Podcasts, Finances & R.G.Q: Favorite Sidekick

First thing I did this morning was finish my edit of the next Alien Nation Podcast. I think it turned out to be a pretty good episode. Of course the chemistry between my brother and I is different from Doug and I but Doug sounded like a natural podcaster.  We might be doing a joint project very soon.

I continued with podcasting work as I prepared notes for our upcoming MASH 4077 Podcast recording. We record six episodes four or five times a year, but I have to prepare all the show notes. It's just a matter of scouring the interwebs looking for the best behind the scenes info per episode. Sometimes it's fairly easy to find four or five things for an episode, other times it's next to impossible and I barely find one noteworthy BTS. It normally takes me a good two hours to gather all the info for the notes. After I'm done I share them with my co-hosts Meds and Al. Meds then goes through the guest stars and writes down a little background information on each one. Lot's of prep work for this show but in the end it sounds great and folks seems to really be enjoying it and that makes all the work worth it.

After that I moved onto Geekyfanboy Productions. I have this accounting excel spreadsheet that keeps track of all my spending as well as donations that I receive. I have been slacking as of late and haven't been adding expenses or donations so I spent a good two hours going over it and making sure it was all up to date.

I've been podcasting for over 4 and a half years now and have spent over $10,000 on podcasting alone. As I've always said Podcasting is an expensive hobby. But with that said I have also been fortunate enough to have some amazing listeners and friends who have donated to the podcasts over the years to offset my expenses. I would probably still do the podcast even if I didn't get donations but they help... alot. I recently got hit with three of my podbean services (podcast provider) coming up for a renewal as well as two of my URL's needing renewal for a total over $400.... ouch!!  When you're broke and out of work it's tough justifying paying for those things and not eating but luckily I put the call out a few days ago and I've received donations to cover half of that cost so far... so thanks guys.

I posted another Random Geek Question on Twitter and Facebook: Who's your favorite Sidekick and why. I guess it was either to hard of a question or folks did not like it as I only got a handful of responses. First was Willow from Buffy, I also got Gabrielle from Xena, Arthur from The Tick, Archie Goodwin (Nero Wolfe's), and Moist from Dr. Horrible. And my friend Michael said Kick Ass as Hit Girl is really the star.

I think my favorite sidekick would be Willow, she grew so much over the Buffy series and really become such a huge part of the Scooby gang. Who is your favorite sidekick? Leave it in the comments below.

Star Trek & Random Geek Question: Favorite Heroine

Highlights of today.. I started editing the next Alien Nation Podcast. I really wanted to get it all done but I struggled with laziness. I think in the end laziness won out but I did manage to get about half of the editing done. I'll have to finished up tomorrow as it's due to be released the next day.

Today is Star Trek's 47th Anniversary. 47 years ago today this new science fiction program premiered on NBC and would forever change the geek culture. It only lasted 3 years but it would go on to spawn five more TV series (Animated, TNG, DS9, VOY & ENT) and 10 movies. It has now been rebooted and their have been two more movies with another on the horizon. Star Trek is a pop culture phenomenon and is showing no signs of slowing down or going away. Happy 47th Anniversary Star Trek... here's to 47 more years.

I asked another Random Geek Question on Facebook and Twitter.. Who is your favorite kick ass geek heroine and why? I got a great number of responses. As expected Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Ripley from the Alien movies were on the top of the list, but I did get a wide range of other names like River Tam and Zoe from Firefly, Gabriella from Xena, Wonder Woman and Starbuck from the new BSG. I got several Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series, got an Aeryn Sun from Farscape. Someone said all the women from Once Upon a Time and Willow from Buffy. I even got a few comic book characters like Kitty Pryde and Rogue from The X-Men.

As you can see there are quite a few kick ass heroine's out there. When I asked the question, the ladies that I thought of were of course Buffy but also Leeloo from Fifth Element and River Tam. Who is your favorite kick ass heroine?? Let me know in the comments below.

I spent four hours tonight on You Tube... I went to watch one thing and saw a link to another and then another and the next thing I knew it was midnight and I sat there watching videos for four hours.. talk about a time sucker.

Podcasts, Gaming and More

I had a very productive day today.. I worked on sanding my deck for a half hour, played some LOTRO (Lord of the Rings Online) and cleaned up the kitchen. I put a call out there for a green screen and several folks came to my rescue. So now I have one for our GE3K'S Company photo shoot on Saturday October 5th.

I recorded the next episode of my Alien Nation Podcast. My brother's family are all sick so he wasn't able to make it over here today and it's due to be released in a few days so I put the call out there for a co-host and my buddy Doug responded. He's also the person who loaned me his green screen.

The recording went off with out a hitch. We did as my brother and I normally do, watch the episode and then record the podcast for that episode.  We only did the one episode as my brother should be able to join me for the rest.

For dinner I was going to head out and pick up Taco Bell (really had the urge for it, I haven't had it in a good month or so), in fact I was in my car and already five minutes down the road when I stopped, turned around and decided that I had everything at my house to make some burritos. Of course they aren't as tasty as Taco Bell's but they were cheaper and less fattening. I was very proud of myself, my will power may have been delayed a bit but all the matter is that I didn't give in to it... this time :)

Chris introduced to me to Minecraft and I played for a few months until he introduced me to LOTRO last December and that is all I play now. But during Chris' recent visit he was watching some videos of these British guys who became really popular within the Minecraft universe. They record themselves playing video games and are very funny and charismatic. I found out that they have quite a few videos on You Tube with millions of views. So I started at the beginning and I've watched about 20 of them of far. They are some of the most entertaining guys I've seen in a while... I'm defiantly addicted. If you want to check them out they are Simon and Lewis and are part of the "Yogscast" It's pretty amazing, they started off with just a few videos now they have this huge online empire.. you can check out their main website HERE.

So all in all a pretty good day.. got some work done, got some cleaning done and have a bit of fun.

Requesting Donations

So I just got hit with some pretty big fees for Podbean (my podcasting provider) and my URL's. If you're enjoying any of my podcasts and are able to donate a little something to help me out I'd really appreciate it. Just use the link below... Thanks for your continued support

So my Geekyfanboy Production Donation button doesn't seem to be working yet.. so instead you can use this LINK and make a donation there. This is for my Knights of the Guild podcast but it all goes to the same place.. Just put in the amount you want to donate in "Item Price" and hit update. Then sign in and finish the transaction.. piece of cake.. Thanks

Just Another Day...

Today I didn't do much around the house.. after my disappointing weight gain I went out and actually did a half hour workout with my weights. I also jumped rope for 15 minutes to get my heart rate going, though it was murder on my knees and ankles.

I did do a bit of deck sanding, every time I go out there it looks so daunting but if I just do bit by bit in time it will all be done.

During the evening I did a Google hang out with my buddy Chris.We were joined but several friends. The conversation turned to Harry Potter and Pottermore. It's been a good six months or so since I logged into Pottermore and I was surprised at all the changes.. gonna have to take some time to go back through it and check them all out. While we were chatting I also logged another box of toys... Again a very daunting task but one box at a time and it will get done.

New TV Series - FanAddicts!

As many of you know I'm a huge collector of movie and TV action figures and memorabilia, so when I saw commercials for this new TV series on the Reelz Channel I had to check it out. It's called FanAddicts! Here's a quick synopsis: "You think you’re a movie fan? Wait until you meet the FanAddicts!. Get inside the minds of those who simply cannot stop adding to their incredible movie memorabilia collections. With homes and storage lockers overflowing with the some of the most fascinating collections ever, they persist in the never ending quest for more. Learn why the collection has become such an obsession. What motivates them to do this? Do they ever sell anything? What are these things worth?  We'll see memorabilia from Harry Potter, Superman, Star Wars, E.T., James Bond, Star Trek, The Wizard of Oz and more, and these super fans will find out just how much money their obsession is worth.

They aired two episodes last week back to back. First one was a fan of Harry Potter, this guy is in the Guinness World Record book for having he most Harry Potter items, I think it's over 1000. It was a really good story about an 11 year old troubled kid who's grandmother gave him the first Harry Potter book when he was being grounded. He says HP saved his life and made him into the man he is today. Of course I was just entering my 30's when Harry Potter caught my attention with the first movie. I guess his experience with Harry Potter was kind of like my experience with Star Wars, being only 6 when the first movie came out (life changing). The second episode was about a fan of Superman. This guy was a bit more socially awkward. He actually portrays Superman down on Hollywood Blvd. He choose his collection over his marriage. You can love something and be obsessed about it but once it starts interfering with your "real" life then that's when I think you have a problem.

What I enjoyed about the series is that they don't make fun of the collectors. They portray them as passionate fans who love to collect things. I mean the Harry Potter collector loved all things Potter but it didn't cause chaos in his life, in fact it saved his life... unlike the Superman collector.

But tonight's episode is my favorite by far and it was about two different collectors of Star Trek stuff. The first guy is a pretty wealth guy who is also a Star Trek fan. About seven years ago the Christie's Auction house and Paramount sold off a ton of Star Trek set piece, models, uniforms and everything else they had in storage. Well this guy was there and purchased a ton of models. That's the bulk of his collection. He had quite a few of the big ticket items like the working model for Deep Space Nine. He said that these ships were in bad shape when he got them and he had to do alot of restoration to bring them back to prime condition. But the bulk of his story is when he purchased the full size shuttle craft Galileo from the original series for a whopping $70,000, but when he got it, it was a huge mess so he spent countless dollars restoring it. In the end he wound up donating it to NASA where it will be on display for everyone to see. It was an pretty amazing story and even brought me to tears.

The second story in this episode was another Star Trek fan but this guy was more your average collector... he just had alot of things. He's the type that would buy the same figure five times to get every color variant of the weapons... yeah I'm not that bad. He also built Captain's Kirks chair from the bridge of the Enterprise and they show him donating his time and his chair for photo ops for charity.

What I really liked about this particular episode, besides it being about Star Trek. They show these guys, who might be a bit obsessed with Star Trek collecting but they are doing good in this world with it.

So if you're a geek and ever collected anything, please check out this series.. it's always airing on Reelz and showing repeats all the time just check your listings.

"Get Fit" Week 5

So this week was a bust as I expected it to me. My buddy Chris was visiting for Labor Day weekend (4 days) and I went to two Picnics. I didn't eat properly and I didn't workout as much as I should have. I'm not using Chris as an excuse, I chose not to workout, I chose not to eat better..  I know I failed this week..  After Chris left I was kind of depressed (always happens when he leaves) so I wasn't motivated to do anything and the scales had proof of my failure. I weighted myself this morning and I'm currently 205. Last Friday I was 203 so I gained 2 pounds. All I need to do is refocus and get back on track. I'm hoping by next Friday I can lose those 2 pounds and get back on track to getting below 200 by the end of September.

LOTRO, Deck Work and RGQ: Fav Cartoon

Woke up this morning and jumped on LOTRO (Lord of the Rings Online) to get my daily Hobbit gift and surprise, surprise.. they have begun the Farmers Faire Festival. I spent the next four hours (it felt like ten minutes) finishing up all the quests. I played it with all four of my characters to get as many Bounder Bounties (another new things to collect). I did manage to finally pull myself away from my computer to work on other things around the house... like my deck.

I went to Lowes to purchase some paint stripper thinking that this would be easier then trying to sand it all down. It somewhat works but still requires alot of elbow grease, it wasn't the easy fix I was hoping it would be. I worked on the deck for about an hour before coming inside and inventorying a few more boxes of action figures.

I posted another Random Geek Question: This time I asked...What was your favorite cartoon growing up & why? Not to many commented on Twitter but we got a really good conversation going on Facebook. It's funny because of all the different age differences, folks favorites varied from Wacky Racer (1968) to Muppet Babies (1984) to Dexter Laboratory (1996) and everything in between. I think I've seen about 2/3d's of the series that folks said was their favorites. Alot of people couldn't just give me one or two or three.. they gave me lists of favorites. :)

As for me, my favorites growing up in the 70's were Super Friends, George of the Jungle, Super Chicken, Josie and the Pussycats, Loony Tunes and of course Scooby Doo. But I watched cartoons well into my teens and for that matter I still love watching cartoons even today.. Ones that I loved from my teens, Gummi Bears, Snorks, Smurfs, Muppet Babies, Star Wars Droids & Ewoks and Dungeon & Dragons.

So many great cartoons when I was growing up... I watch today's cartoons and honestly they are pretty horrible, with a few exceptions of course. They're nothing like the classics from the 70's and 80's

Babylon 5 First Time Viewing Continues

It's been in the hundreds this week but I did manage to get outside and do a bit of deck work with the hand sander. Though the deck was sanded with a deck sander there is still alot of work to be done on it. It's going to take me a while to finish it.

Since today is Wednesday it's TV night with Robert. We missed last week but we weren't going to miss this weeks. We continued with our Babylon 5 first time viewing. We started our night with S1 Ep 20 "Babylon Squared" Babylon 4 reappears at the same place it disappeared four years before, and Sinclair and Garibaldi lead an expedition to evacuate its crew. Meanwhile Delenn is summoned by the Grey council. They inform her that they have selected a new leader— her.

This was a HUGE episode.. lots of information was given to us. Lot's of set up for what's to come. I love episodes like these where they finally answer a ton of questions but then leave with you more questions then answers. I knew it was Sinclair in the spacesuit!!

We opted to not order in food but instead Robert made some very tasty sausage curry. 

We then moved on to S1 Ep 21 "The Quality of Mercy" Dr. Franklin investigates an unlicensed medical practitioner in Downbelow, while Londo takes Lennier for a tour of Babylon 5's seedier locales. And in the brig, a convicted murderer waits for his sentence to be carried out — the death of personality.

Another great episode, it was a departure from the main story arc but a very enjoyable episodes.. had lots of laughs with Londo and Lennier but had some serious heart with Dr. Franklin storyline. Very well done.

We finally came to the end of Season One with Ep 22 "Chrysalis" The Centauri are about to withdraw from a quadrant of space because the Narns are harassing them, when Londo gets an offer to take care of the problem. Meanwhile Garibaldi tries to find out what his informant stumbled upon that got him killed.

Not liking where Londo's character is going, he has to know that the guy who is offering him help is bad news. The death of the president was huge and the the unknown fate of Garibaldi made for a great cliffhanger. Also Delenn changing. Of course I already knew this was going to happen as I've seen pictures but I like how it's integrated into the bigger overall story arc.

Our night continued with the start up of Season 2 with Ep 1 "Points of Departure" Captain John Sheridan takes command of Babylon 5 after Sinclair is reassigned; a rogue Minbari warship is on the loose in hyperspace; and the truth behind the end of the Minbari War is revealed.

Big changes this season... again I knew about this already so it wasn't a big surprise that they got rid of Captain Sinclair and replaced him with Captain Sheridan. I'm a huge fan of Bruce Boxleitner. And we get even more info about the Minbari war and why it ended. I loved that twist and didn't see that coming. I think vice president, now president is a bad guy.. guess will have to wait and see.

And our final episode of the night was S2 Ep 2 "Revelations" Franklin takes extreme measures to save Garibaldi; Delenn emerges from her chrysalis; Sheridan's sister arrives for a visit; Londo's dealings with Mr Morden become even more complex; and G'Kar returns from his travels with a dire warning.

Another excellent episode. Lots of stuff going on. The full cast is back with Delenn reapparing as a hybrid of human and Minbari. Garibaldi is back and getting better. We get some back story on the new Captain. and I actually liked G'Kar in this episode. He's trying to warn folks that something big is coming but they are not listening.

Great ending to season one and a fantastic start to season two. This series continue to entertain me and I can't wait to see where the story goes. Both Robert and I are thoroughly enjoying Babylon 5.

Toy Inventory & Random Geek Question: Potter

Besides job hunting (still no luck and I never heard back from the interview a week or so ago), fixing up the house to sell, my podcasts, my webseries, TV, my friends and family I decided to pick back up another project that I started working on about six or seven months ago.... Toy inventory.

As you all should know I'm an avid collector of TV and Film Action Figures and Toys. In my old house I use to have a "Toy" room, you can check out pics HERE. But since moving into the new house it's all been packed up for none to see. And now that I'm selling the house it won't see the light of day until I move to my new place.

Anyways I've been wanting to have a comprehensive list of every toys, action figures, dolls, and any other collectable that I might own. It seems like a very overwhelming task to jump into that's why I have put it off over and over again. But as I mentioned a few months back my buddy Sebastian came over and started to help me. We managed to get 4 boxes done and that took a good part of the day. So we stopped and I haven't picked it up since... well that was until today. I figured if I bring in three or four boxes into my office I can work on it when I'm bored, or on a break from working outside. As long I was moving forward I will get it done eventually.
 

I also asked another Random Geek Question to my Twitter and Facebook followers. I asked If you're a fan of Harry Potter. Which Hogwarts house would you be sorted into? Gryffindor which values bravery, daring, nerve, and chivalry. Hufflepuff which values kindness, hard work, patience and loyalty. Ravenclaw which values intelligence, knowledge, and wit. And Slytherin which values ambition, cunning and resourcefulness.

As expected with my group of friends alot of them said.. "well Pottermore sorted me into..." Some disagreed with Pottermore and some said they nailed it. A few said they were a mix of several houses, which really didn't answer my question as Harry Potter fans know if the hat can't choose between two houses you can choose which one you want to join. And I think we're all a little bit of several houses mixed together.

Pottermore sorted me into Gryffindor, which I can accept but my heart belongs to Hufflepuff. I've always felt that I would be sorted into the house of Hufflepuff, though it seems to be the least favorable of all the houses.. which kind of goes along with my personality as well (always being the outcast).

Which house would you be sorted into.. let me know below in the comment section.

Saying Goodbye to My BFF

Today was Chris' last day here. After today I won't see him for at least seven months as he is being deployed to Kuwait. We got up and just hung out, enjoyed each others company. We were going out to lunch with a group of friends at noon so we left my place around 11am.

We got to the Olivia Garden and soon were joined by Jes, Dallas, Red, and Jen. We ate, talked, laughed for about two hours. At 2pm we had to say goodbye to the group and head to the Burbank Airport for his flight at 3:15pm.

Got to the airport and pulled to the curb to drop him off. Of course I had to get out to give him a final hug. I hugged for as long as I thought he would be comfortable with. Believe me I could have hugged him for ten minutes.. I didn't want to let him go. There were no tears, I told him I loved him and that I would be talking to him in a few hours (when he got home).

Got back into my car and took one final look as he walked into the airport terminal. About a half hour into my drive home the thought of not being able to see him for seven months hit me and the tears started flowing. This will be the longest that Chris and I have been apart since we met. I know I have it much easier then he does, since I'm in Cali and have friends surrounding me but it doesn't make me miss him any less. I just hope those seven months fly by.

D&D Woes

Got up and went out to breakfast with Chris and Aaron who crashed at my place last night after working on my house. We headed to Denny's and then to Home Depot to return the deck sander. Once we were done there we drove down to North Hollywood to hang with our friends Jes and Dallas. We ran a few errands with them before heading over to Jen's for our Sunday D&D game.

Today was one of the worse D&D sessions we have had so far. I'm not going into great detail.. but needless to say that I almost walked out of the game, but my buddy Chris was guest playing with us so I stayed. It wasn't the adventure itself, Dallas is doing an amazing job with that and I'm loving every minute of it.. it was actually several of the players.

We have two definite groups.. the good guys (about 9 of us) and the bad guys (about 4 of them) and today those two groups clashed big time. Conversations/debates were heated but the worse part is that some of that heat bleed into the real world, hurtful things were said. Hence why I almost walked out. This D&D session was not fun. I'm actually debating on if I'm going to continue with this group or not. I value my friendships with these people and if we continue to have sessions like the one we had tonight... I can see it permanently damaging some of those friendships.

Gonna go back in two weeks for another session. Will see if we can work out our differences... I hope so.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

So I got home around 6:15pm after visiting friends and family. I was expecting to find Jen and Chris waiting for me at my place, ready to head out for dinner together. Instead I drove up and noticed my buddy Dallas on the back deck with a deck sander working away. As I pulled up and stopped more friends started walking from around the corner. They all looked tired, disheveled and dirty. Then Chris came from around the corner and said "Surprise".

I knew something was up.. I had this gut feeling that something was going on but I had no idea to what extent. Besides the gut feeling, everyone turned off their "Find Friends" which is an app that allows friends to see where other friends are located. They didn't want me to see that they were all at my place, and that furthered my suspicion that something was up. Come to find out that Dallas with Chris' help created "Operation Shiny". My group of friends have been talking on Facebook for over a week about getting together while I was away and trying to get some of my "house prepping" work done.

If you're a regular reader of my blog you know that I'm getting ready to sell my house... well I've been getting ready the past year. But before I can put it up I wanted to paint the entire outside of the house, re-do the decks, pull all the weeds and various other things to make it look it's best. They all helped with some of those... they worked from Noon to 7pm. They pulled weeds, moved around gravel and filled in spots where the gravel was gone in my driveway and sanded my back and front decks (unfortunately the big sander wasn't able to get everything so it's going to require more hand sanding to get everything). They also replaced one of my damaged screen doors.

The amount of work they all got done was very impressive. I mean the weeding alone was HUGE, but filling in the gravel in my driveway was great and getting 2/3's of my deck sanding done was a huge help.

I couldn't believe that my friends did this for me in the middle of their labor day weekend... how awesome are they. Still got a bit more to go before it's ready to be put up on the market but this definitely helped me in a big way and I will always be very grateful.

So thanks to Dallas and Chris for organizing this event and to Jes, Jen, Aaron, Rupert, Brett and Elie for working so hard today and getting me one step closer to selling my house.

Afterwards we all went out to Chili's for a much needed and deserved dinner.

Meeting Online Friends & Family Picnic

Today Chris and I only visited a few hours in the morning as I had to meet up with an out of town friend and then go to my family labor day picnic. Chris was going to have some one on one time with Jen until I got back home around 5pm.

I left the house around 10am and headed to Disneyland where I was meeting up with an online/forum friend Rick Peete who is from the Chicago area. We meet on the Treks in Sci Fi Podcast forum many years ago. He was at Disneyland running a 5 and 10k marathon this weekend. Being this close to me we had to meet even if it was only for a moment. So I got to Disneyland and Downtown Disney and texted that I was here. After going back and forth for a bit and an half hour of walking around the Disneyland Hotel area I finally found him and it was as if we were long lost friends seeing each other after many years. He was as friendly and nice as I expected him to be. He introduced me to his wife and son. While he was dealing the marathon stuff I chatted with them and talked gaming with his son. I spent about an hour hanging out with them. He's coming back in March for the LA Marathon so we are going to try and hang out for a bit more then.

I said my goodbye to his awesome family and made my way about 30 minutes west to where my Dad's side of the family was having their annual Labor Day Picnic. I got there around 1:30pm and planned to stay until 3ish as I wanted to get home around 5pm. Well I haven't seen some of these family members for a while and we talked and had an awesome time visiting. I pushed back my time to leave to 4pm but then my cousin Renee came over to our table and we caught up with each other. I finally left this event around 4:30pm and headed home. Chris and Jen were waiting for me to go to dinner so I tried to get home as quickly as I could without killing myself. I manage to pull into my driveway around 6:15pm and was not expecting what I saw!!!!

... to be continued (next blog)

Picnic in the Park

For today's activities, Chris and I got up early and had breakfast. We hung out talked the majority of the day. This was my only Kenny and Chris one on one time I was going to get for this trip. We just enjoyed each other's company. We tried to get my router to work with a Minecraft server so we could play together but something happened and we broke it and now it's not even doing my wireless. Chris tried and tired to fix it but alas it was unfixable.

Later in the day Chris planned a "Hang with Chris One Last Time Picnic" at Griffith park. We headed out around 2pm and went to the store to get some items needed for the picnic. We got to Griffith around 4pm and the spot we wanted to use (the old Zoo) was being used by the Shakespeare in the park company so we opted for a spot at the lower level. Chris and I were there for an hour before more people started to show up. He and I played some extreme bocce ball. When Elie and Brett showed up we through around a frisbee for a bit. We got the BBQ going had some hot dogs.

Little by little more people arrived, we soon had around 15 people and it was getting dark fast. We could no longer play any games so we sat around talking and eating. Luckily for us the Shakespeare people put up some light in the walkway as the play was ending soon so that gave us some light.  The only light we had before were four little candle lights that Kim had (thankfully). The picnic/party came to an end around 10pm as the park closed at 10:30.

Chris was very happy with the turn out. He got to see a bunch of Guildies and friends and that's exactly the reason we put on this picnic... one final hurrah before deployment.

Random Geek Question: Cosplay

Another Random Geek Question that I asked on Twitter and Facebook. This question spawned from a recent episode of Heroes of Cosplay on Syfy. On the show these hard core cosplayers were saying that people shouldn't cosplay whoever they like, that they should take into account their body type as those that don't give cosplayers a bad name or bad image. One of the newer cosplayers objected to this and said she felt anyone should be able to cosplay anything they want as long as they are having fun and the seasoned cosplayers looked appalled by this statement.

So I put this question out there "Should people be able to Cosplay anyone/thing they want? Or should they take into account their body type & gender?"

I got about fifteen or so responses and everyone one of them said that people have the right to cosplay whoever and whatever they wanted to and it didn't matter what there body type was or gender. A few did mentioned that "larger" cosplayers should consider what kind of characters they can play. But the majority said good for those who don't fit the typical body for a certain character and are brave enough to show it off.

For me I think anyone should be able to cosplay/dress up as anyone/thing they feel like. I for one know my body and I'm not comfortable playing tall skinny characters when I'm short and fat. Instead I find characters that I love and feel I can pull off with my body type. That doesn't mean that I agree that someone who is short and fat can't play a tall, slender character, I'm just saying that I can't.

If you're a regular reader of my blog you know I cosplay as a Hobbit. I love Hobbit culture and their values and could see myself happily living a Hobbit life. When I opted for which Hobbit to play I went with a brown wig and had "the ring" so of course folks thought I was Frodo, when the new Hobbit movie came out I was called Bilbo alot and of course you get the rude/very honest people who said I was too fat to be Bilbo or Frodo so I must be Sam even thought Sam is blonde and doesn't care the ring or sting for that long in the adventure. I realize that I am heavier then how Frodo or Bilbo were protraied in the films, but not the books. I have considered finding a blonde wig so I can portray Sam as he is my favorite Hobbit/Hero of the story so next time someone says I am Sam.. I can proudly say you are correct. Let me know what your thoughts are on my recent Geek Question about Cosplaying.

"Get Fit" Week 4

So it's been a month since I got the news from my doctor about being on the verge of diabetes and having to change my diet. I have manage to get as low as 201 but the past few weeks I haven't been as diligent with my workouts since I lost my elliptical machine. Also my eating hasn't been that great and I have gained a few pounds back and was up to 203 on week three. Now at the end of week 4 I haven't gained any weight.. which is great.. but I also haven't lost any weight which isn't so great. I weighted in at 203 again.

My buddy Chris is staying with me from Thursday to Monday for the Labor day weekend and I have several picnics and dinners planned, so week five is not looking so good on the losing weight end. Chris is going to take a look at my elliptical and see if he can fix it, if he can't I really need to come up with a really good short 30 minute cardio workout that I can do and not get bored with.

One month in and I have lost a total of seven pounds which is great so I'm happy about that but I'm still struggling with my eating habits. The reason I'm losing weight is because I'm not eating and that's never a good way to lose weight. I need to find that balance with the way I'm eating and find a new workout regime soon.

Random Geek Question & Picking Up My BFF

Posted another Random Geek Question on Facebook and Twitter. I asked if you are a Trekkie when which is your favorite Star Trek Series. TOS (The Original Series), TNG (The Next Generation), DS9 (Deep Space Nine), VOY (Voyager) or ENT (Enterprise).

I got about thirty responses and the majority of the people said (as expected) TNG was their favorite. Now I'd say about a third (the older fans) said TOS had a special place in their heart as it's the series that introduced them to Trek. I had several say DS9 was their favorite as it was the best written and another few say Voyager as it's the Trek that they grew up with.

For me it's tough as I watched TOS as a kid but it didn't grab me like Star Wars. I didn't really become a Trekkie until TNG and I was in love. So TNG is my favorite but DS9 was amazing and I agree it was the best written Trek but I have a soft spot for Voyager as I loved Captain Janeway. Enterprise was good the first time I watched it. I enjoyed it but didn't think it was anything special but rewatching the series I have really grown to love it. As for the original series, I haven't seen every episode or if I have I can't recall them all like I can with the newer ones. I do plan to one day go back and watch from the beginning all of TOS. That's going to be a blast!!! Tell me your favorite in the comments below.

In the evening I headed out to the Ontario Airport to pick up my best bud Chris. He was visiting for the labor day weekend. This was going to be the last time I would get to see him until sometime in mid 2014 as he's being deployed to Kuwait. He flew in around 11:30pm. As always it was awesome seeing his smiling face as he came down the escalator. Not a lot of chatting was happening in the car, we were both very tired, but there was this feeling of comfort of being in the same space together and that was pretty amazing. Can't wait to spend the next four days hanging out.

More Webseries Stuff

Seems like the past few days have been all about GE3K'S Company and today as no different. I worked on setting up a date for our cast photo shoot in October. All but one of our main/minor cast members can make it. But the important part is that all three of the main characters can be there and that's great as I need a picture of the main cast to create the logo for the show.

Got to thinking about the photo shoot and realized that we need to pick out wardrobe for the cast. I don't mean indivual clothing that they are going to wear on the show but style and look. I want each character to have his or her own style even if they are very similar since we are all geeks. I spoke with our Wardrobe person Jes and we are planning a lunch date soon so we can discuss each person.

I also realized that once these "cast member" photos are taken the cast can't really change their looks (including myself). Or at least when we go to shoot they actual webseries, they'll need to change back to the look in the pictures. It's all these little things that you have to think about when creating a webseries. So much work but as I have mentioned in previous blogs I'll have a lot of help and we do have at least six months to prep.

I also watched more of Three's Company and coming to realized how funny these show is even thirty years later. Can't wait to get them on DVD.

GE3K'S Company, Three's Company & Big Bang Theory

As I have mentioned in previous blogs we have written six of the ten episodes for season one of GE3K'S Company. Today Chris and I created an outline of episode seven and I worked on writing several scenes. We also created an "in world" calendar to keep track of the days within the story. If all goes as planned season one will take place over a one month period.

I have to say there is a ton of things you have to do when you are just starting a new webseries and you're one of the executive producers. Of course I'm doing this with my bud Chris but there is still alot of prep work you have to think about before you can move forward. We don't want this to be some cheapy average webseries about a group of geeky friends. We want it to stand out, we want it to look as professional was as we can make it.

All of the main actors on the show have been extras for The Guild so we know what a high quality show should look like on screen and behind the scenes. It's going to be a lot of work but in the end it's gonna be totally worth it.

Because our webseries is an homage to Three's Company a TV series I used to watch in the late 70's early 80's and loved. I decided to watch the pilot episode as I haven't seen an episode in over 20 years. I wanted to see if it held up and boy did it. I still laughed out loud, and after watching the pilot I continued and watched all of season one (only six episodes total) and then moved on to season two and watch the first two episodes. I added all the season DVD's to my Amazon wish list. This is a series I must own and I can't wait to see more. 

I posted another Random Geek Question on Facebook and Twitter. I asked The Big Bang Theory - Love it or Offended by it.  I got a wide range of answers from "love it" to "never watch it" to "it's not my cup of tea". No one came out and said they were outright offended by it. A good third of those who answered said they understand why folks are offended by it (mostly of the female kind). Another third or so said they loved the first few seasons but haven't not liked the past few seasons. Which is funny as this series has gone from 11 million viewers during the beginning to last season getting 17 million viewers. So their audience is just growing in leaps and bounds.

I for one love these series, I have since the very first episode and I'm loving it even more now with the addition of the "girls" to the show. I understand the complaints, though I may not agree with them. This show does not represent all types of geeks, but I'm not offended on the way they portray them either. I guess you can't please everyone but all that really matters to me is that I love the show and will continue watching as long as they keep making them.

My Webseries, Firefly and a New Workout

Made my big announcement about GE3K'S Company, the webseries that I'm writing with my buddy Chris. It's been over a year since we came up with the idea and I'm glad we are starting to move forward with the project. We won't be shooting it until early next year but there is quite a bit of prep work that goes into a webseries, if you want to do it right. And everyone involved with GE3K'S Company wants it to be the best we can make it. I'm thinking there will be a good six months pre-production on season 1 before we even consider filming it. Give us a follow on Twitter @GE3KSCompany for the latest information.

In other geeky news it looks like Dark Horse Comic is doing another Firefly comic book. I don't know if it will be a on going series (which would be AWESOME) or if it is a limited run series like they have done in the past. This was found on the Dark horses website:

"Joss Whedon's beloved Firefly series and Serenity film's lifespan may have been short-lived, but managed to produce one of the most dedicated fanbases in the history of modern science fiction. Dark Horse is proud to be able to keep Mal and his crew flying with new comics and products. Look for the hashtag #WheresSerenity over the next few months on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages for exclusive news on the future of the franchise at Dark Horse!"

So I guess all we can do is wait to hear more information.. I'm super excited for this.

I started a new workout.. I felt that my Star Wars Galactic Dance Off workout wasn't really getting my heart pumping so I found a 5 minute extreme workout and OMG, I'm dying after just a few minutes. It's 5 things for one minute each. They first do a minute of jumping rope, then a minute of what they call ice skating, then a minute of mountain climbing, then a minute of high steps and finally they save the worst for last.. one minute of burpies. There is only a five second break between each event. It kills me but I feel like I really get my heart pumping and I can see myself doing these three or four times a day.

Webseries Announcement

The Cast

I would like to officially announce the title the webseries that Chris and I have been working on for over a year. :: Drum roll please :: .... GE3K'S Company

Here's the synopsis: GE3K'S Company is a webseries that follows the adventures of a middle-aged gay man and his two younger female roommates: one is starting over, one is living the dream, and one has barely begun. Watch as they try to navigate through the ups and downs of their geeky lives with the help of their quirky yet lovable friends. 

How did this all come about?? 

San Diego Comic Con 2012, Chris, Jes, Olivia and I were driving down to San Diego to enjoy the festivities. Jes and Olivia were talking about moving down to the L.A. area and I was planning to sell my house so we got to talking about becoming roommates. And I mentioned.. oh that would be funny, it's like Three's Company except the male roommate really is gay. Then Chris mentioned that we should set up cameras inside our new house and video tapes everything.. kind of like a big brother show. None of us were keen on being filmed all the time but it did spark an idea in my head. I mentioned that Jes, Olivia and I should do a kind of spoof on Three's Company and called it's Geek's Company. It would pretty much just be us doing what we do. None of us are actors so it was going to be more real life then acting. Everyone loved the idea so Chris and I took it even further. On the way back from con we came up with some story ideas, other characters/friends to include, everything just flowed. 

At one point either Chris or I decided to invert the second E in Geek's to a 3 so when you see the title GE3K'S Company you can also see our homage to Three's Company.

We wrote the first episode within an hour, and episodes two and three within a day. As I mentioned the story just flowed, Chris and I were on the same page with everything. I'd start a sentence and he'd finish it.. it was pretty amazing.

Of course as time has gone on we've tweaked the characters more and more so they aren't exactly like ourselves. Come to find out that our lives are boring so we had to amp them up a bit. But each character has elements of the person playing them.

We are currently in pre-prodution. We have six of the ten planned episode written. We are currently not scheduled to shot anytime soon. Chris' deployment to Kuwait for six month has delayed us a bit but during this time we will finish writing the remaining four episodes and schedule everything so when he gets back we can officially go into production. We may be moving slowly.. but at least we are moving forward.

A few months before we start shooting we will be doing a Kickstarter/Indiegogo campaign and try and get some start up money. We got some very fun "rewards" for donors. Can't wait to get that started.

Follow us at @GE3KSCompany on twitter for the latest up to date news.

Hanging with Friends & Another Random Geek Question

So several friends crash at my place after our day of rehearsal yesterday. So Robert, Cait, Aaron, Brett and Josh got up around 9am. Brett left for home immediately, while I made some biscuits and gravy for the rest of them for breakfast. While we ate breakfast we watched Galaxy Quest. I can watch that movie everyday and never get bored of it. It's a modern day classic!!

After Galaxy Quest we played a few hours of Flux. And then went back to watch a movie. Robert suggested Back to the Future and asked which is my favorite. It's either one or three, not a big fan of two. So I went with three as I love the love story between Emmett and Clara. So we watched Back to the Future III which ended around 4pm and the party was over. Robert and Cait left, then Aaron and finally my buddy Josh.

It was a fun weekend, besides the awesome rehearsals I got to spend some time with some amazing friends. In the evening I was playing some Minecraft with my buddy Chris, it's been so long that I had to learn how to walk and move all over again.. also my friend Kim crashed at my place since she is shooting something up past Gorman and I live an hour and half closer to the location then she does. We got to visit for a few minutes before she crashed.

I posted another "Random Geek Question" on Twitter and Facebook - Star Wars... is it Sci fi or Fantasy? From the 20 or so responses I got, everyone agrees it's a bit of both and it was split down the middle with folks thinking it was more Sci fi then Fantasy and vice versa more Fantasy then Sci fi. To me Star Wars is more Sci fi then Fantasy.. I mean it set in space with lazer guns, space ships, aliens and light sabers but it does have the fantasy element with The Force. I even had one friend say it was Historical since it's set a long time ago in the galaxy far far away.