Kahn.

There was some amazing camera work here.. when the Enterprise is disabled and falling to Earth and it's twisting and turning and everyone inside is being thrown around was fantastic. Kirk, Scotty and Chechov running while the ship is falling so they were running on walls and then ceilings and falling and through corridors was so well done.  I loved that entire scene.

As you can tell from my review.. I loved the movie I don't think there was a single thing that I didn't like. I actual enjoyed this movie more then the first one and I can't wait to go back and see it again.  I give Star Trek Into Darkness a solid A

Family Visit

It's been a few weeks so today I went down and visited my dad, brother, sister-in-law, nephew and niece. First went to lunch with my dad. He wanted to try P.F. Changs. He loved it, especially the garlic noodles which are one of my favorite things from there.  Afterwards we drove over to Toys R Us as my nephew's birthday is in a few weeks and we wanted to pick up some gifts for him. Dad couldn't find what he wanted to get at Toys R Us so we stopped by Target and he found the laser tag guns that he wanted to get.

We headed back home and I hung out with the rest of the family. Got to play alot with my nephew (who adores me) and a bit with my niece (who is still unsure if I'm a good guy).  Had dinner with the family before calling it a day. I think this visit was the longest I have done in a long time. It was a great time hanging with family. My niece and nephew are getting so big.. Kenobi is going to be 4 years old on June 4th... where does the time go!!!

D&D Dice & The Tomorrow People

Got my new D&D dice in the mail today.. of course if you know me you know Green is my favorite color so my dice had to be green. Some folks are surprised when I say that this is my very first set of D&D dice. But understand the last time I played D&D I was 11 years old and didn't play long enough to buy my own set.. I just used friends dice. I played plenty of RPG games over the years but they didn't require dice. Now that I started up a new D&D game with a bunch of friends and it seems to be going really well so I figured it was time to buy my own set... can't wait to use them on Sunday.

I did a blog post a few days ago talking about the new TV series I was looking forward to in the fall. At the time I said there was nothing from the CW network.. but today the CW released trailers for their four "genre" type shows. The only one that really caught my eye was The Tomorrow People, which come to find out is a remake of a 70's British kids show. Quick sysnopsis of the new version; The story of several young people from around the world who represent the next stage in human evolution, possessing special powers, including the ability to teleport and communicate with each other telepathically. Together they work to defeat the forces of evil.

Here's the trailer

And here is a scene.

This looks like my kind of show.. I can't wait!!!!

Ever Changing...

I'm starting to make scrapbooks of my past movie marathons so I've been doing through hundreds of pictures picking ones that best represents the event. Looking at pictures reminds me of all the great times we've had the past few years but it also saddens my heart knowing that we will never have those kind of times again as a group. It was one of those rare moments in time when we all came together in all our geekiness and bonded as one solid group of friends. But over time people change, feelings are hurt, cliques are formed, people move away and what was once this awesome "Geek Mob" is just a faded memory.

But I won't be sadden by it's demise I remain happy that it happen. For a moment in time I had the perfect group of friends. I have the most wonderful memories and pictures to remember all the good times we had. They may never come again but who knows.. maybe something bigger and better is waiting just around the corner.

Now I'm not saying that those friends are gone... most are still around, we've just splintered off into smaller groups. We tend to hang out with those that we bonded with most when we were the bigger group. We have several folks who met through The Geek Mob who are now roommates. We also have some who are doing projects together like webseries. The Geek Mob will continue in some form or another... it will never truly go away as long as a few of us keep it's light burning in our hearts.

Buffy Rewatch/1st Time Continues...

It's Wednesday so that means I drive down to my best bud Robert's place for some dinner and Buffy. We walked over to Taco Bell for some vittles. Back at his place we continued the Buffy marathon. We are in the middle of Season Six. First up is Episode 7 "Once More With Feelings" In this episode, a mysterious force compels Sunnydale residents to sing songs that reveal their true feelings and deep secrets. Buffy is forced to finally admit to her friends that they pulled her out of heaven—not hell as they believed. Later, she and Spike share a kiss.

This is one of my all time favorite Buffy episodes. I have the sound track and listen to it often. I know most of the words to most of the songs. The music is great but so many things happen in this episodes. Tara finds out about Willow's mind trick on her and is devastated. Buffy reveals that she was in Heaven and everyone is devastated. This episode was a game changer for story and for story telling for a TV series.

Next was Episode 8 "Tabula Rasa" In the aftermath of the discovery that they had pulled Buffy Summers out of Heaven, Rupert Giles finally resolves to leave Sunnydale and return to England to allow Buffy to gain independence. Meanwhile, Willow Rosenberg agrees to go a week without using magic when Tara Maclay threatens to leave her, but almost immediately goes back on her word and casts another memory spell with the intent of making Tara and Buffy forget the damages of the spells she used on them. The spell goes awry and gives the entire Scooby Gang, including herself, complete amnesia, which puts everyone in danger when a demonic loan shark, Teeth, and his vampire enforcers attack the Magic Box to collect Spike's gambling debt.

This was a fun episode in the since that the actors got to play completely different roles.  Once the spell was broken then all the seriousness took over. Willow is going down a dark path and it's hard to watch as she's one of my favorite characters (of course I've seen all these episodes before so I know what happens but it's fun watching with Robert who has never seen it). Robert could not believe that Buffy and Spike continued with their weird relationship.

Our third episode of the night is Episode 9 "Smashed" Willow "de-rats" Amy. The Trio rob the Sunnydale Museum of Natural History. Buffy and Spike engage in some very rough play.

Again hard to watch as Willow continue down the darkside with the help of fellow witch Amy. And Buffy and Spike finally have sex while destroying a house was epic.

Our final episode of the night is Episode 10 "Wrecked" Willow is finally forced to face the consequences of her addiction when her carelessness lands Dawn in the hospital.

Willow finally hits rock bottom (of has she?) Alyson's acting is incredible. When she is pleading with Buffy for help it's heart breaking. There is no excuse for what she did but part of me still feels so sad for her. She addicted to magic, she can't help herself.

Season six isn't my favorite season.. but I do love the final four episodes, they are some of the best episodes of all of the Buffy series.

Another great Buffy and Bros with my best bud Robert.

My Blog

First of all let me say if this blog post upsets anybody I am sorry as it's not my intention to do so, but I need to get this off my chest and my personal blog seemed like an ideal place to do it especially since it's about my blog.

This all started last year during my 42nd birthday. I had a rather large party weekend, there were just over 30 or so people here. On Saturday evening things got a bit crazy and I got upset. The next day all was well and I had a fantastic Sunday and overall an amazing weekend.

Well come Monday when I went to blog about Saturday I mentioned that I was upset and that several of my friends were acting "out of character" and I didn't like that.

I was not prepared for the backlash that blog post would caused. The majority of my friends were great and said "sorry, wish you would have told us at the time", but there were few that weren't happy but one in particular who was extremely vocal at how upset they were and how they almost considered ending our friendship over it. This truly upset me but also angered me as I felt that I did nothing wrong. I didn't mention anyone by name in the blog (which they were actually upset about) and I was just blogging about what happen on my birthday weekend.

Anyways words were said, emails were sent and I figured everything was behind us with this incident. Well recently I was talking so some friends and come to find out that this "blog post incident" is still being discussed amongst my friends. They worry that they will say or do something to upset me and next thing they know it's in my blog.

This hurt my feelings. I have over 2800 blog posts. I have been blogging full time since 2007 and I have never bad mouthed a friend in my blog or said anything negative about any of my friends. My blog is normally about geeky things. Things I watch, things I podcast about, things I do in my daily geeky life and occasionally I'll get on my soapbox once in a long while and talk about religion or being gay or how depressed I am. But I make a conscious effort to not talk about friends & family personal lives. I have a ton of very personal conversations with family and friends.. I don't go blogging about it the next day... never have and never will.

To know that my friends think I'm going to blog about something they say or do makes me feel like these guys don't know me at all. I blog one time about four people who upset me during my birthday party weekend and I will forever be labeled as someone they need to worry about how they act or say things around... that's just crazy and hurtful.

I write this blog first of all for me as my memory is pretty bad and I love going back and reading all the cool things I have done. Secondly it's for my family and friends to keep up on my life. I don't get to talk to as many of them as I would like and this is a great way for them to keep up on my life. Thirdly it's for the general public, being a podcaster I do have a few listeners/fans and this is a great way to keep in contact with them and let them know what's going on.

I really don't know what to do about the situation. I'm not going to stop blogging or change how I blog. But it bothers me every time I blog I now think "I hope so and so doesn't gets upset over this".. it stupid.

Thanks for letting me vent my frustration and actually taking the time to read it. :)

Trailers for S.H.I.E.L.D & Wonderland

The networks continue to promote their new TV series coming out in the fall. ABC had their upfronts (a news conference) and premiered trailers for two upcoming shows that I am so excited to see.

First is Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. They released a teaser trailer a few days ago but this is the full on trailer and it's amazing. Has the same feel as the Avengers Movie.. I just hope they can keep it up.

The second trailer that got me excited is Once Upon A Time In Wonderland. I don't know if this is set before, during or after Once Upon A Time but it looks amazing. I thought SHIELD was going to be my must see series this fall but Wonderland looks just as amazing and I'm just as excited to see it.

LOTRO Fiasco & Once Upon A Time Finale

Today a huge update to Lord of the Rings Online was released (Updated 11). It took about two and a half hours for me to download the patch. Once it was downloaded I tried for over an hour to get LOTRO to launch but it wouldn't. I finally was about to get to my character screen and all my characters were gone. A slight panic took over as I have put in hundreds of hours on those characters and I didn't want to have to start over again. I the panic soon left as I figured they must have back ups of everyone just in case something happens.

My buddy Chris uploaded and opened LOTRO with no issues. At first I thought it was just me but soon I found a thread on their forums with hundreds of people who were having the same issue. Finally LOTRO released a tweet saying they were trying to resolve the issue but didn't have an ETA of when that might be.

Come to find out that this is the norm for a major update to this game, always has bugs that effect a large number of people. Guess I was lucky that I was only down for half  a day.. could have been worse.

(IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST FEW EPISODES DON'T READ.. SPOILERS)

So Chris and I decided to watch the last two episodes of Once Upon A Time. Since Chris has been on vacation the past few weeks we haven't been able to watch together. So we had the second to last episode and the finale to watch. If you read my blog you know that I love Once Upon A Time, it's my favorite new TV series on right now. I loved season one and I loved how season two took the series in a whole new direction. So I was looking forward to seeing how it all end. The second to last episode was all about Baelfire and Peter Pan, was very enjoyable.

The finale was AWESOME... everything I hoped it would be. I had no idea that the previous episode was a lead in for what's to come. And the final scene leads to what will be the main story next season. Who'd of guest that Peter Pan is the new bad guy (or it seems that way) Looks like we will be spending the majority if not all our time in Neverland with the main characters. Kind of bums me out that we won't be seeing any of the secondary characters next season (at least it seems that way). I want to know why Peter Pan is looking for Henry, kidnapping boys from all over? And for that matter I want to know who Peter Pan is.. is he someone we already met or a completely new character? Guess will just have to wait and see... so excited.

After Once, Chris and I attempted to get back on LOTRO and after some tinkering around it finally worked. I logged in and all my characters were there. So Chris and I played for about four or five hours before calling it a night as we both needed some dinner.

To end my night I finally managed to finish editing my next MASH 4077 Podcast, which is due out on May 15th... woohoo

Mom, Flowers & Dragons

Today I was up fairly early.. did something to my left foot yesterday while out in the yard. Feels like it's bruised on the inside and I now walk with a slight limp, hope it feels better soon.

Visiting Mom for Mother's Day today. It's kind of a tradition I always visit her and either take her out to lunch or we BBQ at her place.. this time around it's going to just be her and I for Mother's Day. I don't get to see my mom as much as I would like so the time we do get to spend together is very important to me.

Stopped by Starer Bros to pick up some flowers.. I was there way to long, I always get her several bouquets of flowers and then combine them into one large bouquet. But I went back and forth debating on weather to get a plant this year as it would last longer. I had many items in my hand but kept going back and forth for about 20 minutes before finally just going with my original idea and get the two bouquets.

I got to Mom's and she was surprised that I had gotten her flowers (since I'm jobless at the moment), but it's a special day and I had to buy her flowers. Took her to a local Mexican restaurant.. one that she rarely goes it.  We had a great lunch, we got to catch up on each others lives.

Afterwards we headed back to her place to relax and just hang out for an hour or so. I had to leave around 3pm as I had a D&D campaign tonight at 4:30pm. They actually pushed it an hour so that those of us who had Mom's close by could still do something with them and still participate in the game.

Got to Dallas' by 4:00pm and still had a half hour to kill so I went to the local Ralphs to pick up some snacks. Walked into Dallas' place at 4:20 to find Dallas (of course) with Brett and Aaron. The next half hour the rest of the gang showed up. It wasn't the full crew like last time but a good amount. Dallas, Brett, Aaron, Will, Anthony, Rupert, Josh, Luis, Kenny and a new addition Adam. Later in the evening Jes and Jen would join us.

Once again my character Dash was quiet and pretty much took a back seat to the more prominent characters. We fought some Chocladites for the majority of the night before being arrested (and meeting Adam's character). We met with the Major and a Widow who gave us a task. We came into contact with some low lives in a seedy bar before calling it a night.

Dash did pretty good at fighting some Chocladies but wasn't able to kill any, but I think he held his own. He needs to come out of his shell a bit, maybe find someone within the group to buddy up with. The whole reason he volunteered for the quest was to help cultivate he's people skills. So far he's not doing a great job at that.

It was another fun night of D&D with friends. Instead of waiting two weeks to meet again we are actually meeting next Sunday to play again. Can't wait to see what this mysterious town has in store for us.

Internet & Who Woes

I don't know what the issue is but my internet has been a little wonky as of late. Because I live in a very rural area I can't get the "normal" internet like most folks. No boardband or DSL, I tired HughesNet and that was a huge FAIL. There is this local company where I live that services this area and for the most part it's good service. I mean the speeds are slow but after three years I have kind of gotten use to them. But as of late my internet has been going out for four or five hours at a time. No explanation, but of course I'm not calling to complain either.

See I don't pay for my internet. Because of where my house is located they have one of the dishes on my property to service the valley below. They also use a bit of power to run it, which I pay for. So in return they offer me free internet. So it's tough to complain about something I don't really pay for. But man I can't wait to move and get high speed internet again.. I don't even know if I would know what to do with all that speed... but I can't wait to find out :)

Not much happen today.. Since my internet was done for a big chunk of the day, it forced me to actually be productive :). I went outside and worked on stuff in the yard. Filled in some rabbit holes (which are getting out of hand), cleaned up the yard, did a bit of weeding and moved some stuff around. Still have lots to do but it was so hot that I'd be out there for a half hour in 95 degree weather and then have to come in for an hour to cool down before going back out.. I did this three or four times (about 4 hours) before I called it a day.

I worked on my next MASH 4077 Podcast... again seems like it's taking me forever to finish this one. It's only because I only work on it for a half hour or so before being distracted. I hope to get it done soon.

I did watch the latest Doctor Who, this was the one written by Neil Gaiman (Who wrote The Doctors Wife last year and it was AMAZING) but like with the rest of this second half of series 7 I was not over joyed by it. I mean it had some good scenes and dialog and I loved Warwick Davis (he's a favorite of mine). But again it didn't leave me saying "OMG.. can't wait for next week." I don't know what is missing from this season.. maybe it's the overall story arc.. I love the character of Clara and the mystery of who she is but honestly with a few exceptions and reference they don't address it much in the episodes, if it's suppose to the overall story arc then have it in the story. These episodes have pretty much been stand alone episodes. And like I said.. I enjoy them, it's Doctor Who and even okay Who is great TV, guess I just expect more this series. We have only one more episode before this season is over but this second half of season 7 will probably be my least favorite of the series.

2013/2014 Fall TV Season

Today the networks announced what TV shows were being renewed or cancelled as well as announcing new shows to their line up. Some shows I watched were cancelled and some I loved were renewed. There are also several new shows I can't wait to see.. I'm going to go network by network and talk about each one.

ABC

Shows I watch that were renewed: Last Man Standing, Modern Family, and my favorite TV show on right now Once Upon A Time.

Shows they cancelled that I enjoyed: Happy Endings and Malibu Country. It was a hit and miss with Happy Endings but I really enjoyed Malibu Country as I'm a huge Reba fan, so I was bummed that it didn't get picked up.

New shows that are coming to ABC that I'm looking forward to: Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, a spin off of Once Upon A Time and if it's anything like the original I'm going to be hooked.  I'll give Resurrection a look but the one I think I'm most excited to see is Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

NBC

Shows I watched that were renewed: Nothing, I was watching Grimm and it was renewed and I do plan to go back and watch the series in the future. 

Shows they cancelled that I enjoyed: The New Normal, loved this show along with Partners on CBS. The main characters were gay, both were comedies and were extremely funny but also had a lot of heart... they will be missed.

New shows that are coming to NBC that I'm looking forward to: About a Boy, loved the movie and will give the TV show a chance. Believe, liked what little I have read about it. And Michael J. Fox show as I'm a huge MJ Fox fan.

CBS

Shows I watched that were renewed: How I Met Your Mother, Amazing Race and The Big Bang Theory.

Shows they cancelled that I enjoyed: Partners, was very said to see this go. Only ran for maybe six or so episodes.

New shows that are coming to CBS that I'm looking forward to: Under the Dome. That's about it, not a huge CBS watcher.

FOX

Shows I watched that were renewed: American Dad, Simpsons, Family Guy and New Girl (gave up on Glee finally)

Shows they cancelled that I enjoyed: Touch, I watched the pilot and loved it. I plan to go back and watch both seasons in the near future. Same with Fridge, I saw the first six episodes of season one but that's it. I do plan to go back and watch the entire series.

New shows that are coming to FOX that I'm looking forward to: Almost Human, Sleepy Hollow and maybe Surviving Jack.

CW

I don't watch anything on the CW, I do watch Supernatural when Felicia Day appears on it as a guest star, but other then that I'm not watching anything on that channel.

So overall not a lot of my shows were cancelled and I'll be picking up a few new ones come the fall. Not sure if I'll continue watching them but I'll give them 3 to 5 episodes to hook me. 

Oh I almost forgot about some "cable" shows. Clone Wars was cancelled by Cartoon Network and I was super bummed about that.. it was a casualty of Disney buying Lucas Films.

But some good news was Syfy picking up Defiance for a second season. They have only aired about five or six episodes of season one but I'm really enjoying what I'm seeing. I'm still watching Lost Girl, though I'm behind a bit but it too was picked up for another season.

And of course BBC America has more Doctor Who planned... wooohooo

Podcasts, Studies and Cupcakes

Worked on my MASH 4077 Podcast again for an hour or so, I don't know why I can't finish it but I get distracted and side tracked.

I got an email from a USC student and they asked if they could interview me as they are interested in talking to bloggers who update their blogs frequently and write about the occurrences of their everyday lives.. I guess it's for a study.. but they are also going to be doing documentary about it as well. I'm kind of interested.. it could be fun, but I haven't decided if I want to do it or not.. think I'll take a few days to figure it out.

The big plan for today was to recording and edit my next Alien Nation podcast. It's due to be released tomorrow and my brother and I haven't even recorded it yet.

So my brother came over around 2pm and we jumped right in. We try to watch and record at least two episodes per get together and that's what we did this time around. We watched episode 16 "Partners" then we had a great time discussing the episode for the podcast. Then we watched episode 17 "Real Men" and recorded the podcast for that episode. Both episodes were funny, poignant and just really well done. I think my brother and I get better and better at this as we go along. I mean our chemstry has always been there but our episode discussion is getting so much better. Of course it could be because these are some really good episodes.. either way I'm very happy with how this podcast is turning out.. now only if more folks were listening to it.

My brother left around 6pm and I got to editing. I worked on an off for the next six hours and by midnight I was exhausted and my eyes were hurting from staring at a computer screen all day. So I called it a night and planned to finish the podcast tomorrow morning and release it then.

Had a craving for some lemon cake.. so in between editing my Alien Nation Podcast I made some yummy lemon cupcakes.. making cupcakes is so much easier, there like bite size piece of cake.. and they make less mess. I planned to have only one last night but wound up having two.. but they were so good I could of had three or four with no problem.

Trek, Trek & Buffy

Spent some of the day prepping and uploading material to edit for my next MASH 4077 Podcast. Got a few hours of editing done, but still have a few hours to go before it's ready to be released.

I saw that Star Trek the Exhibition is going back on tour. It's starting in San Diego, then Los Angeles and finally Arizona. I went to this many years ago and totally loved it. I got the three day pass and went all three days and spent the entire time there. I mean you could do and see everything in a day but I just loved immersing myself into that world. Now it's changed since I saw it last. Once it left LA it was split into two tours and went all over. But it's back and it's going to be at the Los Angeles County Fair and of course I'm going to go. Hopefully I'll be able to drag along a few friends to go with me. You can find out more info HERE.

Speaking of Star Trek.. I purchased my ticket for Star Trek Into Darkness. It's opening on Thursday but I'm not seeing it until Saturday. I wanted to make it a group event so I invited a bunch of folks and I figured Saturday mid day would be the best time for everyone. So far we got a nice group together.. we plan on seeing it on Saturday May 18th at 2:15pm at Sherman Oaks Arclight... if you wish to join us. We're all sitting in row J (J10 - J15)

Since it's Wednesday you know what that means.. it's Buffy and Bros with my best bud Robert. Got to his place around 7pm, he ordered pizza and wings so we ate dinner and start our first episode of the night. Season 6, Ep 3 "After Life" The Scooby Gang fights a ghostly demon that appears as a consequence of resurrecting Buffy. Buffy adjusts to being alive.

It's a good episode, but as I have mentioned before the beginning of season six isn't my favorite but was good seeing Buffy become Buffy again. And this episode had some very creepy and scary moments when that "ghost" would take over people bodies.

Next up was Season 6, Ep 4 "Flooded" Still adjusting to being raised from the dead, Buffy must also deal with a mountain of unpaid bills and a flood in the basement. However the Slayer's spirits are raised slightly as Giles returns to Sunnydale. Meanwhile, Warren, Andrew, and Jonathan have teamed up with the goal of taking over Sunnydale. Giles confronts Willow over her decision to bring back Buffy from the dead.

Really enjoyed this episode. We are introduced to the Trio this episode. I love that Giles confronts Willow about using magic and how defensive Willow gets..even going as far as threatening Giles. Some major fore shadowing to what's to come. Giles is really becoming a "father" figure to Buffy.. more now then ever before.

Our third episode of the night Season 6, Ep 5 "Life Serial" Buffy tries to focus on doing something useful and profitable, but The Trio are after her to make her life more difficult with their little devices and spells.

Liked this episode, had some really funny moments. It was great watching the Trio screw with Buffy's head and making her life harder, not realizing what just had happen to her. To them it was all a test to see who of the three could best her.

And our final episode of the evening Season 6, Ep 6 "All the Way" Xander and Anya announce their engagement to the Scoobies. Tara and Willow fight about Willow's overuse of magic. Dawn and her friend go out with two older boys who turn out to be vampires.

Not a favorite of mine, had some good moments and of course it's an important part to what's coming for the season but I'm a huge Willow fan and she was being a bitch and I didn't like seeing that side to her. Also with Dawn being the Slayer's sister you would think she would be a little more cautious but again it moving her character along this season..

It's tough watching these episodes as I know where the story is going. I try to not spoil things for Robert but sometimes I can't keep my mouth shut.

Can't wait for the next episode.. one of my all time favorite episodes.. "Once More With Feelings".. can't wait to share that with Robert next week.

Another awesome night hanging with my best bud watching one of my favorite TV shows and eating pizza and wings.. doesn't get any better then that. 

Marian Call House Concert

A few days ago my buddy Luis texted me and asked if I would be interested in having Marian Call do a house concert at my place in June. I didn't hesitate as I have loved her music for many years and I'm a huge fan. So today Luis and I had a google hangout with Marian to go over details of the house party. We chatted for about 30 minutes. We talked about what she needed for me, the date it would be happening and the time. By the end of our conversation everything was good to go and the concert was set.

So I'm having a Marian Call house party concert on Sunday June 30th starting at 2pm. I created a Facebook invite and started adding people (guests) who I thought would be interested. Well when I was done there were over 60 people. My house can't hold more then 40, maybe 50 if it's standing room only. But my property can only hold about 30 cars and that's squeezing them in. Remember I live off a dirt road so there is no street parking.. all vehicles have to park on my property. So I went back through and had to un-invite about 20 people. It was tough having to pull folks from the invite. But I narrowed it down. So now I'll wait and see who is interested from those invited. I have to have at least 25 to 30, so if I don't get that many yes' then I'll open the invite again and open it up to anyone who wants to see her.

Should be a lot of fun and I can't wait until June 30th. You can read more about Marian Call and listen to her music HERE

EDIT*** Update, If you are interested in coming to this concert please drop me a line at Dathon1@yahoo.com. 

My Coming Out Story

So it's been 10 years since I have been completely out to family and friends. I struggled with my sexual identity for years and now that it's been over 10 years I wanted to look back share my coming out story.

Growing up I knew I liked boys more then girls but being a kid, boys often like boys and hate girls, so this felt "normal". I have always been really close with my mom. She and I would clean the house together every week. I was, what you would call a "mamma's boy". I had a typical childhood. My family was not rich by any means but my parents manage to give my younger brother and I everything we needed and something's we wanted.

My first memory of actually liking a boy was when I was in the fourth grade. I can remember falling for this Spanish boy who use to call me his "little Bambino". I really didn't think anything of it as I was still of the age on not liking girls. I was raised in a world where a man married a woman. I had known only one gay man from my childhood who worked at a local liquor store. But I really didn't know or understand what "being gay" really meant. I remember one day a friend of mine told me that this man liked other men and looking back I think I always knew that and it might be the reason why I spent so much time there with him.

In the sixth grade I found myself playing on the gymnastic bars with the girls more then playing football with the boys. Also in sixth grade I had my first crush on a teacher... Mr. Anderson (he was my first male teacher). By the time I entered Junior High School I knew I was different, but I didn't allow myself to feel those feelings or at least express them. I remember looking a bit to long at the other guys in the changing room during P.E.

I was raised in the 70's and 80's and what I saw of "being gay" was very negative stereotypes, promiscuous, feminine, flamboyant and dying from AIDS. So I pushed my feelings deep down and got on with my life, hoping to forget about them... but of course I would never truly forget. I pretended to like girls and went on a few dates in high school but those girls always put me in the "friendzone" and I was fine with that. I remember people often asking me about a "girlfriend" and when I was going to get one, but my standard reply to that was "I'm focusing on schooling right now, but if someone came along..." I used that excuse all through high school and collage.

I fought with depression as most kids do during their teenage years, but mine had this extra layer of loneliness and confusion. I never considered suicide, or hurting myself. From the outside you would think I was just an extremely shy and socially awkward kid (and I was). I had very few friends and even among them I always felt like I was an outsider.

From age 16 on, all I've ever wanted was to be married and with kids. My goal then was to be married by 20 and have my first child by 25 and second by 27 and possibly a third by 30. I remember every year I would tell myself.. this is the year that I will find a girlfriend, I will fall in love and she will be the one. And every year I was disappointed with myself for not finding "the one". But the next year I would make the same goal.. to find the perfect woman for me and again I would fail. This was hard on me, I didn't know what was wrong with me, why I wasn't able to find that "perfect one". I would fall into some really deep depressions of loneliness. Of course I would put on a brave face for the public and my family but inside I was devastated and lost. I remember crying at night, praying to whatever god there was that I would find some one to love, to care for and to be with for the rest of my life.

My early 20's were tough, I was embarrassed by the fact that I had never had a girlfriend or been with a woman. I would lie or not bring up the topic when I was asked. I convinced myself that I was bi-sexual, I watched "straight" porn in my later teens and early 20's and enjoyed both sexes. But deep down I didn't know if I was pretending to like girls, because liking women is what I was suppose to be doing, that was normal. It was a very confusing time.

By my mid 20's I was tired of hiding who I really was, honestly I was tired a long time ago but I finally was brave enough to admit it to myself. At 25 I graduated collage and was working in Hollywood in the Entertainment Industry. The entertainment industry tends to draw a large gay community so I was working with and being friends with several gay people, this was the first time I was interacting with other gay people since the gentleman at the liquor store when I was very young. I was starting to get very comfortable with the idea of being gay. But everyday was a struggle, do I finally come out and accept who I am but in turn live a life that will expose me to hatred and prejudices or stay in the closet and be what society sees as "normal"?

My life changed forever at age 27. I spent two years working in Hollywood I was on the verge of finally coming out but what really pushed me over the edge... well are two things. First I saw the movie In and Out with Kevin Kline and it really hit home for me. If you've never seen it, it's about a man in his 40's so deep in the closet and he's about to get married until another man comes into his life and helps him understand who he really is. That was going to be, I knew that if I didn't come out that I would probably marry a woman and have kids, then later in life realize how unhappy I was and either divorce or cheat on my wife with a man. I didn't want that to happen.

The second factor was that I met someone online. Back in the day the internet was just starting up and I use to frequent yahoo chat rooms. They had a Star Trek one that I would visit often. I started up a conversation with this guy named Mat. We hit off, we would chat for hours and soon our online chats moved to phone chats. A few months into our friendship he came out to me and told me he was gay. By this time I already knew this and felt a very strong connection with him. I in turn told him that I was bi and really liked him. He asked if he could come down and visit me, he lived in Canada. I was overjoyed, this was the one, the person I have been waiting for all my entire life. There was just one problem.. I was still deep in the closet. Mat was coming down in a few weeks and was going to be staying with me for a few weeks. This was the time I had to come out, this finally pushed me to the point of no return.

I remember the fear that was building up. All I kept asking myself is what would my friends and family say. Would they accept me or reject me. What would my life be like if I lived the life of a gay man. So many questions but one thing was for certain, the door to my closet was starting to open.

One night talking to Mat I blurted out that I was gay. It was the first time I had ever said it out loud and to someone. Of course he was thrilled which actually gave me a boost of confidence. That was it, one person down.. the ball was rolling. The next day I was talking to my best girl friend at the time Renee, we were making plans to see a movie later that night. I remember telling her that I had some big news but I wanted to tell her in person. I remember getting off the phone and the panic setting in.. this was it.. there was no turning back now. I picked her up and the car ride to the theater was quiet, we chit chatted but I was slowly building up the nerve to tell her. We parked and were walking to the theater when she asked, "So what's this big news" we stopped and for an agonizing few seconds I looked up at her and took a deep breath and said "I'm gay".

It's only two little words but man what an impact they have. She stared at me for a moment and then a huge smile came across her face and she embraced me. I can't describe what I was feeling.. it was a combination of relief, panic, nausea, joy, love and acceptance all rolled into one. She said she was so happy for me. I told her about Mat and how I was in love and showed her a picture of him.

The second person I told was my male roommate Jared. He took it just as well as Renee and my confidence just grew. Over the next few weeks I told various friends and all of them were loving and supportive. Many of them kind of suspected as I had not ever had a girlfriend. But all of them were just happy that I was happy.

It hard to describe how I felt after coming out, it was a huge weight lifted off my chest. For the first time in my life I felt like I was me.

Well Mat came and unfortunately the spark wasn't there for him but he did fall for my friend Michael (who I also liked) which lead to alot of drama that I won't get into here. Needless to say that though Mat may have broken my heart I have him to thank for changing my life forever and will always be grateful.

So at the age of 27 on the verge of 28 I was finally out and ready to start living my life.

The next big hurdle was telling my family. That didn't happen until I was 31. I was out now for three years and been in several relationships. But of course now that I was out and living the gay lifestyle my family never asked me how my love life was going or if I meet any nice girls like they did for so many years. I couldn't take that next step and just tell them. I didn't want to come out close to a holiday because if things went bad I didn't want that holiday to be associated with it. Finally one day I was going to have lunch with my mom and like with Renee, I told her over the phone that I had some big news to tell her.

Again like with Renee, we didn't talk much in the car when I picked her up. We got to the restaurant, ordered food and sat down when my mom asked "So what is this big news?" By this time I had been out for years and have had several boyfriends so it wasn't as hard saying the words but in a way it was harder as this was my family. I chose my mom to come out to first as I figured she's be the one that would be okay with it the most. So I said those "oh so hard to say two words" .. "I'm Gay". She asked if I was sure and that it's not a phase, she then went on saying it must be her fault as she babied me to much. I assured her that it wasn't a phase and that nurturing had nothing to do with it... I was born this way.

She then proceeded to tell me that my family has been talking about me being gay for years. In fact after I called her to set up a time to have lunch and told her that I had some big news she called my brother and told him... "oh I think Kenny is going to come out to me at lunch today". I was mad and amused by this. I wish someone would have approached me about this as I struggled for years to tell my family and come to find out that they have been talking about this behind my back.

She asked if she could tell other family members like her sisters and mom and I told her she could but not to tell dad, that I wanted to tell dad personally. My brother already kind of knew so I didn't see the need to tell him personally. I remember getting a call from my brother not to long after I told my mom and he said.. "so you're gay... cool". And that was about it from him.. he treats me no differently. I told my mom I was going to tell dad the next weekend and my mom said something like.. "oh I don't know how he is going to take it". This actually scared me from telling him for another nine months.

Finally while visiting him one Sunday we were in the kitchen washing and drying dishes and I was agonizing over telling him for months now and it just came out. "Dad I'm Gay". I held my breath and waited for a sharp reply but nothing happened. He looked at me and said "Okay". I said "Okay?" He said "You're still my son and I love you no matter what." I was shocked and surprised. I had built up this fear of what would happen when I told him and he actually took it better then anyone else that I had hold.

So at age 32 I was out of the closet to everyone and having fun. I have had some bad experience and prejudices but living in Southern California and in the Los Angeles area is probably one of the best places to live and be a gay man. It hasn't always been easy but I can honestly say, at age 42 I have never been as happy as I am now. The past 13 years have had there ups and down but I'm living the life that I was meant to live and loving every minute of it.

Renaissance Pleasure Faire

 

Going to the Renaissance Pleasure Faire with a bunch of friends today. I was dressing up in my Hobbit outfit. So I was up at 7am, taking a shower and getting ready. I wanted to be out the door by 8:30 and get to the faire by 10am when they opened. I went to make breakfast while Robert got up and showered. We had some biscuits and gravy, which was very tasty.

After breakfast Robert helped with putting on my Hobbit ears. And then I put my Hobbit wig on him so I could curl it. I don't think he enjoyed it but he did it anyone because he's an awesome friend. Time was flying and I was way behind schedule. Robert's outfit was awesome but he was done in a matter of minutes. I on the other hand took a few hours to get ready. I was finally transformed into a Hobbit (less the feet) as I can't drive with those feet on. We packed up the car and headed to the faire.

Traffic was good and we got there in about 45 minutes. I was expecting a line of cars to get in like it was last year but nothing.. we drove right in, paid for parking and made our way to the parking lot with very little traffic. In fact we were only a half hour later then I had planned.

I put on my feet in the parking lot and was ready to roam the fair as a Hobbit. We met up with my friends America and Dove who arrived about the same time we did. We went inside the faire and soon were joined by friends Josh, Nicole, Steve, Aaron, Patrick, Anthony, Robin, Michele and Rupert. Also Jessica and my "son" Jesse showed up, they were working at the faire along with a another friend of mine Courtney who we saw later in the day. It was a large group and planned to get larger as the day went on. We slowly moved through the faire checking out shops and things.

Dove attracted alot of attention from the ladies (and some men), we had some fun interaction with some faire characters. The group would split up from time to time but always seems to find each other again. Dallas, Jes, Becca and Will joined us around 1pm and we said goodbye to America and Dove. I ran into friends Michele Boyd and David Blue. Got this great group picture of our group before everyone started to break up. I spent the majority of my time with two of my favorite guys.. Robert and Jesse. The gang had gone into a 17 and over show and Jesse wasn't allowed in (or so we thought) so Robert and I walked around the faire with him.

We did some axe throwing and both Jesse and I got one out of 10 to stick. We meet back up with some of the gang and walked around another hour before meeting up with Will who was purchasing some Renaissance King clothing to match his crown he purchased last year. The park had closed at 7 and we were all still at the store. Around 7:30 Robert and I said our goodbyes and headed back to the car. It was so nice removing my wig and feet when I got to the car.

It was a fun day at the faire. Lot's of people enjoyed my Hobbit outfit and that made me happy. The weather was overcast and threaten to rain but it never did. It was great hanging with all my friends and especially seeing my little buddy Jesse.

Robert and I were starving so we grabbed some dinner on the way home and decided to watch a few episodes of Buffy season six before he headed back to his place.

We had finished seasons five yesterday so today we start with Season Six episode 1 Bargaining, Part One, The Scooby Gang try to keep up appearances of normality as they prepare a ritual to raise Buffy from the dead.

Season six isn't my favorite.. I love the second half of the season more then the first but this episode was good. I like how they try and keep up appearances by using the Buffy bot. Not sure the Scooby gang did the right thing by trying to bring back Buffy.. she was dead but I know for storywise it had to be done.

And because it was a two parter we watched the second half. Season six episode 2 Bargaining, Part Two, The Scoobies try to regroup as the demon bikers ravage Sunnydale and Buffy tries to figure out where she is—and why.

Another okay episode. I did like the scene when the Scooby gang realize the mistake they made by resurrecting Buffy but not realizing that she would awake inside her coffin deep in the ground.. that was just a stupid move. I did like that it was Dawn who finally got through to her and brought her back to the Buffy we know and love.

Like I said I'll have to sit through some okay episodes before we get to the more meaty stuff towards the end.

All in all it was a fantastic day and weekend. I want to thank my best bud Robert for hanging with me all weekend long. It was a blast and I can't wait to do it again. Love you buddy!!!