SDCC, Cosplaying & Comikaze Con

San Diego Comic Con is just a week away. I've been up a down about this con. I enjoy going just to hang out with friends (some I only see at cons), but the past few years my big thing has been cosplaying. I love doing it and it's just so much fun. But since I've been jobless for over a year I haven't had the funds to really put together any new cosplay costumes. I had planned to do a LOTR/Hobbit Dwarf as well as my favorite Hobbit, Samwise Gamgee. But that's not going to happen.. at least not this year.

Now I still have my "Frodo" Hobbit cosplay but the feet have been well used and I don't know if they will hold up for another SDCC. I've tried to get new feet made the past few years but because of circumstances this hasn't happened. So this year it's not looking like I'm going to be able to cosplay which is really bumming me out.

In other con news I was approved for a professional badge for Comikaze Con in Los Angeles this November. I went to Comikaze a few years back and had a blast and found out last year that they were doing "pro" badges and applied.

Thank goodness for professional badges as I wouldn't be going to any con if they didn't offer these badges for free.

Podcast, Tattoos, Arrow & Fun Videos

Released a new episode of my MASH 4077 podcast today. It's Ep. 83, covering S4 Ep13 "Dear Peggy" Download from itunes tinyurl.com/MASH4077itunes , listen on Stitcher Radio ow.ly/iZJIz or Listen, get direct download from our main website MASH4077Podcast.com

I came across these amazing Simpsons tattoo sleeves that someone got done and it reignited the itch for a new tattoo that's I've had for a while now. I have gotten one with every birthday starting with my 40th. So at 40 I got my Harry Potter tattoo, at 41 I got my Star Wars/R2D2 tattoo and at 42 I got my Lord of the Rings tattoo.

Now I had planned for a Star Trek tattoo for my 43rd (which passed last September) and I had my friend Matthew design this really awesome image and I was going to go with that but then my friend Greg Aronowitz mentioned that he wanted to take a crack at designing something for me so I figured I'd give it a go. Well Greg has been super busy and though he has said he started on something I really don't think I'm going to see anything in the near future. So I'm going to go with my buddy Matt's design which, as I mentioned, is awesome. I hope to get it just after comic con and then I'll plan for another one for my 44th birthday this September.

Today I spent quite a few hours watching more of Season One of Arrow. I knew if I was going to start that I couldn't just do one or two episodes. I actually watched episodes seven to eleven. I'm almost halfway though season one. I could of course have watched more but I did want to get some things done today.

I'm still loving this series, with every episode it gets better and better. I'm told that season two is really good, so I'm looking forward to watching that season as well. I'm really hoping to watch season one and two before season three starts this fall. I'd love to be up to date with this series so I can discuss it with friends when new episodes air.

There are two videos I want to share with you guys.. first one is R2D2 and other astro-droids dancing to Michael Jackson music.. two of my favorite things.. couldn't get any better.

 

And here's a trailer for Disney's new movie called Big Hero 6. Just from this preview it looks to be another hit!!

A Day At Disneyland

Today Lydia and I went to Disneyland, we got there around 9:30am and stayed until around 10pm. The weather was strange as the temps roughly stayed between high 70's in the early morning to the high 80's during the day. It rained several times and was cloudy at times. But none of that took away any of the fun of Disneyland and Disney California Adventures.

We did both parks several times... we started at DCA and about mid day went over to Disneyland until the evening and then went back to DCA. It was a fun day.

We to go check out the Guardians of the Galaxy sneak preview. They replaced Captain EO (Temporary) with this sneak peek. It starts off with what I assume is the opening of the movie. Not that we didn't know this from the trailers but there is a ton of comedy in this movie... at least there was in the opening sequence.. along with a ton of action and cool sfx. After the five minute open it then turned into your regular trailer showing clips from throughout the movie.

I was already excited to see this movie, but like the Maleficent sneak peek I saw a few months back, this made me even more excited for this movie. August can't get here soon enough!!!

Geeks Inherit the Box Office in 2013

I wanted to see how many movies out of the top 25 last year were actually "geek" related. Being a geek has been making it's way into mainstream for many years now, one place where it's most evident would be at the movies. Out of the Top 25 movies in 2013, 19 of them were Science Fiction, Fantasy, Animated and/or Horror (all geek topics). Why do you think that is? What's the appeal. I mean I know why I love those movies but it got me thinking about the general public. Do those movies have the same effect/meaning for non-geeks as they do with life long geeks? Do all humans have a bit a geek in them and now that it's "okay" to be a geek they are letting their geek flag fly? Will it last or is it just a phase? What are your thoughts?? Leave me a comment below or on Twitter/Facebook

Box Office Mojo is the top site for getting information about box office sales for movies, both here and abroad. You can check out their website HERE. I captured a picture from their site and placed red dots next to the movies I felt were geek related...

SDCC, Doctor Who & MASH Podcast

The final day of San Diego Comic Con schedule programing has been released and I don't think there is a single thing I want to see on Sunday. So that will be my day to walk around the floors, taking pictures of cosplayers and maybe even cosplay myself. If you want to check out all four days of programming you can HERE.

They released the first official full length trailer for the up coming season of Doctor Who. I've been looking forward to seeing this season as we get a new Doctor and that's always an exciting time for a Whovian. Check out the trailer below.

 

I recorded six new episodes of my MASH 4077 Podcast. We had all three hosts back together again (Al was absent last time). 

And what normally would take us about three hours to record we got all six episodes recorded in just over 1 hour and 15 minutes. We're like a well oiled machine now. I mean we've done over 90+ episodes over the past three years so it's pretty much like clockwork for us now. Now I just have to edit them up and prepare them to be released over the next few months. Thanks Meds and Al for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk MASH with me.

SDCC, MASH, Soldiers & a Housewarming

San Diego Comic Con Saturday programing has been released. Like with Friday there are a ton of things I'd like to see but only one that is a "must" see and that's the Warner Bros Panel Saturday morning at 10am. There going to be presenting The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Not sure if any of the cast members will be there but I'm sure they'll have a few surprises up their sleeves. It's in Hall H which is the largest of the rooms (holds over 7000 people) but this is also the room where people camp out overnight in line to get in. I'm going to do my best to get there early but I won't camp out overnight there. So will see if I make it in or not.

Spent about three hours today watching six episodes of MASH. I am recording podcasts tomorrow and I always like to watch the episodes I'm about to record so I can refresh my memory. Most episodes I can remember from the description but it's always nice to watch them as well.

I made the mistake of watching the reunion between a dog and soldier on you tube and 3 hours later I was still watching soldiers reunions.. not only with their dogs but with family and friends. I was a blubbering ball of tears afterwards. I should have know better as I'm a sucker for a heartwarming video.

During the evening I went over to my buddy Robert's place for his house warming party. He and his girlfriend Cait move in a few blocks away from me here in Noho. I brought over about 15 beers that I have had in my fridge. It was hot and I walked over with them. Felt I was carry a ton of bricks.

Once there we played some Mario Cart 8, snacked on some chicken, played a game of Ticket to Ride and a few hours of Cards Against Humanity.

It was a fun evening with friends. I stumbled home just after midnight. I love living within walking distance.

Blogging, SDCC & Mario Bros

Today I spent a good amount of the day blogging about my vacation. It takes me about an hour to blog one post. But it's fun reliving those days. It's been a few months since I've been home but I miss Ireland/England.. especially my friends over there. One day I'll make my way back. But for now I'm just happy to finish up my blogs.

San Diego Comic Con has released it's Friday programing. Lot's of great things.. Fox, Marvel, Jim Henson panels but nothing that I "must" go to like with Thursday. I may try and cosplay as a Hobbit if my feet hold out one more day. If not I'll just enjoy walking the floors and visiting with friends.

I came across these videos on Facebook and they made me laugh.. figured I'd share them with you all. Both of Super Mario Bros related... enjoy!!

Goonies, SDCC and Cups

San Diego Comic Con Programming for Thursday has been released. And there are so many awesome panels that I wouldn't mind attending but the one that caught my attention the most and is a must see for me...

Goonies: Never Say Die Panel - With Richard Donner's announcement that a sequel to his beloved 1985 classic The Goonies is on the way, join Goonies cast members to explore how it became an iconic movie for an entire generation, why the film has stood the test of time, and possible insights into the much anticipated sequel. Clare Kramer (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) moderates a panel of cast members and special surprise guests, including a Q&A session. Thursday July 24, 2014 6:00pm - 7:00pm Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront

Super excited of this as The Goonies is one of my all time favorite movies. I was 14/15 years old when it came out and I so wanted to be a Goonie and go on adventures. They haven't announced which cast members will be there but I'm excited to see who shows up and hear any news about the long awaited sequel.

I also wanted to share a video with you guy that was posted on Facebook. I guess I'm late to the party as it was posted in September of 2013 and has over 3 million views.. but I guess it's better late then never. I had never heard the song before, which I really like and I like her performance and choice of instrument. Check it out below.

President Snow PSA & My New Patrons

President Snow released another PSA for Panem, but things didn't go as planned.

I'm really liking these viral video for the next Hunger Games movie Mockingjay part 1. Can't wait to see what comes next.

I want to thank my first patrons for Geekyfanboy Proudctions. Anthony Thompson, Aaron Trahan, Doug Rusley, Steven Cain, Robert F. Ludwick and Tamar Curry. Thank you guys for being amazing friends and always being so supportive in all that I do. If you'd like to become a patron of mine you can do so HERE.

Become a Patron of Mine

Besides all the geeky stuff that has happen today I finished editing my next MASH 4077 Podcast, it will be released on July 15th. I even started on the next podcast which won't be out until August 1st. Currently trying to setup a time that my brother and I can get together to record our next Alien Nation podcast.

Speaking of podcasts.. I created a Patreon account, to help pay for my podcasting hobby. Between URL fees, Podbean fees, equipment updates and various other podcast related items I have spent over $10,000 the past five years. Luckily I've been very fortunate that "listeners" have helped alot with donations. But since I've been out of work for over a year it's getting harder and harder to justify spending what little money I have on this hobby. But with that said I love doing podcasts and creating other types of online content.

That's when I came across Patreon. It's kind of like Kickstarter/Indiegogo which enables fans to give ongoing support to their favorite creators. Unlike Kickstarter which is a one time donation this is a monthly thing. You can donate any dollar amount and at the end of every month you will automatically donate that amount to help keep me creating new online content/podcasts. So if you enjoy my podcasts, blogs or various other online things I do then please consider becoming a patron of mine. Thank you. Here's the link to my Patreon account. http://www.patreon.com/geekyfanboy

C&H, Diagon Alley & Pottermore

Woke up to a Calvin and Hobbes post on Facebook that brought me to tears. I'm not sure who wrote it but if you're a Calvin and Hobbes fan this is a must read. Just make sure you are not in a public place and have plenty of tissues. You can read it HERE.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Diagon Alley opens today. I have been seeing pictures of crazy fans filling every inch of that place all day today. There's even a picture of a waiting sign for the new Gringots ride that says the wait time is 460 minutes.

I'm a HUGE Harry Potter fan but I would never go on opening day of one of these parks. It took me a year and a half to get to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Hogsmeade and it was still packed but nothing like it was on opening day. I'll probably go to Diagon Alley sometime in 2016... I think waiting a year is a good plan.

There's even more Potter news... Are you a member of Pottermore? If so you know that J.K. Rowling has been releasing a ton of new information about the Harry Potter World on that site. Well today she released her first short story about a current day Harry Potter and friends. It's an article written by Rita Skeeter so of course it's a gossip column but even so you get a good idea of what the gang has been up to since the infamous Battle of Hogwarts. If you are a member of Pottermore you should check it out there. But for whatever reason you are not a member of Pottermore then should sign up.. and if you don't have time to do that you can go to this WEBSITE where they have the entire 1500 short story posted.

I Hate My Voice...

This came up in a Twitter conversation and it got me thinking on how far I'm come on this topic. From my early teens and into my twenties I had a hard time listening to my recorded voice. My voice is higher then the average male and I use to get made fun of all the time in grade school, which made me become less vocal and known as the "quiet" one. When I was a teen and would answer the phone I would always get. "How you doing today madam" or "Good evening miss.. is the man of the house available". It use to drive me crazy and I'm sure it lead to some of my insecurity's.

In collage I took a "child literary" course and for our final we had pick three children books with a common theme and present them in front of the entire class. Now I have a huge fear of public speaking and as I mentioned, not liking my voice played into that. But I sucked it up and presented my three books like I was talking to a group of five year olds. When I was done fellow students would critique my performance and the biggest positive/complement was the tone of my voice. That it was perfect for talking to children. That I have a very sweet and gentle voice, one that would appeal to kids. This was the first time I had heard anything positive about my voice and it felt great.

Jump ahead to 2005 and the birth of podcasts. One of the first ones that I ever listen to was called Treks in Sci Fi. Rico Dostie was the host and he was charming and funny and I was hooked from the first beta episode. I started sending in audio comments that he would play on his show. It was strange hearing myself on his podcasts but also very exciting. To know that listeners of his podcasts were hearing me and my thoughts on whatever topic he was talking about was amazing.

Slowly but surely over the years I grew to be comfortable my voice. I also can say that it had deepen a bit over time. In 2007 several members of the Treks in Sci Fi forums started doing a RPG Star Trek game and in 2008 Jen and I started the Treks in Sci Fi RPG podcast, it would be a supplement to the regular Treks in Sci Fi podcast. So now I was hearing my voice on a monthly bases and the more I listen to more I got use to it and not really care what I sounded like.

Now in 2014 I can say that I am content with my voice. Would I like it to be a bit deeper.. sure but I no longer cringe when I hear myself on a podcast or doing an interview. My voice is part of me, it makes me the podcaster that I am and I am happy with that... I've come along way!!!

RGQ - Favorite Robot/Android/AI

This morning I asked a Random Geek Question on my Facebook and Twitter accounts. Here is what I asked: Who's your favorite Android - Robot - A.I. and why?

Here are some responses from Twitter -

• @MattJSour  @Geekyfanboy Rosie the Robot from the Jetsons. Because of her sexy strut...and she cleans up things.

•  @luisbermudez @Geekyfanboy Bender from Futurama. A sarcastic, drunken robot. That bends things. Called Bender. Because he drinks. So many levels.

•  @BelRand @Geekyfanboy Buffybot! Because she'll put marzipan in your pie plate, bingo!  

•  @Parademon @Geekyfanboy I'll go with Data. I just like the straight man humor.situations.  

•  @Lunachique @Geekyfanboy Data, because he is kind of like a kid, trying to find his way in his world.

• @Aradinsc @Geekyfanboy Probably S.A.R.A.H., EDI & The Andromeda Ascendant As I thought they were all interesting characters in their own right 

• @bonk_of_37 @Geekyfanboy The "man-machine" Maria from Metropolis. Top 10 all-time film for me. So ahead of its time.   

• @egspoony @Geekyfanboy V.I.C.I (Voice Input Child Identicant) "Vicky" the robot. Cause she was prob my first celebrity crush.

• @Josh_TolkienFan  @Geekyfanboy Data, Bender, R2D2, Bishop(Aliens), David(Prometheus), Hal 9000, Marcus Wright(Terminator Salvation), Roy Batty(Blade Runner) 

• @OliviaYoungers @Geekyfanboy Marvin from Hitchhiker's Guide -- he's the Eeyore of space!

And from Facebook - 

 
Doug Luberts - Marvin the Paranoid Android from "A Hitchhiker's Guide", because he's the funniest morbidly-depressed android around.

Daniel Vieira - No contest. Data Funny and innocent. 

 

Ken Todd - Kryton from Red Dwarf. Hilarious observations about people.

Andrew Stirling MacDonald - Bender from Futurama is my favorite. Runners-up include Marvin (Hitchhiker's) Legion (Mass Effect) and Morgan Primus (Star Trek: New Frontier).

Andrew Avalos - Twiki, because he's awesome...

Scarlett Weasley - Rosie from The Jetsons cuz she don't take no shit from anyone!

Data was clearly the winner getting 4 votes but two things really surprised me about this poll.. first that Rosie from The Jetsons got several votes and that R2D2 got none. 

As for me my favorite it has to be R2D2 with Data coming in a close second. Let me know who your favorite Android, Robot and/or A.I. is down in the comment section.

Podcasts and Pathfinder

It was a productive day, I managed to finish editing my next Alien Nation: The Newcomers Podcast, which will be released on July 10th. I also got a majority of my next MASH 4077 Podcast compete. That one will be released on July 15th. I only have one more pass to sweeten the audio before that one is done. Still working on officially ending my Knights of the Guild podcast, reconfiguring my Confessions of a Fanboy podcast and starting up my all geek podcast The Geek Roundtable.

During the evening it was D&D time. We finished out last session surrounded by a bunch of evil people and Dash (my character) was about to do something foolish.

~ Faced with the prospect of seeing some of his Halfling brethren forced to beat each other to death before his very eyes, Dash commanded them to stop and all eyes turned towards the party. It wasn’t long before people started to recognize them as the Fellowship of the Foaming Mug and the battle begun.

And what a battle it was! Necromancers! Witches! Inquistors! Ice Wizards! Toddlers! The bulk of the party got webbed into place in pretty short order, severely hindering their movements but they managed to hold their own with superior defensive maneuvers. While Dash jumped down to help his Halfing brothers tear down the wall keeping them trapped in the makeshift pit. Arethal and Nár saw the worst of things up top but persistence paid off and the party was victorious even though it seemed that Lord Armin escaped.

The Halflings begged the party to catch Lord Armin before he was able to report to Niliius the Necromancer as they felt their family and friends would be in danger from the dire Necromancer. The party took off with the Halfling Percy in tow and after a semi-thrilling chase that involved killing some bugbear porters, Tailyn and Ginneon managed to find him dead at the docks.

A bent old man with a gray beard that they presumed to be Nilius stepped out of the fog. He told the party that the point was well taken and that he would reconsider their employer’s offer. Not entirely sure what he was talking about, Tailyn thought it was a good idea to shoot him in the face with her bow. He calmly wiped away the blood, noted that “Adventurers always have to take the harder road,” and raised his hand to cast a spell. The dead bugbears began to stumble to their feet. ~

Another fun and exciting D&D/Pathfinder session. I can't wait to see what's next for our gang of adventurers. Thanks Dallas for being an awesome game master and putting this all together for us.

International Kissing Day

Happy International Kissing Day... Yep this is actually a thing. It started in the UK and has been adopted worldwide. I'm a big fan of kissing, though I don't get to do it often these days.

Here's one of my favorite kissing stories... If you've been to my house you may have seen my montage of pictures of me kissing various friends. It started as a joke as I was determined to kiss a straight male friend of mine. While we were at one of my movie marathons, I mentioned this to him and to my surprise he didn't have a problem kissing me. So we kissed and I got a picture of it.

Well another straight friend of mine said "why does he get to kiss you". So I said "I can kiss you too" and it kind of snowballed from there. The next thing I knew I had a line of straight guys and girls waiting to kiss me. To make it more fun with each person we did a different pose. For example, one picture had the two of us embraced in a tight hug and kissing. Another is me being pushed up against a door and the person holding my hands above my head while kissing me and so on. It was a lot of fun coming up with different ways to kiss my friends.

Snowpiercer - My Review

Got a text in the morning asking if I was interested in grabbing breakfast with some friends. I asked Lydia if she wanted to join us and she accepted. So Lydia and I walked over to the NoHo Diner and was join by Jes, Chris, Robert and Cait.

Good friends and good food, make for a good morning.

Lydia and I met up later in the afternoon with Jes, Chris and Dallas at the Laemmle theater to see Snowpiercer. I had never heard of this movie but Jes was talking about it during breakfast and it sounded interesting. Here's a brief synopsis: In a future where a failed global-warming experiment kills off all life on the planet except for a lucky few that boarded the Snowpiercer, a train that travels around the globe, where a class system evolves.

I guess there has been delays in the release of this movie. It came out in Korea back in August of 2013 and was a huge hit, It was purchased by The Weinstein Company back in 2012 and they planned a wide release in the US, but a delay was caused by Harvey Weinstein, an owner of The Weinstein Company, requesting 20 minutes of footage be cut and opening and closing monologues be added. Bong (writer and director) refused to cut it and while he succeed in getting the film released in an uncut form, Weinstein retaliated by relegating the film to Radius-TWC (what a jerk), which meant the film only received a limited release in art house cinemas. In fact it was released in only 8 theaters in the US. But it was announced that thanks to the positive reviews and buzz, the film would get a wider US release and play in over 150 theaters.

Now for my review of Snowpiercer; (non-spoiler stuff) I really enjoyed this movie, so many amazing actors that it's surprising that I hadn't heard about it beforehand. But it sounds like the Weinsteins don't really care about this movie so why promote it.

Here's a list of the cast... Chris Evans, who does an amazing job in this film. Jamie Bell, who I didn't even recognize. John Hurt, who is always brilliant. Tilda Swinton, who brings some humor to this very bleak world. Octavia Spencer, who I was so happy to see in this movie as I'm a HUGE fan of hers and she was fantastic!! And finally Ed Harris, who like Hurt is always great.

This movie makes full use of color, mood and style in representing the various rooms within the train. The higher you got up the class chain the brighter and livelier the colors get. The main theme of this movie is about revolution. Yes the fight for liberty is not an easy one. There will be blood. But it's never used in a gratuitous way. Rather the struggles are a reminder that freedom is a right that many have died for so don't take those blessings for granted.

This film is a thought provoking, chilling, bleak and despairing allegorical tale with a considerable amount of political and moral ramifications such as the dangers of global warming, forced social stratification, lawlessness, cult of personality and disregard for dignified human life.

But with all those good things I have to say one thing I did not like about the film (there will be spoilers from here on out). I did not enjoy the ending, the destruction of the train and presumably almost everyone on board was very anti-climatic. I mean you spend the entire movie watching all the main characters get killed one at a time and it's heart wrenching. And then you get to the end with the Chris Evens' character and you think.. great he's taken down the man and he is going to stop the train and succeed at building a new society. Well the explosion to blow the train door causes an avalanche which wipes our 2/3's of the train, knocking the car down steep hills that no human could survive. Other cars smash into mountain sides and explode. Others are derailed and pile up in a burning mess. These are the last remaining humans on the planet and we just lost everyone with exception of two who manage to get out of the burning train and take their first steps on the snow cover surface. The End.

Did more survive? Are these the only two people left on the planet? What happen to Chris' character?

I get it.. it's a bleak movie, and maybe I'm just use to positive and/or happy endings.. even if all is bad there is always a glimmer of hope, but with this movie there was nothing.

Did this take away my enjoyment of the movie, kind of. Is this a movie I could watch over and over.... Definitely not. But I am glad I saw it and it was very entertaining and thought provoking. I'd give Snowpiercer a solid B

Happy 4th of July

Today Chris, Lydia and I are headed to my Mom's place down in Newport Beach (Balboa Island). We arrived around 10:30am and the parade on the island was just finishing up and the road to my mom's was closed. I manged to go around the closure but then ran into another blocked street. The guy asked me where I was going and I said to my mom's house, he asked me the address and I couldn't tell him. I don't remember the exact address of my mom's because I just know where she lives. I saw the house next to the guy and it was 400 and I knew my mom lived about ten houses down so I told the guy 412 or something like that and he let me through.

So we got to my mom's where my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew were already there. Joining us an hour later was my aunt Joyce and Uncle Marty.

We all hung out on the water, ate yummy BBQ and watched the boat parade. Chris actually took out the kayak and both my niece and nephew joined him. First of all we were all shocked when Kenobi actually got into the boat with Chris. Kenobi is a very timid child and doesn't take to strangers easily but for some reason he had no problem with Chris (who he was meeting for the first time). Molly on the other hand is much braver and I expected her to get in the kayak but I didn't think she would get in with Chris as she too takes time to warm up to people. But like Kenobi she took to Chris without question. Just goes to show you that both kids are growing up, they know Chris is a friend of their Uncle Kenny so he's isn't a bad guy.

The fireworks were not going to happen until 9pm but Chris had to go to LOJ at 8 and my brother and his family had to leave around 3 for their own night party with friends so we only stuck around until 4pm

It was a fun day hanging with family and friends. Happy 4th of July to you all!!!

Superman, Sherlock and Katies B-day

Picked up my best bud Chris from the Burbank airport this morning, he's here for LOJ this weekend.. we came home and hung out for a bit. Lydia arrived from Switzerland around mid day and I showed her my place. She'll be my "roommate" for the next 34 days.

Several geeky things I wanted to share with you guys.. first of all they released an image of Superman's new outfit for the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice movie. I have to say I really like this new look. It's similar to the Man of Steel costume. So if you didn't like that one you're probably not going to like this one. I'm really looking forward to the next Superman movie. I loved the new Man of Steel movie.. all the haters can hate.

My friend Bonnie posted this article that she had written on CNET about some upcoming Sherlock and Watson 1:6th scale dolls. They look pretty spot on and if they weren't $285 each I would consider getting them. Please be sure to read more about them in Bonnie's article HERE. If you are interested in pre-ordering them you can do that HERE. Maybe one day they'll make less expensive figures for poor people.

During the evening, while Lydia crashed from jet lag, Chris and I hooked up with Dallas and Jes and took the redline to Hollywood & Vine to attend our friend Katie's Birthday party. She was celebrating at the Parlor Room where our friend Rileah bartens. Since we took the redline none of us had to drive and my buddy Chris said he would buy me drinks (since I'm jobless and poor) so I took advantage of his generosity. It was a fun evening, I got to see friends that I see every once in a while like, Kim, Adam, Jared, Ari, Derrick and a few others. I made a few new friends and had a great time celebrating Katie's 30th with her. 

By the end of the night I was drunk having had three shots (1 Jameson, 2 Fireball) and three Vodkas and Cranberries. And since it was Rileah making them for us she was very generous with the alcohol.

We left the party around 11pm (last train runs at midnight) and stopped for some fried chicken and fries, which was much needed after all the alcohol. We then jumped on the 11:41 train and made our way back to North Hollywood. I got home around midnight and called it a night. 

Prepping for House Guests

Today I prepared for house guests. My buddy Chris is coming into town tomorrow for LOJ (Labyrinth of Jareth) and my friend Lydia is also coming into town for vacation and SDCC. Lydia will be staying with me while she is here. Chris might be staying with me a night or two. Either way I wanted to get my house in order.

First I had to make some room in my toy/guest room for Lydia's stuff. So I moved a few things around and also moved some stuff around in the closet so she could hang a few things. Out in the living room I had my extra 15 plastic bins full of collectables so I moved them to my bedroom and stacked them up next to my bed. I'd rather have them in my bedroom out of the way of the general living area.

With those gone I was able to put together to two Ikea bookshelves that my buddy Chris got for me for a housewarming gift. I have to say they look great with all my geeky books displayed on them.

All I have left is to put up all my awesome Jason Palmer prints and my framed map of Middle Earth and the living area of my house will be done.

By the end of the day my apartment was ready to host two house guests.

Cool Posters, Fox Fumbles & Dinner

So I woke up around noon and I was sore. I guess being a zombie and attacking people is rough on this old body. But it was still an amazing experience.

I came across these on Facebook and had to share with you guys. Of course if I had the money and the wall space I'd pick up a bunch of these. These are metal posters and they don't really cost that much, $44 if you consider it being a piece of art. They have a Superman one that I think I'll get anyways as I just love it. Check out their website HERE and see all the other amazing superhero metal posters that are available.

In other "this doesn't surprise me" news.. Fox cancels ancient Egyptian fantasy show Hieroglyph before it airs. They ordered 13 episodes and finished the first with several others in the early pre-production stage. Fox didn't give any reason as to why it was cancelled. What's strange is that Fox has really been promoting this one and then suddenly stopped. Maybe because it's set in ancient Egypt I can see it costing alot of money to produce, and if they didn't like the first episode and figured they'd cancel it before putting more money into it.

More and more networks are approving series without a pilot, as they did with this one. If they would have done a pilot first to see if the concept worked then they would have known that it didn't and never approved it for a series in the first place.

I'm disappointed that it was cancelled as it was a series that I was interested in watching this fall. But when it comes to Fox they don't have the best track record in supporting Fantasy and SciFi series. (Alien Nation, Firefly, John Doe and so on).

During the evening I had dinner with my friends John and Moises. Moises made chicken, mash potatoes and corn. It was all very tasty. While we ate we watched 9 to 5. That's one of my all time favorite comedies.  It was a good evening.

My Zombie Life Pt.2

So around 2 am all the Zombies are done and we are ready to film. My make up still looks great and I'm ready to do this. Greg went around to each of the "primary" zombies and gave them directions on where to stand and where to go. I was the fourth zombie to attack Marissa's character and the one that was going to finally take her down so I started off camera and staggered my way over to the other three who were already attacking her. We did this three times before they decided to move me to be one of the three who initially attacks her.

So now I'm crouched down on my knees near a headstone with my fellow zombie Donna and we pop up from below the camera and attack while another stops her from backing away and the fourth (which use to be me, comes up and attacks as well). We did this over and over for another 12 takes for a total of 15 takes.

Since this is a 360 film there are no cuts, no close ups and everything needs to happen in order and with perfect timing. If one person misses their mark or screws up the entire take is wasted. Afterwards I heard the producers say that they got three really good takes and they will use one so those for the final film.

It was now around 4am and we were wrapped. A group of us stayed round to shot a promo for the film, It was basically all the zombies surrounding the 360 cameras and reaching out toward the middle. After the promo Greg wanted to get a picture ala Thriller so he put on his Michael Jackson jacket and had all the zombies surround him.. the final product turned out great.

Once we were done with that, all the zombies headed to make up and wardrobe. The make up line was huge and lead make up guy wasn't the friendliest as he told us all to get out and that they would get to us when they got to us. While standing outside I started to pull on my prosthetic and slowly but surely and with a few painful moments I managed to peel it off my face.

I hung around for another half hour and chatted with some folks before calling it a day and heading home. Luckily for me I only live about 10 minutes from the Barnyard so I was home and in the shower in no time. The make up took some hard scrubbing to get off. My face felt a bit raw afterwards.

I was in bed by 5:30am, hoping to get a few hours sleep before I started my day. Luckily I didn't have any plans until later in the evening.

Overall it was a FANTASTIC shoot. It was fun being turned into a Zombie. And if I had to do it all over again I would. Thanks Greg and company for letting be part of this very fun experience.