Escrow, A Friend and The Hobbit

Was up once again at 5:30am and couldn't go back to sleep so I got up and started to pack up things around the house. Escrow officially starts today and that means I have 30 + 2 days to vacate this house if everything goes through. So I must be out of the house by December 19th. So I figured I'd start packing and downsizing.

I got to have lunch with my buddy Craig, I don't get to see him as much as I would like to but when we do we have some good times. Craig has been HIV positive since 1988. I met him when I was volunteering at APLA (Aids Project Los Angeles). I've known him for over 15 years. His health has been on a decline and he's been in and out of the hospital the past year. He called me up a few days ago to say goodbye. He is near death and he doesn't know how much longer he'll be around. He has his good days and his bad days and luckily for me he was having a good day and we were able to go to a local Denny's and grab some lunch and catch up on each other's lives. He has set short term goals, he said it helps him focus and not dwell on his situation. His next goal is to survive until 2014. So if you could muster some happy thoughts and send them his way I would really appreciate that.

After lunch with Craig I went to my realtor's office to sign some paperwork. There is ton of paperwork when selling a house.. and she said this is only the beginning.

I did a bit of work around the house like fix my garage door. I now have two fully operational garage doors...yay!!

During the evening I sat down and watched The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition. I purchased this a few weeks back and have been dying to watch but just haven't had the time.. so I made some time today. I haven't seen the Hobbit in a few months so it was fun watching it again and it was fun seeing what they added into the cut. They actually added 13 more minutes to the movie making it just over 3 hours long. I recognized small addition here and there but the two major scenes were the additional songs. One sung by the Dwarfs in Rivendell and one by the Goblin King. I enjoyed the extended edition very much but I can never get enough of Peter Jackson's version of Middle Earth.

Next I'll have to find nine hours so I can watch all the awesome behind the scenes and an additional 3 hours to watch the movie over again with commentary from Jackson and company.

The Waiting Game...

I couldn't sleep last night, I tossed and turned and finally got up around 5:30am. I went to check my email as I had a few more messages from friends giving me advice on what to do. My friend Thomas gave me the best advice when he said (paraphrasing), if I reject the bid and go to sell my house for a higher price and every month that it doesn't sell I will have to be paying the mortgage out of pocket (which I don't have) and that will be coming out of the profit margin when it finally does sell. Depending on when I sell it that could be the different between the price they offered me and the new price I would have liked.

That made sense to me and along with everyone else great advice I emailed my realtor at 5:30am in the morning and said to accept the offer with the changes we made to their conditions. Got emailed me back at 9am that said it has been done. Also that she hasn't gotten any more inquires or requests to look at my house.

So now it's my turn to wait and see what they come back with. Hopefully they'll just accept the changes I made to their original conditions and we can move forward. While I waited I finally finished painting the outside of my house!!! I started a year ago in October and this hellish job has finally come to an end. I will never ever paint a house/garage pretty much by myself ever again. I'm happy it's over and I'm glad it turned out nice.. but man it was hard.

Around 2:30 my realtor called and said, well they accepted the changes. All you have to do is give the okay, sign the paperwork and your house will go into escrow starting tomorrow. This was it, this was the final time I could actually pull out of this contract but I was happy with the final deal. I knew selling this house, because of it's location would be tough. You'd have to find the right people at the right time.. and mine just happen to be on day one of the sale. So I officially accepted their offer and the deal was done.

After painting I headed out to my garage as to clean out some of the crap as I'm going to be going from a 2000+ square foot house to a more then likely less then 1000 square foot apartment. Time to thin out what I have. As I started I kept coming across things that I hadn't used in a year or two but saw the possibility of using in the future. But I kept fighting myself asking if I'm going really use it. Is it worth keeping if I don't have the space. I struggled with throwing things away. I admit that I'm a pack rat but I didn't realize to what degree until I tried throwing stuff away today. It's going to be tough but I have to get rid of things that I haven't used in over a year. Regardless of if I think I'll be able to use it in the future. Time to downsize!!

In geeky news I watched the latest Once Upon A Time. If you haven't seen it don't read on as I'm going to spoil things. Once Upon A Time this season has been kind of lackluster. I was getting tired of the group walking around Neverland deciding how to save Henry. But I have to say the last few episodes with Ariel and Storybrooke have been fantastic and today's episode has turned the corner for me. Though it took place mostly in Neverland with that same group of characters, the story moved forward and we got some HUGE revelations. The biggest was that Peter Pan is actually Rumpelstiltskin's father. We get their backstory and when all this went down my jaw must have hit the floor. I actually applauded the TV and Once Upon A Time. I love those OMG type moments and that was one of the best. Also Rumple being sucked into Pandora's box and the final scene with Henry removing his own heart and putting into Pan was amazing. A nice little cliffhanger, and now we have to wait two weeks until we see the conclusion. I hope Once Upon A Time can keep up this pace. I hope the save Henry, stuck in Neverland storyline ends soon. I really miss Storybrooke and seeing all the different characters. But if they keep this pace up I'll be happy to watch a few more episodes as this storyline concludes.

1st Viewing, 1st Offer < 24 Hours

So I was up at 5:30am.. not sure if it was the stress of my house being up on the market or what but for whatever reason I couldn't sleep. So I decided to get up and check to see what time Lowes opened as I needed to buy a quart of paint so I could finally finish painting the outside of my house.

I was surprised to see that Lowes opened at 6am. So I got up, got dressed and was at Lowes by 7am. I got my paint and headed back home. I made my self breakfast and was about to go outside to finish the painting when I got a call from my realtor Mary, it was 8:30am. She said that someone wanted to come look at my house today at 10am.. that was only an hour and a half away. Of course I wasn't ready to show the place.. I never expected to have someone interested less then 24 hours after I listed my house. But I couldn't say no so after getting off the phone with Mary I went into full panic mode and started to clean. I knew there was no way I was going to finish painting the outside but I wanted the inside to look it's best. I had to sweep and wash the hardwood floors, clean both bathrooms, clean the kitchen, pack up all the crap in my office and move it to the garage. I vacuumed the carpets and washed down the base boards. I was a mad man but I did manage to get it all done by 9:50am and then went outside to clean up a bit there but at 10am sharp they pulled up.

It was very nice couple with their realtor, I excused myself to my garage and they entered the house. I was to nervous to actually clean up the garage but I did my best. They were in my house for about 30 minutes before coming out to the garage area. I opened up both garages and offered information about the water well, septic tank and various other things around the house. I took them on a quick tour of the property lines and explained how the trash works. They seemed to really like the place and the area. I of course apologized for the dirtiness of the house but the realtor said that my house really "showed" well. And the potential buyers said everything looked great.

They asked if they could go back in the house to look over things one more time and of course I said yes... fifteen minutes later they finally exited, said thank you and were on their way. I texted Mary (my realtor) and gave her a blow by blow account of what happened. She said that it's very unusual for someone to take almost 45 minutes to look through a house... that they must really be interested. I figured it was my first successful showing. I was not prepared for more.

My buddy Doug arrived just as they were leaving. He came over to help me clean out my main garage. We spent about two hours moving things into piles before calling it quits and decided to go grab a bite to eat for lunch. We headed over to Islands as it's one of my favorite places to eat and Doug had never been there before. Around 1:30 my realtor called and said, you're never going to believe this but we have an offer. They are offering you your full asking price and in cash.

I couldn't believe it. My house hasn't been on the market for more then 24 hours and I already have an offer for the full amount in cash. Of course they had some conditions that my realtor would get back to me once she was back in her office.

Home from lunch Doug headed back to town and I nervously awaited an email from my realtor with their conditions. I finally got it and also got a call from Mary to discuss it. There were a few technical things but their main conditions were that I pay for the well, termite, septic tank and general inspections. They also wanted me to remove the broken spa.

Mary and I went over everything. I refused to pay for any inspections (when we purchased the home, we paid for all those inspections, I wasn't about to pay for them again). I did agree to get rid of the spa but that was the only thing I agreed to do.

All we had to do now was accept the offer with the changed conditions and I was about to do it when I thought I should wait and talk it over with some friends and family.

Because I got an offer so quickly and they weren't haggling on the price it made me think that I was under selling the house. I mean Mary and I went through the comps and our price was lower but I wanted it to be a quick sale. The price that they are paying was the bare minimum that I willing to get. I was debating on rejecting this bid and then upping the price of the house by $20,000.

But after talking about to friends and family I was pretty close to accepting it but I wanted to sleep on it. I spent the rest of the day thinking about this and really didn't do much else.

Since I had gotten up at 5:30am I decided to go to bed a bit early. I would call Mary tomorrow morning with my answer.

What a day!!!!

More House Stuff & It's Screener Time!!!

My house is officially on the market.. now we wait to see if we get any interest. When Harry and I purchased this house it was on the market for 62 days.. let's hope it's doesn't take that long for me to sell it.

I finished painting the last side of the house, the only thing I have left is touch ups. But as I was about to tweet that I was almost done with painting, I realized that I totally forgot about the chimney and the three window gable. So I jumped on the roof, taped off everything and started to paint only to run out with just a bit more to do. So I called it night for painting and would have to run to Lowes tomorrow to pick up a quart and finish then.

By this time it was getting dark so I just chilled and watched some recorded TV.

It's screener time!!! A few days ago I got my first screener for the movie Rush. Today I got four more screeners. Monsters University, Dallas Buyers Club, The Place Beyond the Pines, and Before Midnight. I'm sure you can guess which one of these movies I have seen already... yep it's Monsters University. But I have heard good things about some of the others. Now that the screeners have started to flow I'm hoping to get 30 or so of them like I did last year. Can't wait to see what comes next.

If you're interested in hanging out and watching some screeners let me know.. that's my favorite way of watching these.. with friends.

"Get Fit" Week 15

So this week was good news, bad news kind of week. The good news is that I'm happy to say that I have kept my weight below 200lbs all week. This is the first time in I don't know how long I can say that. The bad news is I didn't lose any additional weight. My last weigh in (Week 14) I was 197 lbs and this morning when I weigh myself I was once again 197lbs. I know why and I'm not going to blog about them as they are just excuses.

I know this whole house thing is turning my life upside down. Right now my goal is to just maintain below 200lbs until this house situation is resolved and then I can get back into the swing of things.

MASH 4077 Podcast Episode 66

Download from itunes tinyurl.com/MASH4077itunes , listen on Stitcher Radio ow.ly/iZJIz or Listen, get direct download from our main website MASH4077Podcast.com

Show Notes

Kenny Mittleider from Knights of the Guild, Alien Nation: The Newcomers Podcast & Confessions of a Fanboy Podcast, Simon Meddings from Waffle On Podcast & special guest listener co-host Donald discuss one of the most successful and longest running television series in history.. M*A*S*H

Today we cover Season 3, Episode #18 - House Arrest
66th Episode Overall
Directed by Hy Averback
Written by Jim Fritzell & Everett Greenbaum
Production code B315
Original air date February 4, 1975

Set during the Korean War in the 1950’s

Plot Summary: After Hawkeye makes an insulting remark about Margaret, Frank snaps him with a towel and Hawkeye responds with a nicely placed right cross to Frank's eye. Hawkeye is then placed under house arrest and instead of being treated like a criminal, he is treated like a conquering hero for what he did even to the point of getting some very tasty water buffalo steak and having movies shown in the Swamp. In the meantime, Colonel Reese, the woman in charge of all the nurses in Korea, arrives to observe Margaret and her staff and, for some strange reason, becomes attracted to Frank and tries to seduce him. Also, Radar begins acting very strangely, even having the hem in his pants let out two inches.

House Prepping, Mini Who & Podcasts

Today I continued to paint the final side of my house. With my house going up on the market tomorrow I need to get this done ASAP.  While the paint dried I did a major clean up around the yard. My friends did an amazing job pulling weeds a few months back but I wanted to get rid of some dead plants and a ton of wood debris. I also worked on getting the backyard watering system to work. Lots of lifting and walking back and forth.

By night fall I was exhausted and sore, I felt like I just did the worlds most extreme workout. You think after months of this my body would get use to it.. but nope. My painters elbow is getting worse but there really isn't anything I can do.. this painting must get done.

My realtor Mary sent me a preview of my house listing that will officially be launched tomorrow. You can check it out HERE.

In geeky news.. BBC release a mini episode for the upcoming 50th Anniversary episode of Doctor Who "Day of the Doctor. This mini episode is called Night of the Doctor. I have to say it was awesome to see an familiar face, that hasn't been seen in a while. I'm really looking forward to this 50th Anniversary episode. You can check out the mini episode below.

And to finish my night off and since I've been so busy I almost forgot. I have a MASH 4077 Podcast that's due tomorrow (or rather midnight tonight). So I spent 7pm to just under midnight editing the next one and getting uploaded and ready to go.

Needless to say I was extremely tired and couldn't wait to go to bed.

The Gays, Sleeping Beauty & Babylon 5

First of all congratulations to "the gays" in Hawaii. They have become the 16th state to legalize gay marriage... equality for all. Ever since the US Supreme Court decision on Prop 8 here in California it seems more and more states are granting marriage equality. I know the fight is far from over I mean we can legal marry in only 16 of the 50 states but it's progress. Who know how many more states will join in marriage equality in 2014.

Okay now for some geeky stuff.. saw the first trailer for Maleficent staring Angelina Jolie. I've been looking forward to this since the first photo was released and I have to say that he trailer looks amazing. This will defiantly be a must see when it hits theaters next year. Check out the trailer below.

Today is Wednesday and it's TV night with my buddy Robert. We missed last weeks because I had so much work around the house and though I still have a lot of work I can't go two weeks without hanging with my bestie and enjoying some Babylon 5. Today we watched season 3 episodes 3,4 & 5.

First up was S3 Ep3 "A Day in the Strife" Sheridan and Ivanova deal with a dispute with the worker's guild. Then a probe arrives, and gives the station a test. If they pass, it promises to share advanced technology, if they fail the station will be destroyed in a few hours. Garibaldi talks to Franklin about his stim use-age. G'Kar struggles to retain leadership of the Narn community aboard Babylon 5

Lots of good stuff in this episode. Some comedy with Sheridan and Ivanova and the workers guild. I knew all along that something wasn't right with that probe. Whenever it's too good to be true.. it is. I knew the doctor was heading down a dark road. It was nice to see Garibaldi care so much for his colleague. But my favorite part was G'Kar's story. He is such a great character and a great leader that he was willing to leave (and die) Babylon 5 to save the families of those Narn on Babylon 5. And I also liked that Sheridan did not turn him over to that Narn/Centeri liaison. It was great seeing that all of G'Kar's followers stopped him from leaving and convinced him to stay and continue to lead the rebellion even though their families will be at risk.

I'm having such a hard time finding sympathy for Londo. When Londo was talking to Delenn about Vir and then he says that he missing the time they spent together. I kept telling myself.. Dude you're the reason everyone is shunning you. And then he goes and gets Vir transferred to Mirbar. He did it because Vir was his conscious. He reminded Londo of what kind of man he was before he turned to the dark side. I'm afraid to see where Londo is going to go next without Vir by his side.

I think this characters (Londo) turn of events effected me the most as I so liked him in the beginning and really disliked G'Kar.. but now I can't imagine disliking G'Kar, he's become one of my favorite characters and I feel betrayed by the character of Londo, he's become a character that I just despise.

Next up was S3 Ep4 "Passing Through Gethsemane" Kosh's ship arrives at the station bearing a surprise visitor, Lyta Alexander returns after visiting the Vorlon home world. Brother Edward, a monk with Brother Theo visits with Delenn to discuss religion. Soon he begins to hear voices. They discover that Edward is experiencing repressed memories, someone is forcing him to relive past moments.


I was happy to see Lyta back, I really enjoyed her character and she is now working for Kosh. Not sure what was happening at the end of the episode when the light was coming from her eyes and mouth into the Kosh suit.. I told Robert that it looks like Kosh is using Lyta's body to interact with the crew.. guess will find out. Also I like that Lyta is a kickass telepath and is not bound by the PSI Corp rules.

I found the Monk storyline very interesting, it was a intense episode. Robert would pause the show every few minutes and we would go into these long conversations about what is happening and what we would do. That's one thing I love about Babylon 5, it really does get you thinking about.. everything... politics, religion, war... it's pretty amazing.

And the final episode of the night S3 Ep5 "Voices of Authority" Sheridan has an interesting time dealing with the new Political Officer stationed by EarthGov and Ivonova visits the planet below Babylon 5 in search of the "first ones". G'Kar questions Delenn about the war council and the Rangers.

Another enjoyable episode. Hate the new political officer and I'm so glad Sheridan didn't sleep with her. Loved Ivonova in this episode. I loved that she took a big gamble and won. And I felt so bad for G'Kar as he's onto them, he knows what's going on with the Shadow. My heart broke when he had his one on one talk with Garibaldi, I know Garibaldi felt bad and I thought he was going to trust him and tell him but he didn't. I hope they bring G'Kar in the loop soon.

We started this TV night later then usual and with all the conversations we were only able to watch three episodes but they were three fantastic episodes. Can't wait for me.

House Game Plan & New S.H.I.E.L.D.

Today my realtor, Mary, stopped by to go over comps and to take pictures of my house. She was arriving at 1pm so I spent 7am to 1pm cleaning up the place. I wanted to make it look as nice as I could. I about killed myself but by the time she got here I think the house looked pretty good. Not everything was painted on the outside but the front of the house and deck area out back looked good.

Mary and I first walked through the house and she gave me advice on what to take down and what to leave up. I pretty much took down all my geeky things.

Next we went over details of houses in my area that were on the market and ones that sold and what they sold for. There was a house very similar to mine in size and acres in Aqua Dulce and they ranged in price from $289,000 to $420,000. I want to price the house to sell but I don't want to under price it. I know selling a house out here could take a while as you need just the right people looking for something like this. We settled on the price $365,000. It's about $20,000 more then what we paid for the house, so that's a good thing. I think it's a bit lower then I would like but I also think it will bring in the buyers, it's defiantly priced to sell. This house was on the market for 62 days before we purchased it from the previous owners. Who know how long it will take this time around.

After that she walked around and took pictures of various rooms and locations. I signed all the paperwork and my house will official be going up on the market this Friday Nov. 15th.

Now time to get all these little side jobs done so it will be ready to show to potential buyers. 

Watched the latest episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Hub". Another fantastic episode, I love Fitts and Simmons. I'm even warming up to Ward. Still a huge fan of May and Coulson. So far seven episodes have aired and I've loved each one of them. Still hearing a lot of hate for this series but I have decided to ignore it. It doesn't effect my love for the show. I'm a huge fan and will always be one of it's biggest supporters.

Veterans Day, IOS7 & More Deck Work

First I want to wish my Mom a very Happy Birthday today.. she'll never see this but she's my mom and I love her so Happy Birthday Mom.

Second I want to thank all the Veterans out there for your service to our country. I especially want to thank my best friend Sergeant Christopher Setts for his service. Chris is currently in Kuwait and we all can't wait for him to set foot back on US soil in six to seven months. Good luck buddy, love you and stay safe.

Now for my blog post.. I tried to update my iPad with the new IOS 7 software and it completely crash the pad. The same thing happen to my iPhone but I was able to fix it and get the new software uploaded and working but with the pad it's completely gone. Every time I turn the pad on it tells me to connect it to iTunes. When I do so it asks if I want to download the new version of ISO and I say yes. It downloads everything fine but then we it goes to update my pad it gives me an error. I've searched online for fixes but none of them have worked.. I think I'll have to take it to an Apple store and have them fix it. Luckily I don't use my iPad alot but still I hate that trying to update the systems software would case such a catastrophic failure.

Today I spent most of the daylight trying to fix my deck. If you read my previous blog you know I wasn't happy with the final results of the stain I had put on the deck.. well I tried all day to get it to look better but by the time night came I said screw it. It is what it is. It's not horrible but it's not great either. Hopefully the potential buyers won't mind the way it looks.

I did manage to finish spray painting the railing so I put that back up and I have to say it looks a thousands times better. At least I'm happy with that.

Gods, Goodies and Gays

Got up this morning and made some breakfast for Aaron and I. We debated on doing some deck work but we were seeing Thor: The Dark World at noon which meant we had to leave my place an hour and fifteen minute before hand which would give us about and half hour to do stuff... we opted to just hang out and chat.

Aaron and I drove separately as he was going to our bimonthly D&D session after the movie and I was opting to go back home to work on the house like a good boy.

We got to the theater a little before noon and were quickly joined by Jes, Dallas, Doug & Robert. Rupert showed up as we were sitting down. One thing I love about the Arclight theaters.. well there are many but a big ones is the assigned seating. I don't mind paying a bit extra and not having to stand in line for hours to ensure that you get a good seat. At the Arclight Sherman Oaks they had costumes displayed from the Thor movie, which was cool. We were also seeing it with the new Atmos audio system which is incredible.

As I mentioned we were seeing Thor: The Dark World. Here's a quick synopsis: Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.

I loved this movie, it was everything I was hoping for. I wasn't a big Thor fan until the first movie came out and I really enjoyed it. But this one really out shined the first one. I think the story was much stronger with this one. It didn't have to explain who everyone was, we just jump on in for a wild ride. The special effects were amazing, the battle scenes.. both with ships and people were crazy cool. Loki was amazing as expected and even had a surprise at the end that I didn't see coming. I really enjoyed Christopher Eccleston (Ninth Doctor Who) who played the leader of the Dark Elves. He was creepy and very menacing. This Thor movie is defiantly up there with my favorites, like Avengers and Captain America.

And it still surprises me that anyone would leave the theater after the credits start to role. There was not only one but two extra scenes this time around. But of course some folks left when the movie ended and then more left once the first extra scene was shown midway through the credits... stupid people.

I give Thor: The Dark World a very solid A. I can't wait to take my dad to see this in the theater.. and this will be a must buy when it comes out on blu-ray.

As I mentioned I did not go to D&D tonight (boo) instead I came home and finished working on my front deck. And I have to say I'm very unsatisfied with the final results, but I have to keep telling myself this isn't for me.. but still I did not have a good experience with staining that deck.

Another thing that I forgot to mention a few days back is that my friend Lydia got me one of those awesome TNG hoodies that I blogged about a few weeks ago, as an early Christmas present. She got me a the Command (Red) one and it's totally awesome. It's so well made and super thick and warm. I can't wait until it's cold enough to wear it out all the time.. gonna get a lot of use out of it. I also plan on getting the other two colors as well. :) Thanks Lydia for the awesome hoodie.

Also today I found out that there was.is a gay scifi/fantasy con called Bent-Con and it was happening this weekend.

BENT-CON’s non-profit charter defines the following goals for the organization:

• To provide a forum to showcase and celebrate existing, new and emerging LGBT and our Allies talent in the fields of comics, graphic novels, cartooning, animation, gaming, sci-fi/fantasy/horror writers, film-makers, actors, directors, producers and other-related creative mediums.

• Enable participants in said-creative fields to share, learn and pool from more experienced individuals or parties in the various aspects of the creation, publishing, film-making, marketing and distribution of said-creative fields related content.

• To educate and express to the greater public and community of the said-creative fields in the areas of LGBT and our Allies presence and contributions to comic-book history, film history, gaming history along with the current trends within those various histories and fields, as well as the impact of queer/LGBT contributions to comics on popular culture and other analytical topics.

• To provide awareness and a fundraising forum for BENT-CON to build and nurture an often under-appreciated aspect of the contributions expressed from an LGBT/queer perspective within a global pop-culture.

I'll have to be sure to check it out next year as it's held in Burbank, which is close by me. I can always use more gay geeks in my life :)

Alien Nation: The Newcomers Podcast Ep 22

Download from itunes http://bit.ly/itunesAlienNation Listen on Stitcher Radio http://app.stitcher.com/browse/feed/32281/episodes or Listen/ Get Direct Download http://Aliennationpodcast.com  

Show Notes

Brothers Kenny and Michael Mittleider review and discuss a short lived but very socially aware TV series from the late 80's early 90's ALIEN NATION. Each podcast we will review a single episode in sequential order starting with the Pilot. Will give you our thoughts on the episode as well as some fun behind the scenes information.

Today we cover Season 1, Episode 22 - Green Eyes
Directed by Tom Chehak
Written by Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider
Original air date May 7th 1990

Plot Summary: Matt and George investigate a series of Newcomer deaths which exposes a plot by the National Purist Front (NPF). Their plan is to eliminate the entire Newcomer population. At the same time, Matt and George need to reexamine their relationship when George gets a promotion, which puts him at a higher rank than Matt.  Matt tries to suppress his growing feelings for Cathy by dating another woman.

Deck Work & Puppet Sex

Today Aaron and I got up and I made some biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Then we started working on the front deck. We removed the front railing and laid it over some plastic. We then started sanding the deck down. When Chris was here for the surprise "let's help Kenny day" he manage to sand the front deck with the deck sander but obviously he couldn't get into the corners or where the railing was. So Aaron and I sanded those areas with a small hand sander and also by hand.

Once we were done sanding we went over and started spray painting the railing, I had purchased two cans of black spray paint and figured it would be enough.Well it wasn't.. we did manage to spray the front of the railings but that was it.

I went back to the deck and tested a patch of wood with the dark walnut stain that I had gotten. It made the deck look like it had been on fire, it was a sooty black. So we made a trip to Lowes to pick up more spray paint and to also find a lighter stain.

I arrived home with a special walnut and it looked alot lighter on the can, we I did a test patch and it was a bit lighter then the sooty black one but not by much. I never knew staining could be so difficult. Well I decided to go with the special walnut as I didn't want to back to Lowes again.. I just wanted to get it done. Arron started on one end and I started on the other and we got about half of the deck stained before we had to go.

Tonight Aaron and I along with a few of our friends were heading out to see a play that our friend Josh was in. His collage preforming class was putting on a show called Avenue Q. I've heard great things about this play but never seen it... so I was not only looking forward to the play but also to my buddy being in it.

Aaron and I picked up our friends Jes and Dallas and made the 83.5 mile trek out to Chaffey Collage. We got down there a bit early and after driving around for what felt like forever we finally settled on Chili's for dinner. We got to the collage around 6:30 and ran into Nicole and her roommate as well as Josh's family (Mom, Dad & Brother). Got our tickets, got in line and made our way into the theater. We found some prime seats. A few minutes later our friends Robert and Cait arrived and joined the group. I think our entire group took up 2/3's of a row.

In case you'd never heard of Avenue Q here's is some info about it. Avenue Q is an American musical in two acts, it's an "autobiographical and biographical" coming-of-age parable, addressing and satirizing the issues and anxieties associated with entering adulthood. Its characters lament that as children, they were assured by their parents, and by children's television programs such as PBS's Sesame Street, that they were "special" and "could do anything"; but as adults, they have discovered to their surprise and dismay that in the real world their options are limited, and they are no more "special" than anyone else. The musical is notable for the use of puppets, animated by unconcealed puppeteers, alongside human actors.

Josh plays Brian one of the humans. The only song I knew from this play was The Internet Is For Porn. This isn't for kids, it's a very adult show... there's even puppet sex.

I loved every minute of it. The set was well done, the actors were great, especially some of the actors/puppeteers they were just amazing. I had a hard time choosing between watching the puppet or the actor. I loved the songs, so much so that I'll probably go out and get the soundtrack. Josh of course was awesome, but then again I'm a bit bias :)

The play just flew by and before I knew it, it was over. We got to say a quick hi to Josh before heading back home. I had to drop off Jes and Dallas first before heading home with Aaron who was once again crashing at my place.

It was a good day.. got some work done on the house but also got to spend some time with friends and watch a friend in a play that I've wanted to see for years.

More House Stuff & FaerieCon

Today I spent the majority of the day painting my house. I've been focusing on the front of the house as my realtor is coming over on Tuesday to go over the details of selling my house. She's also going to take pictures so I want the front to look the best it can look. So I was outside from 9am to 5pm and I am exhausted.

Come the evening my friend Aaron drove up from San Diego and crashed at my place as he is going to help me with my house stuff tomorrow. He arrived around 8pm and we just hung out, talked and watched some TV. I was just a lump and really wasn't up for much.

During the day on one of my mini breaks I saw a post on Facebook from Kristen Nedopak. She posted a picture of herself in a Faerie outfit and the caption said "on my way to FaerieCon". I had never heard of this con and I'm a big Faerie fan. One thing that I've been trying to find the past several years is a perfect male Faerie drawing/picture/artwork. Anyways I immediately had to look it up. These are entire cons dedicated to the Faerie World.. there are several of them every year. Faerie Con West, Faerie Con East and FaerieWorld. They last an entire weekend with live music, masquerade balls, Fantasy authors & artists and it just looks like a ton of fun. Next years Faerie Con West and FaerieWorld are being held in Oregon. Depending on where I am in my life I might give one of these a go. They look similar to Renaissance Festivals, which I love.

"Get Fit" Week 14

So last week I finally hit my goal of getting below 200, I know it wasn't that far below (198.5) but even a half a pound below would have made me happy. I've been busy with getting my house prepped to go on the market that I have let my "working out" fall by the waste side. By the time it's dark outside I'm exhausted. I have forced myself to do the elliptical a few times this week but not nearly as much as I should. But with that said I am happy to say that I have kept my weight below 200 all week long (I weighted myself every morning). And as it is Friday I weighted myself this morning for my official "Get Fit" weight in and I'm happy to say that my current weight is 197 lbs.

So that's 1.5 lbs less this week. And that also means I have met my goal for the week. If you don't remember my new goal is to lose at least a pound a week. I still have lots of house stuff to do but I'm hoping to get back into my work out routine so I can lose more then just a pound a week... here's hoping.

Birthdays, Hobbits and Wars.. Oh My!!

Lots of stuff happen today.. so I'm going to split this blog into two parts.. personal stuff and geeky stuff.

Here's some personal stuff. I want to wish my favorite sister-in-law Lora a very Happy Birthday. I know what your saying.. she's my only sister-in-law but that doesn't mean she can't be my favorite :)

Was out of paint so I had to go to Lowes and while there I got the paint but I also got spray paint and wood stain as I have decided to spruce up the front of my house by finishing the sanding and then staining of my front deck and I'm also going to paint the railing black.

When I got home I didn't continue painting since it was later in the day so instead I taped off the trimming on the other side of my house (the last side of the house to paint). I also cleaned out my small garage, still have more to do but got a good start on it. My main project was my front door. I replace the door knob and gave it a fresh coat of paint.

I finished my day by editing my MASH 4077 Podcast, I started late last night and spent only a few hours on it today so I still have a few more hours left of editing.. I should get it done in the next few days.

Now for some geeky stuff. They officially announced the release date for Star Wars Episode VII. Mark your calendars for December 18, 2015. That's a little over two years and one month away. I already have a countdown on my iPhone... I can't wait.

Peter Jackson released his 12th Production Diary. I have enjoy each and everyone of these but they haven't done many for the Desolation of Smaug. For the first movie he did 10 Production Diaries but so far he's only done 2 for this movie. He does promise more to come so will see. The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug comes out in just over a month. Check out the latest diary below.

And speaking of The Hobbit, I found out today that some of Wave 2 of The Hobbit action figures have been released. Wave 2 brings us three brand new 6″ figures with Radagast, Azog, and Legolas Greenleaf while the 3.75″ line gets a very cool Mirkwood box set with Legolas, Tauriel, Thranduil, Fili, and Kili. Of course I had to get them.. they'll be an early Christmas present to myself.

They are also supposedly 2 packs coming out as well, Beorn and Gandalf & Azog and Thorin Oakenshield. Also some additional 3.75 scale box sets including Thorin Oakenshield Adventure Pack: Nori, Ori, Dori, Gloin and Thorin. Bilbo Baggins Burglar Pack: Bifur, Bombur, Bofur, Oin and Exclusive Invisible Bilbo. But I haven't seen any of these anywhere... yet. I stopped collecting like I use to but I couldn't resist these awesome action figures.

Thorin Oakenshield Adventure Pack: Nori, Ori, Dori, Gloin and Thorin

Bilbo Baggins Burglar Pack: Bifur, Bombur, Bofur, Oin and Exclusive 3.75" Invisible Bilbo

- See more at: http://www.collector-actionfigures.com/dash/blog/new-lineup-from-the-hobbit-desolation-of-smaug-revealed/#sthash.6FZR30cn.dpuf

Thorin Oakenshield Adventure Pack: Nori, Ori, Dori, Gloin and Thorin

Bilbo Baggins Burglar Pack: Bifur, Bombur, Bofur, Oin and Exclusive 3.75" Invisible Bilbo

- See more at: http://www.collector-actionfigures.com/dash/blog/new-lineup-from-the-hobbit-desolation-of-smaug-revealed/#sthash.6FZR30cn.dpuf

Thorin Oakenshield Adventure Pack: Nori, Ori, Dori, Gloin and Thorin

Bilbo Baggins Burglar Pack: Bifur, Bombur, Bofur, Oin and Exclusive 3.75" Invisible Bilbo

- See more at: http://www.collector-actionfigures.com/dash/blog/new-lineup-from-the-hobbit-desolation-of-smaug-revealed/#sthash.6FZR30cn.dpuf

Painting and Podcasts

Got up at 7am, had a bit of breakfast, checked email and then was outside painting by 8am. It was still windy but I couldn't put it off anymore. I didn't get anything done yesterday and I swore I wouldn't do that again.

It was tough painting in the wind, especially when I'm on my 20 foot ladder on my tip toes trying to reach the underside of the roof with a paint brunch. But I persisted and by 4pm I was done with the first coat of paint on the side of my house (the one Will and I prepped a few days ago). I would have gone another hour until sundown but I had ran out of paint (so far I've used 10 gallons).

So I headed inside and forced myself to edit my next Alien Nation: The Newcomers Podcast which is due to be released on the 10th. It went fairly well, a spent a total of four hours editing. I also did a bit of prep work on an upcoming MASH 4077 Podcast.

All is all today was a complete 180 from yesterday.. need to have more days like today.

A Day of Rest

Today I was all prepared to paint the side of my house as Will and I prepped it yesterday and got all the trim taped off. Well once again mother nature has something else in mind... Winds.

It was so windy that it was blowing over my ladders, it blew off 1/3 of the paper that Will and I had taped up around the windows... it was pretty bad.

So instead I should have done things around the house, I have some major cleaning that needs to be done. I also have several podcasts that will be due in the coming week so I could edit those.. but what did I do.. nothing. I caught up on some TV that I recorded on my DVR.

I was physically exhausted and since it was so windy outside it gave me the excuse to not paint and just chill for a day. I know I have only one week until my realtor comes over and assess my place and take pictures, but I couldn't bring myself to do anything. I wanted to be lazy so I was lazy.

Of course at the end of the night I'm mad and disappointed in myself but I made a deal with myself to have no more lazy days until after next Tuesday and then I can treat myself to a day at Disneyland.

Painting & Gaming With My Buddy

So I finished painting the front of the house... woohoo!! It took a bit longer then I was hoping as most of my painting has, but it's done and it looks pretty good. Around 1pm I got a message from my buddy Will asking if I needed assistance with painting. Of course I said yes, I could use all the help I can get. He arrived around 2:30pm and got started on taping the trim on the side of the house. By the time night had fallen he and I had gotten all the trim on the side of the house tapped off and ready for painting tomorrow.

Afterwards we headed out to Chipotle for some dinner and then came back to my place and played Injustice: Gods Among Us for the next four hours. That is one of my all time favorite games, since I only have one Xbox controller, we played the single player game. So instead of battling each other we followed the awesome storyline of the game. And Will and I would trade off back and forth between battles.

 It was a good day... got some work done on my house and I got to spend some quality time with my buddy Will. Thanks Will for helping out.

Just Another Lazy Sunday... Not!!!

Today I tackled painting the front of the house. I had worked on the front earlier this year but I used the wrong kind of painters tape and when I went to remove it, it took off the paint as well. There was lots of damage done. So I taped up everything yesterday and today I planned to get the front done.. or at least the first coat. The problem with the front is that there is alot of trim, so it's not as easy as just rolling on the paint. Also my house has a texture on it so you have to do several passes to get the paint in the crevices.

So I spent the entire day from 8am to 5pm painting and by the end I had gotten 90% of the front done. I still had a few touch ups to do as paint would get under the taped off area. But I'm very happy with my progress. I should be able to get that done first thing tomorrow and then work on the right side of my house.

Today Daylight savings ended and we gained an extra hour, which is great for sleeping but it also means it gets dark earlier. So the sun started to set at 5pm cutting my painting time down by an hour or so. I'm not a fan of it getting dark earlier as it make it feel so late and it's only 6pm. I'm sure I'll adjust, just in time for Daylight savings to begin again :)

Time With My Family

Today was all about my family. Between My Gimpy Life S2 shoot and being sick for two weeks I haven't seen my family in a month and a half and if you know me that's a long time. I normally like to go every few weeks. So today my plan was to hang with my family all day.

My brother and sister-in-law were having a small BBQ with friends so I got to join in the festivities. Not only did I get to play with my nephew and niece but also several other young kids of their friends. I played with the four of them for hours on end. It's exhausting running after a 4 year old, two 3 year old's and a 2 year old.  But I loved every minute of it.

During the evening I got to go out with my dad and have a nice dinner at P.F. Changs.  I spent about eight hours with the family and it was a lot of fun. Hopefully it won't be another month and a half before I see them again.

Mid-Life Crisis - 2 Years Later

I was feeling kind of blue lately and was going through my old blog posts when I came across this blog post that I posted 2 years ago today. What's crazy is I could have posted this blog post today and everything in it would be the same. Two years have passed and nothing has changed, how is that possible? I know I feel like I've been treading water for a while now but I really didn't think it was that bad. I need a major change in my life. I'm hoping the house sells quickly and once this is out from under me I can start to rebuild my life.

Mid-Life Crisis Posted on November 1st 2011

Okay so October is over and as many of you may have noticed via my blog, facebook or twitter that I've been out of sorts lately. I think I'm going through some sort of mid life crisis. I've had some great highs this past month like the times spent with some of the best friends a guy could ever ask for and then there are have been some super lows like when I'm home alone for a weekend struggling to motivate myself to do anything. I've had friends ask if I'm depressed and suicidal. I admit I have been depressed from time to time but I don't think I would call it clinical depression. As for suicidal, defiantly not, I have never once in my life consider that.. so no worries there. Some have suggested that I see a professional, now I'm not opposed to the idea but I'd really like to try and work this out for myself before taking that step.

I am extremely lonely, even though I have some of the best friends that I have ever had in my entire life, I still feel alone. After hanging out with them and feeling on top of the world, I come home to this big house empty house in the middle of no where. I really think this is all fallout from the break up. Having someone in your life everyday for 8 years then nothing is going to take some getting use to. I felt as if I had gotten over Harry and was moving on with my life, but I guess deep down I'm still struggling with the loneliness.

I feel as thought I've hit a crossroads in life and I have to make some big decisions. I'm 41 (halfway though my life), jobless (really not sure if I want to go back into Post Production), and single (after an 8 relationship). Where do I go from here, what do I want to do with the next 40 years of my life. I need to really look at my life and figure out what direction I want to go.

I mean when I was younger and I though about my life at 40 this is not what I had in mind. I saw myself, as many of us do. With a loving partner of many years, 1 or 2 kids, a house and a satisfying job and right now I have the least important one of them all, a house.

I'm going to take this month (November) and really work out what my next steps will be to help me reach my future goal of partner, family, and satisfying career. I'm sure things won't just click into place, it's going to be a struggle but I'm hopeful that there is a light at the end of the dark tunnel.

The Book Thief - My Review

With my garage done I focused on the front of my house. There is a lot of trim on the front so I knew it would take me a while to get it all taped off.  And as expected I manged to get everything taped off before I had to leave for some evening plans.

Today I was heading out to Hollywood to see a pre-release screening of a new movie called The Book Thief. My friend Jes was joining me so I stopped by her place in North Hollywood and picked her up. We got to the theater area with a few hours to spare so we looked for a local place to eat dinner. After walking a few blocks in the opposite direction we didn't find anywhere to eat.We then headed back to the theater area and right next store was this bar/restaurant. The prices were decent and it seemed to be the only place around. And it just so happened that food was very tasty.

After dinner we went next door to the theater. The screening was happening at the Saban Theatre. The Saban Theatre is an historic theatre in Beverly Hills, California, formerly known as the Fox Wilshire Theater. It is an Art Deco structure designed by architect S. Charles Lee and is considered a classic Los Angeles landmark. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 3, 2012. The theatre opened as the Fox Wilshire Theatre on September 19, 1930 and for several decades was one of 20th Century Fox's premiere theaters, serving as a movie palace until a 1981 renovation converted it into a stage venue. It is now regularly used as a live performance venue for comedy, music, television, film shoots, screenings, and community intercultural events such as the Paley Television Festival.

Once I walked in I remembered being in this theatre before. And at the time I couldn't remember what I was in there for but it may have been for one of the Paley Festival Events. The theatre is gorgeous from the lobby to the main theatre. PGA (Producer's Guild of America) is currently trying to establish this theater as the "main" theater for all our movie screenings... which would be awesome.

We sat down and after a brief introduction the movie started. I had not heard of The Book Thief before I got the invitation. Here's a brief synopsis of the book. The Book Thief is a novel by Australian author Markus Zusak. Narrated by Death, the book is set in Nazi Germany, a place and time when the narrator notes he was extremely busy. It describes a young girl's relationship with her foster parents, the other residents of their neighborhood, and a Jewish fist-fighter who hides in her home during the escalation of World War II. First published in 2005, the book has won numerous awards and was listed on the The New York Times Best Seller list for over 230 weeks.

Now 20th Century Fox turned it into a movie. The Book Thief tells the story of an extraordinary, spirited young girl sent to live with a foster family in WWII Germany. Intrigued by the only book she brought with her, she begins collecting books as she finds them. With the help of her new parents and a secret guest under the stairs, she learns to read and creates a magical world that inspires them all.

Here's my review: This was an amazing movie. If I had one word to describe it, it would be "BEAUTIFUL" The story is heart warming and heart wrenching, and the acting is incredible. I found it very interesting that we are seeing the beginnings World War II through the eyes of the Germans. I can't go into great detail here as I don't want to spoil anything. All I will say is if you get a chance to see this movie, please do so. It's defiantly going to be an Oscar contender. I give The Book Thief a solid A

After the movie there was a Q&A with the author of the book, two producers and the young star of the movie Sofia Nelisse. The panel had some very interesting and entertaining stories about how this movie was made. Sofia was adorable, she's a typical teenager. It was nice way to end the evening.

"Get Fit" Week 13

Well it finally happened I dropped below 200lbs. I have not been below 200 pounds in over eight years. Now the hard part is keeping myself below 200 lbs and continuing to lose weight. My next goal is to try and lose 1 pound every week. I know it will be hard but if I don't set myself goals I don't know if I will push myself as much as I should. My current weight is 198.5.

Painting the Garage - Complete

So I finally finished painting my garage. Between being sick and the weather it took much longer then I had expected, but I guess that's always the case. I think it turned out pretty good. I had to keep telling myself that it doesn't need to be perfect as I'm selling it. Of course not all went as planned... when I was done I went to open up the garage door of the smaller section and I guess the paint was stronger then the garage door opener and the garage door opener started to move but he door was painting shut so it did not and the next thing I knew it pulled itself away from the back of the door. So now I have to try and fix that in the next few days. Ugh.. if it's not one thing it's another. But I am happy that I'm done with the painting. Next up I need to finish painting the house. It's already 1/4 done as I painted the back of the house last year and the trim was done recently. Just have to paint the front and the two sides. I need to be done by Nov 12th as that is when my realtor is coming over to take pictures and discuss price. I can't wait until this whole ordeal is over. I will never paint my house by myself again.

Simpsons Couch Gag & Babylon 5

First of all I came across one of the best Simpson Couch gags ever.. it's going to air this Sunday. You can watch it below:

Today was TV night with my buddy Robert. We are continuing our Babylon 5 first time viewing. Today we finished off season 2 with episodes 21 & 22 and started season 3 with episodes 1 & 2.

First up was S2 Ep 21 "Comes The Inquisitor" G'Kar rallies the Narns on the station to uphold the resistance effort against the Centauri. Delenn undergoes a torturous test of her allegiance to Kosh by a bizarre emissary called Sebastian.

This was a hard episode to watch, it's was tough seeing Delenn be tortured by this horrible person for no apparent reason. He was "testing" her but not really asking any questions. He just wanted to see if she would break before dying. I'm glad when Sheridan came to her rescue and both were found to be worthy of this approaching fight. Of course it's revealed that this "Inquisitor" is from Earth's past and he is Jack The Ripper and has been working/punished by the Vorlons for hundreds of years.

I like the fact that Sheridan helped G'Kar who I just feel is getting the raw end of every deal. And I loved Garibaldi's interaction with G'Kar by telling him not to use Babylon 5 to get black marketed weapons but then turns around and gives him a name of a guy who will take care of everything he needs discretely. Garibaldi is such a good guy.

Next was the finale for season 2 Ep 22 "The Fall of Night" Earth reacts to the Centauri's rapid invasion of several worlds — but it's not what Sheridan expected. Amazing revelations are made about the Shadows and the Vorlons.

Wow what a finale. I'm hating the Centauri more and more and Earth allying themselves with them was horrible. Sheridan was amazing in this episode, loved that he went to full on battle mode to save the Narn battleship and destroyed the Centauri battle cruiser. Londo and the rest of the Centauri's need to be kicked off Babylon 5 (but I know this won't happen now, especially with the Earth alliance).

It was great to finally "see" Kosh. It's interesting that he appears differently for each race of aliens and for most he appeared as a recognizable "god like" figure from this history.

I wasn't sad when Keffer died, I mean his character was never fully developed so when it happen I thought "oh well". Of course he was able to get footage of the Shadow creatures ship

I really liked how the episode ended with Ivanova reflecting upon recent events, noting that while Babylon 5's mission as "our last, best hope for peace" seems to have failed, it has instead become something greater: a hope for victory.

Third was the premiere episode of season 3 Ep 1 "Matters of Honor" Marcus Cole comes to Babylon 5 and the crew receive a new ship to use in the coming conflict. David Endawi of Earthforce Special Intelligence arrives on Babylon 5 to investigate the sighting of the Shadow vessel.

Great way to begin season three. Loved the new Vorlon/Minbari ship White Star, I'm sure will be seeing alot more of her in the future. They introduced a new character Marcus who is the new Ranger aboard Babylon 5. They revealed that the PSI Corp on Earth (who is pretty much running the government) is in leagues with The Shadow race. And Londo showed a shred of decently by trying to break off his alignment with Morden (Shadow liaison). Of course it's to late and he's done way to much damage, he's not going to get out of it that easy, nor should he.. he's made his bed now he has to lie with the ultimate evil.

And the final episode of the night was S3 Ep 2 "Convictions" A series of random bombings threaten the station, with one explosion seriously injuring Lennier. Lennier saved Mollari from the explosion and was injured in his place. This affects Mollari deeply. Brother Theo and a group of Monks from Earth arrive on Babylon 5. There are other pilgrimages to Babylon 5 seen in this episode as the news of Kosh's appearance spreads to the religious communities of various civilizations.

Compared to the other three episodes this was a very mild episode. Nothing to do with the approaching War. I've been a fan of Lennier for a while but this episode showed what good person he is. He sacrificed himself to save Londo (I actually yelled at the TV that he should have left Londo to die). But we do get some great moments with Londo and G'Kar stuck in an elevator. G'Kar is hilarious, not wanting to help Londo get them out, he'd rather die but first watch Londo die. I like when G'Kar was telling the Earth official about the mysterious ship and he was right but the Earth official just shrugged it off. There was another scene that I liked.. when the Earth official shows the footage to Sheridan and Delenn and Delenn says she has never seen that ship before. And I turned to Robert and said "wow.. she just lied" (Mimbari's don't lie) but then Robert said "maybe she's never seen the Shadows ship before so technically it's not a lie and sure enough when Sheridan questioned this she said exactly that. I love that this show remembers all the details, even minor ones from past episodes/seasons. I guess that's one of the great benefits of having one writer for the entire series.

Another great TV night with Robert, Babylon 5 is rocking and everyone says season three when crazy things start happening on this show. Been loving it since the first episode.. can't wait to see where it goes next.