Today I went to Arclight Sherman Oaks with some friends to see X-Men: Apocalypse. Here's a quick synopsis: Worshiped as a god since the dawn of civilization, the immortal
Apocalypse becomes the first and most powerful mutant.
Awakening after thousands of years, he recruits the disheartened Magneto and other mutants to create a new world order. As
the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Professor X
and Raven lead a team of young X-Men to stop their
seemingly invincible nemesis from destroying mankind.
I've enjoyed the "reboot" of this franchise. Well I don't know if you can call it that since they are starting to combine both casts into one universe. But I really liked First Class and Days of Future Past so I went into this movie with high hopes and I have to say they didn't disappoint.
Of course the SFX were amazing but you come to expect that. I really liked the character development and the story. Of course some of the characters could have done with a bit more back story but overall it was well done. It was interesting to see Storm as a "bad" guy and I think they underused Angel. I enjoyed what they did with Jean and seeing Phoenix emerge was pretty fantastic. Nightcrawler was probably one of my favorite new characters and of course we had Quicksilver have the best scene like he did in the last movie. Overall a really fun movie.. I give it a B+.
It's the last Friday of the month so that means game night at NerdStrong Gym. This is one of many perks for going to a really nerdy and awesome gym.
Tonight I played the new game I got during International Tabletop Day called Dr Eureka, it's a quick game but fun. I was then introduced to several new games. The Grizzled is a cooperative card game, we didn't survive. I then played DC Deck Building Game, that was fun but went on for a bit to long. And the final game of the night was Robo Rally and that was loads of fun but a strategy game which I'm usually not good at but this one went pretty well. I don't think I came close to winning but I had alot of fun trying.
I came across this article from The New Yorker titled "The Moving Revelations of Gay Home Movies" A collection of home movies at the GLBT
Historical Society in San Francisco captures the intimacies of gay life
long before it was allowed to flourish in the open.
I can't explain why but these videos really touched me, so much so that when I watch them I tear up. Maybe it's because these men were being themselves at a time when homosexuality was considered a mental illness and you could . These guys are so happy and having a great time just being themselves. I'm sure most of these men are repressed in their "real" life and these weekend getaways were something extremely special to them. I couldn't imagine being a gay man in the 40's, even today we still experience bigotry and hatred but back then I'm sure it was unbearable.
Today Funko announced their Dark Crystal Pop! Vinyl Figures. I'm a huge fan of these Funko Pop! figures but I'm really trying to control how many I get as it seems these days that they are making them for everything. But these are now on my list to buy as I'm a big fan of The Dark Crystal. I remember being dropped off at the movies and seeing a double feature of Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal... I was in geek heaven.
Here's the press release for these figures.
POP! MOVIES: THE DARK CRYSTAL
Relive the majestic tale of Jen the Gelfling on his quest to reclaim the final crystal shard from Aughra the astronomer! He’s joined by Kira and her pet Fizzgig, and must face many challenges including The Chamberlain Skeksis and UrSol the Chanter! Make sure to search for the chase variant closed mouth Fizzgig! Collect the whole set this summer!
Today is a very special day in the Geek/Nerd world. Not only is it the 39th Anniversary of the release of Star Wars which in turn created Geek Pride Day, it is also International Towel Day, for all you fans of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy,
39 years ago today I went and saw a movie that would forever change my life. I credit Star Wars for making me the Sci Fi / Fantasy lover I am today and that series will always hold a very special place in my heart. It will always be part of my life and I am forever be thankful to George Lucas for the world that sprung from his imagination.
Geek Pride Day is an initiative to promote geek culture. The date was chosen as to commemorate the release of the first Star Wars film as mentioned above and I don't mind celebrating Geek Pride day today but honestly I celebrate Geek Pride everyday of my life.
Towel Day is an annual celebration on the 25th of May, as a tribute to the late author Douglas Adams (1952-2001), who wrote the very famous series The Hitchhikers Guild to the Galaxy. On that day, fans around the universe proudly carry a towel in his honor. This is truly a day of geeky goodness!!
Also I want to share another Finding Dory trailer.. I'm really looking forward to this sequel.
This is a teaser (and I mean teaser) trailer for one of my most anticipated movies in the coming years, Disney's live action version of Beauty and the Beast.
Beauty and the Beast has always been a favorite story of mine and I love the animated movie, it's probably one of my all time favorite Disney movies. The cast is amazing Emma Watson, Ian McKellen, Ewan McGregor, Luke Evans, Emma Thompson.. I mean the list goes on and on. And though this teaser trailer gives nothing away it really hypes up my excitement for this movie... I even got teary eyed when the familiar music played at the end... so amazing. BTW it's not due to be released in theaters until next year.
Recorded another Geek Roundtable Podcast today. This time my guest hosts were Joey, Astrid, Robert and my former KOTG (Knights of the Guild) podcast co-host Jenni join me for this session. Instead of doing discussions like our previous recordings today's sessions are all about debates.
For today's episodes we will be debating Harry
Potter Books vs Movies, Digital Media vs Physical (DVD/Blu Ray),
Favorite Star Trek Captain and Batman v Superman (not the movie, the
characters in general). We had a some great discussions and kind of debated but I've decided that even our debates are just really good discussions. So from here on our they will be nothing but discussion of the topic. Still hoping get enough episodes in the can so I can start releasing them sometime in July (edit note, it's now looking like August). So stay tuned for more info when it gets closer to release date.
Today was another NerdStrong/Sportsball day. This is our third or fourth one and again it was a ton of fun. Not as many people as last time but still loads of fun. We played ultimate Frisbee, kickball and a version of sprinting tic tac toe. It's always a blast playing games like this in the park.. reminds me of my youth. This is the second time that we've had strangers how just happen to be in the park join us in the fun. We had folks who came and didn't play, they just hung our, watched and visited with each other.
Afterwards the majority of us headed to The Counter for some much needed grub. Some other friends who didn't make it to Sportsball joined for dinner. It was some good times.
The new NBC showed called Powerless, which is coming out this fall, trailer was leaked online. I managed to watch it before it was quickly pulled. It's a different kind of DC story, it's about the everyday, ordinary people who live in a world with superheros. From the trailer it looked really good and I look forward to watching when it airs.
They released a second trailer for Star Trek Beyond. The first one didn't go over well with fans because it was super action packed and used a Beasty Boys song. I agree that the song was a poor choice but I liked what I saw. This second trailer feels more like Trek and I'm super pumped to see this movie.
I came across this video and thought I was going to die laughing. It's four siblings playing a game. I wasn't sure if they had made it up or saw it somewhere but it was the funniest thing I had seen in a long time. I immediately went only to see if this was a real game and I found someone who was selling a version online. I don't know if it was legit, they called it "Come Again" game. I had to purchase it.
Since I'm three months behind on my blog I have an update, these folks got together with Hasbro and actually made an official game called "Speak Out" and they posted another video of them playing the actual game.. it's just as hilarious as this one.
So I've been trying to come up with other things I can produce through my Geekyfanboy Productions. I have the five podcasts and my blog but there is always room for me.. so a few days ago I got the idea of sharing my toy collection on Instagram. I thought it might fun to post one or two pictures (and possible video) a day of my collectibles; action figures, toys, collector plates, trading cards, books and various other TV and movie related memorabilia. I've been collecting since I was six years old (Star Wars figures were my first), I don't know my exact count but I'm sure I have over 10,000 collectibles so it will take a while to post all of them. Along with the pictures I'll post a bit of information about each collectable or maybe a story about how I obtain it. I'm not sure how many people will be interested but if anything this will be a great way to catalog all my collectibles. And who knows.. maybe it will become popular.
If you're interested in checking out my toy collection and following along click HERE. If you are a member of Instagram please give me a follow at KennysCollection. If you are not a member you can still enjoy my collection from a web browser. Thanks for checking it out.
Today I signed up for the Firefly Loot Crate (or as they called it Cargo Crate). I've been wanting to do a Loot Crate or one of those other geeky/nerdy boxes but most of the time they have two or three things that I'd love and then the rest wouldn't interest me. But I love everything about Firefly so I figured I'd love everything in these boxes. I already missed the first two boxes, Kaylee and Jayne (which really bums me out). I actually missed the Jayne box by two days.. which means I have to wait two months before my first box (Zoe) will arrive. I can't wait to see what shows up and of course I'll be posting all about the boxes here when I get them.
ABC released a new trailer for a show called Speechless.. I love Minnie Driver and the fact that they are using an real disabled actor in the main role is fantastic... and it looks hilarious.. so I'll be watching it this fall.
Also released today was the teaser trailer for the new CBS Star Trek Series.. of course it doesn't show much to according to some there are alot of easter eggs in it. I'm just happy that we are getting another Star Trek series and I can't wait to hear and see more.
In the past when being a geek wasn't so popular I can't remember to much geek rage towards Scifi, Fantasy, Comic TV and movies, but nowadays it seems like geeks are bullies, mean spirited, vindictive and cruel. I know it's only a few but those few are so loud that they are giving all of us geeks/nerds a bad name. I'm tired of hearing people complain about everything, or say how something has ruined their childhood. I came across this article and it really hit home for me.
The titles is "If nerds won the war for pop culture, why are they so angry all the time?" You can read the article HERE.
I was the same as the kid (Scott) in this
story.. I was the awkward nerd of the 70's who let my geek flag fly and
was bullied/shunned relentlessly for it. It's interesting to hear the
"bully/closeted nerd's" reasoning on why they bullied nerds like me. My
heart breaks when I hear what he did to this poor kid as it hits close
to home. But I like the overall message that he is saying and I hope we
as a geek culture can get to that point before all of this is gone.
Geekyfanboy Productions released a new episode of the MASH 4077 Podcast.
This is episode 129, covering Season 6 Episode 7, "The Light that failed"
It is the dead of winter and the 4077 is out of everything: medicine, bandages, light bulbs, gel foam, and general supplies; a Supply Truck delivers mosquito netting and an ice cream churn. BJ gets a book: a mystery novel; everyone is so bored, he rips it from the binding, chapter by chapter so everyone can read along. But the final page of the whodunnit is missing. Winchester nearly kills a patient with curare as it was "too dark" to read the label. BJ saves the patient and Hawkeye calls Winchester to the carpet. A new truck brings the supplies they need... except for the big answer to their big mystery.
Day three of camping (technically) slept better then I did last night but still not great. Woke up around 6am, but finally got up around 7am. Josh was already starting to pack up his tent and things as he had to be somewhere mid day today.
Initially most of us planned to stay until mid afternoon but once everyone was up and we pretty much did everything yesterday folks decided to leave a bit earlier. As I mentioned Josh was a the first to go, the rest of us cleaned up the camping area. We had brought way to much food and things so it took a while to go through everything and figure out who brought what.
Andy and Leo were next to leave followed by the rest of us shortly after. Anne and Naomi, Eric, Shannon and then Lauren and myself caravan out of the forest and back to civilization. I dropped off Lauren at her place about 1pm and then went home and pretty much crashed the rest of the day.
It was a successful camping trip, we all had a great time and though it was short I think we experienced alot. I know for some of us we can't wait to do it again.
Woke up early around 6am, slept horribly but I'm not a good sleeper when I'm not in my own bed. It was cold and I wasn't prepared for the cold weather so my sleeping bag wasn't enough to keep me warm. Regardless I woke up and made my way to the bathroom. A few other people were awake and starting a fire. I grabbed my phone and decided to walk around a bit and grab some photos of the camping area.
Shannon did an amazing job at picking probably the best campsite at Jackson Flats. As I mentioned in my last blog we initially had like 30 people interested in going camping but as the weeks went on more and more backed out until there were just a handful of us left. But we still had this very large campsite (holds at least 40 people). So we had alot of space to spread out but we all pretty much kept out tents right around the picnic and fire pit area.
About an hour after I got up the rest of the gang started to get up. Shannon (the unofficial camp mom) broke out all her gear and started to make breakfast for us. Breakfast was interesting as we only had this small gas burner and some folks were on the Whole 30 diet so they couldn't eat certain things. But Shannon persevered and in the end we all had a great breakfast.
Afterwards we sat around the fire to warm up, the wind had gone (yay) but the cold was still there. Josh put up his mansion of a tent and a group of use went hiking. It was really a nice relaxing kind of day. Naomi's husband Eric showed up about mid day. We drank, ate, hiked and sat around chatting all day long. We made smores, played "I never ever" and laughed alot. We called it a night around midnight.
Today is open gym at NerdStrong and I usually don't go to open gym but since I'm camping this weekend I'm going to be missing Saturday and Sunday's workout so I figured I'd go to open gym. Another thing that was happening at the gym today was that a camera crew was showing up to film for a new TBS online program. Usually six or seven people show up on Friday's open gym.. but today it was a full house, there were people everywhere. The coaches made fun of us saying that we all want to be on camera and for some that is true but for some we wanted to make the gym look good and how would it look if there was only a handful of people working out there. Anyways after the workout they interviewed a few people and I was lucky enough to be one of them. I think it helped that I have the gym's logo tattoo'd on me. It was a good interviews, talked mostly about geeky things and how the gym helped me. Now sure when or if this will air but I'll post it here if it does.
After work I went and picked up my friend Lauren and we headed out to the Jackson Flat campgrounds where we'd be spending the weekend with a few other NerdStrong friends camping. I haven't gone camping in about 15 years so I was really looking forward to this weekend. My friend Shannon and I planned this months ago and at the time we had about 30 people interested and going, but as with most things people started backing out left and right until there were just a handful of us left. But the few of us who are still going plan to have an amazing time. So we got there to the area just as night started to fall, finding the campsite was difficult and I'm so happy that I had someone with me, as several people didn't and they had some scary stories. GPS isn't your friend when it comes to finding camp sites as they tend to take you through back roads (that are actually roads). We were the third group to arrive. Shannon, Leo and Andy were already there. Shortly after us Naomi and Anne arrived and finally Josh. It was cold.. I didn't realize how high we were and though it was low 90's down in the valley it was in the 60's here and it was also really windy which made it fun when we went to set up our tents, but we all managed to get the tents pitched, except for Josh who just crashed in my tent for the night. Afterwards we gathered around the fire pit, built a fire and hung out before calling it a night around midnight.
They released the first Assassins Creeds trailer for the live action movie. I've only played a bit of Assassins Creed but I've watched several friends play so I'm aware of the franchise and I have to say from the trailer to movie looks like it's going to be loads of action.
ABC had their Upfronts so there was lots of news about TV series that have been cancelled and that have been renewed. I'll start with the good news as most of the the new is bad. The Real O'Neals got picked up for a second season. I really enjoyed this new series and I think it's got even better as the season went on.
There is one dark cloud that popped up recently, the actor Noah Galvin who plays the main character Kenny, is gay in real life, and during an interview said some real harsh and kind of bigoted comments towards other gay actors in Hollywood. His comments were real ugly and in turn made me not like him so much. I'm hoping I can look past that when this series comes back from season two.
The other good news is that Supergirl was picked up for a second season but as most suspected CBS moved it to it's sister station CW. This is really good news as ratings are as much of a factor, it also means will get more cross overs with Arrow, Legends and The Flash. I really enjoyed Supergirl, it has a completely different feel then the other three series on CW. I'm hoping this move doesn't change that. I do know that since they are moving to CW that that budget will be less then it was, but Arrow, Legends and Flash all have amazing effects on a CW budget so I'm hoping Supergirl can do the same.
Now for the bad news.. for those who don't know the characters of Bobbi and Hunter from Agent's of Shield left about 2/3'ds through last season. They were being spun off into their own series but unfortunately the pilot for their series called Marvel's Most Wanted was not picked up for a full season. I don't think they'll be able to come back to Shield because of the way they left. I'm kind of bummed that we won't be seeing these characters again as both were alot of fun.
This second one wasn't a big shocker but Galavant wasn't picked up for a season three and to be honest I was shocked when they were picked up for a season two, but don't get me wrong.. I loved Galavant S1 and S2 but I knew our luck had run out.
I think this cancellation was the hardest to hear, but also not a complete shock. They cancelled Marvel's Agent Carter. We got two glorious seasons of Peggy Carter kicking ass. This series is definitely in my top 10 of all time favorite TV series. I love Hayley Atwell and pretty much all the actors in that series. Great season story arches and fantastic chemistry between the characters, especially Carter and Jarvis. I'm bummed that I wasn't be seeing any new Carter on ABC but as soon as this announcement was made a campaign started to get Netflix to pick up the series and if they don't maybe someone else will but if we never get any more Carter at least we have two amazing seasons that I can watch over and over again.
So this wasn't a good day for TV shows that I watch and enjoy. More bad then good, but that's usually how it goes for me as I tend to like the less popular shows.
Five
years ago today I was at the Weston Hotel in Pasadena working on season
five of The Guild. I was there it do interviews for my podcast (Knights
of the Guild) but also to be an extra during a celebrity filled room
party scene. There were very few extras chosen for this but one of those
lucky few was a guy named Christopher Setts. I noticed him the day
before on set, when he was extraing as a con goer but we never chatted.
Today
we were put into a small room together to wait for the start of the
first shot of the day. We chit chatted for a bit and I am enamored, it
quickly became apparent that he was straight but we instantly bonded
over our geeky likes . We spent the day "pretend" talking while we shot
take after take of various scenes. By the end of the night I knew that I
wanted to hang with this guy again.. and luckily for me he was extraing
again the following weekend.
I
knew from the moment I met Chris that we were going to be friends, and
as our friendship grew we got closer and closer and pretty quickly
started calling each other best friends. Chris can drive me absolutely
crazy and he knows exactly which buttons to push and I think he gets a
bit of joy from annoying me but I know when the chips are down or if
need a shoulder to cry on he will always be by my side and I love him
for that.
Ben, Brian, Will
and myself all worked together at Original Productions and would visit
Islands for lunch from time to time.. Now seven years and three days
later from whence the top picture was taken, Ben, Will and I return to
Islands for lunch now that the three of us are back together at Original
Productions, Brian is off with another company and couldn't join us but it's great being back with these guys and at Original Productions. We sat in a different both this time but the original booth that we took the top picture in was free so we jumped in and had the waitress take our photo. It's crazy to think that seven years passed between those photos. Well all look a bit older and wiser.. except for Ben.. he looks exactly the same. Maybe will do another photo in another seven years.
I came across this picture of Captain America in his various suits over the different movies and the question was asked, which one is your favorite. That's tough for me to answer, but I can tell you which one I like the least and that's the first Avengers movies outfit, It's too angled. And the first Winter's Solider one is lacking color (mostly red). But if I had to choose one to mimic (as I'm thinking of cosplaying as Captain America one day) I think I would go with Age of Ultron or Civil War outfits.
And speaking of Captain America and Marvel I watched the second to last episode of Marvel's Agents of Shield and all I have to say is OMG!!! I can't wait until the two hour finale next week. I've loved this series since the beginning and have watched it changed over the season and it continue to blow my mind. The stories, the characters, the acting, the special effects and overall feel of the show is amazing.
I came across this video and thought it was very interesting and informative.. especially if you don't know the Marvel universe that well. It's titled "Revealing Marvel's Movie Master Plan" If you enjoy the Marvel movies give it watch.. I don't think it spoils anything.
Today is Mother's day so I called up my mom to see what her plans were. She usually see's her mom and that's what she was doing. She was with my aunt Joyce and they were heading over to grandmas. They asked if I wanted to join them and I said yes. I headed out to my aunt Rachel's place, where everyone was meeting up.
We then drove to Olive Garden and after a twenty minute wait we were seated. I was great seeing my mom, aunt Joyce and grandma. We had a nice lunch and chatted while we ate. At the end of the lunch I grabbed the bill, I had planned to buy my mom lunch anyways so I just got lunch for everyone. It's Mother's Day and they are all deserving moms.
During the evening I did a bit more work on my Jedi Twi'Lek Lekku, I did another paint pass, since it's latex it tends to absorb the color and when I stretch it across my head to put it on it stretches the paint and cracks it.. gonna have to work on that.
Today was a fun day.. worked out at NerdStrong then went out to lunch with some fellow NerdStrongers. Went home, showered up and then Lauren and I went over to the Federal/Blast Off Comic Book day. I've done comic book day in the past but this year it was a huge event behind the Federal Bar building in their parking lot. There were people cosplaying, food, games and of course comic book and comic book artists. We ran into some friends as well as come comic book artist friends. We got our free books and then walked around a bit. Afterwards we headed over to Blast Off comics to pick up some more free comic books and to see what kind of sales they were having. Lauren wanted to pick up a graphic novel and I wanted to buy some comic books but it was packed and the line was crazy so we just grabbed our free books and headed back to my place.
We hung out for a bit at my place before heading over to the Arclight Sherman Oaks to meet up with some other friends to see Captain America: Civil War. I've been really looking forward to this movie for a while as Captain America is my favorite of the Marvel heroes and I've really enjoyed Captain America and Captain America: Winter Solider. Joining Lauren and I at the movies was Joe, Zack, Dallas, Aaron, Mel and Leen.
As for my movie.. of course I LOVED IT... It felt more like an Avengers movie though Captain was the featured character. It was nice seeing the close relationship that Bucky and Cap have. The introduction of Spiderman and Black Panther was fantastic. And Ant Man growing big was amazing. Lots of humor in this installment but also lots of character building. I have never been a fan of Ironman and this movie made me dislike him even more. Though I will admit he wasn't completely in the wrong.. still not an Ironman fan. I like how this ended. Could there be more Captain America movies. If there's not I'd be okay with the way it concluded. It will be interesting to see these super heroes team back up for the new Avengers movies, if they team back up.. not a clue what's coming next.. all I know if I can't wait!!
After the movie Lauren and I continued our day of hanging out by grabbing some dinner in Hogsmeade at The Three Broomsticks. We then walked around Hogsmeade for a bit and rode a few rides before calling it a night.
Super fun day.. workout, brunch, free comic book day, movies (Captain America) and Universal (Hogsmeade). Thanks Lauren for being my sidekick today!!!
A hodge podge of geeky news for today.. first up Coltan Hayes from Arrow fame came out of the closet, you can read more about it HERE. I think it's great when young celebrities come out of the closet, his outing didn't sounds easy but like most of us gay man, he too had and is continuing to fight depression. I hope he can finally find happiness and peace.
Came across this video of skydivers playing Quidditch. I've played Quidditch on the ground but never in the sky.. it's pretty fantastic.
The next video seems unreal.. I don't think I could do this but people do. The one featured in this video is in Las Vegas. Could eat hanging in the middle of the air?
I attempted to airbrush my Lekku for my Jedi Twi-lek this evening. It was my first time using an air brush and it wasn't much of a success. Instead I just used a regular brush to paint the Lekku and then at a later date will attempt to air brush over the paint lines. I need to find someone who knows how to use an airbrush to make sure I was using it properly.
Check out the new Power Rangers.. they released the first image of the new, re-imagined Rangers. I was 23 when the first Power Rangers hit Fox TV, called Mighty Morphing Power Rangers and I remember seeing it here and there, but I was never a fan of it. I've probably seen about half of the first few seasons but then tapered off for later seasons. But now it looks like it's making a return as a movie but this isn't the 90's Power Rangers.. I've read that this new Rangers is in comparison to the old Batman TV series and the current Batman incarnation. If that's the case then I'm all on board. And from the costume alone it looks like this is the case. I'm actually looking forward to this movie and to see what they do with this kind of cheesy kids show.
After months of speculation they have finally announced the actor who will be playing the "young" Han Solo in the new "Han Solo" solo movie. His name is Alden Ehrenreich, I don't know much about him. I guess he had a memorable roll in the comedy Hail Caesar!. I actually like the fact that he is pretty much an unknown. To take on such an iconic role you really do need someone with nothing really attached to them. I'm really looking forward to seeing more from him and I'm super excited to see the unnamed Han Solo movie.
And just a quick note to say Happy Birthday to my Brother Michael.. 41.. man you're old!!! Love ya!!
MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU!!!! People call this Star Wars day because May the 4th sounds like May the Force but the true Star Wars day is the premiere day of the original Star Wars movie, which was May 25th.. but you can't have to many days dedicated to the best sci-fi/fantasy movies of all time.
Speaking of Star Wars... I came across this amazing Star Wars / Hamilton parody of one of it's songs with a Star Wars twist called Luke the Son of Anakin... it's pretty fantastic.
Today while at work we got some swag, not all of the shows I work on make shirts and/or hats or other items with the shows name on it but Original has always made a ton of swag for their popular shows like Monster Garage, Monster House, Deadliest Catch and now Jay Leno's Garage. I got this very soft t-shirt with Jay Leno's Garage on the back and a cap also with Jay Leno's Garage printed on it... both are pretty cool.
I'm a huge fan of Labyrinth so when I read this news I as super excited!!! BOOM studio's announced that in August they will be releasing the Labyrinth 30th Anniversary Special, which will be 48-page comic book comprised of some short stories based on some of the ancillary characters of the world: Sir Didymus, Ludo, Ambrosius, Hoggle, some of the iconic figures that Sarah came across in
her journey through the labyrinth. Unfortunately Sarah and Jareth are not be part of
those stories. I can't wait for more news about this comic book. You can read more about and see some pages of the comic book HERE
Michael Dorn (who played Worf in the Star Trek universe) tweeted "Just curious, would you guys be into an Animated TNG Series?" and attached this picture. I would totally love to see a Star Trek The Next Generation animated series. As the actors continue to age I can seem them lending their voice to this project, I mean most of them did voice acting when they were doing TNG back in the 90's. I know this is a just a dream and it will never see the light of day (especially with the new Trek movies and TV series) but a fan can dream.
I came across this "making of" video for an ad for Spotify. It's a kind of spoof on The Neverending Story. They got Noah Hathaway who played Atreyu and recreated Falkor. It's a cool behinds the scenes video. I then had to search for actual ad and found that as well. It's crazy to think that
The NeverEnding Story theme song by Limahl was released in 1984, yet
it’s still streamed every day.. talk about a nevereneding story.
Geekyfanboy Productions released a new episode of the MASH 4077 Podcast.
This is episode 128, covering Season 6 Episode 6, "The Winchester tapes"
Klinger delivers mail; the stock market is in decline and BJ's Peggy gets poison oak. Nurse Nancy Gilmore, recently disengaged (no longer about to marry a Navy dentist) asks Hawkeye to meet her in Seoul. Winchester complains about the 4077 and Korea via tap
Went to Namies today, Namies is a professional Make Up, Wig, SFX store in the Valley. I've gotten wigs and other items from them in the past. Today I went to find some body make up for my Twi-lek Jedi that I'm planning on cosplaying at SDCC this year. I've done a bit a research on what kind of make up I should use, alcohol vs water base but I want to see what they have there.
Namies has two different brands and about five different colors of green. I wasn't sure how dark I wanted to go so I tested some colors on my arm and then put the picture out there on social media to get peoples opinions and opinions I got. About 90% of the people agreed with the one I ultimately chose, bottom right. What's crazy is that a 5 oz bottle is super expensive ($45) and this one is more for testing.. so I'm sure I'll have to purchase another one at some point in the near future. Cosplaying is expensive... but fun.
Today
is National Table Top Day, so after working out and then having brunch
with fellow NerdStrongers, Lauren and I hung out and headed to a
friend's (Jason) game store to say hi and check out some of the games.
The place sells "smart" toys and games. It was fun we played a few
games, then grabbed some lunch in the mall before heading back to
Jason's store. Both Lauren and I purchased a new game. I got one called
Dr. Eureka, we played a few demo games and it was alot of fun so I
purchased it.
After that game store we headed to
Geekie Teas, it's another friends store. She was having an event with
several tables of people playing various games. Lauren and I joined an
"Escape Room in a Box" game. I've always wanted to do an Escape Room but
just haven't been invited, when friends go or planned one of my own so
this was the next best thing. It was a fun game, I don't know about
repeat play but it was fun for the one go round. Luckily we had Lauren
on our team.. she's super smart. Overall it was a great way to
celebrate International Table Top Day.
This is pretty fantastic and another reason why I love this current White House. Allison Janney came walking out during a press conference in the White House briefing room, if you don't know who Allison Janney is and why my heart jumped for joy when I saw this, she played CJ Cregg, press secretary on one of my all time favorite tv shows The West Wing. She was really there for the White House Correspondents' Dinner and was talking about the opiod epidemic, and about recovery and treatment. You can watch the video below.. the first minute and 20 seconds is the best.
Watching this really makes me want to do a West Wing rewatch as it's been over ten years since the final episode aired. Anyways give the video a watch below if you are a fan.
I came across this Lowes commercial that has me tearing up.. I'm such a sappy romantic.
Here's an update on a few items I have mentioned on my blog recently. First my little Hobbies are getting big, they are about double the size they were when I got them. Their personalities are starting to show. Frodo is the calmest and sweetest of the bunch. Sam is a close second but likes to start fighting ever now and then. Merry and Pippin are pains in my butt and I spend more of my time yelling at them for fight each other or picking on Sam and Frodo. I have to be honest but there are days I regret getting the four to them. I should have gotten just the two (Sam and Frodo) but I'm stuck with four. I'm hoping they calm down a bit as they get older.. if not I'll be looking into finding a vet that can neuter them (which is suppose to curb their aggression). I'll keep you guys posted.
The other update is a tattoo update.. we have officially begun the "itching" phase of the tattoo healing process. This is my fifth tattoo so I knew this was coming but it doesn't make it any easier... must resist the itch.
And I want to share this video with you guys. I don't know if this is a readily available treatment or still be tested but the results are amazing. This is deep brain stimulation (DBS) and it's being applied to a Parkinson's patient. I particularly like this video as it end the older gentleman gives a small but sweet smile.
Back in February Lego released a handful of Lego Star Wars shorts. I don't know how I missed them but I did.... well until today. I came across one on Facebook, watched it, loved it and noticed there were 4 more, for a total of 5 Lego Star Wars specials. They all revolve around The Force Awakens characters of course. To make it easy for you I have posted them all below. If you're a Star Wars fan you should check them out. They are really short and just alot of fun.
I came across this amazing Donkey Kong "real life" mini movie. It's pretty amazing and I'm so surprised that it doesn't have more views on Facebook. When I posted it on Facebook I didn't get many reactions. I think it's incredible and I can watch it over and over again. The graphic effects are awesome but the camera work timed with the music is just brilliant. It's funny to me that some things go viral and get millions of views (and honestly don't deserve them) and then you have people who create amazing art and they get no recognition. Anyways I'm happy to share this video with you all.
There is also a great behind the scenes video for this short film.. you can watch that below.
I hate not posting a blog every day but I really don't have anything to blog about today. I could go through and entertainment websites and find some interesting tidbits but since I'm so behind on my blog it seems wasteful.. so I hope you all are enjoying my blog.. thank you for your continued support.
In the evening my buddy Derek came over to my place and we started our trek out to Hemet to get my fifth and Derek's first tattoo from my buddy Moose (who has done my other four tattoos).
Both Derek and I go to NerdStrong and we both agree it has changed our lives for the better. I mentioned about six months into working out at NersStrong that I was going to get their logo as my next tattoo, of course everyone thought I was joking but I wasn't. NerdStrong has changed my life and I want celebrate by having their logo tattoo'd on me to remind me of where I had been, how far I had come and how far I still have to go.
Six more months pass by and I was talking with Derek and he mentioned that he wanted to get the NerdStrong logo tattoo'd on himself as well. So we set out to make this happen and today it's finally happening. The stars have aligned and my all of our schedules match up. As I mentioned this was going to be Derek's first and he was excited.
Once we got there Moose was setting up his station, I let Derek go first as it was his first time and I really wasn't looking forward to getting it. The location of this new tattoo was going to hurt and I had purchased some numbing cream and put it on as Derek prepared for his tattoo.
Derek has a much higher pain tolerance than I do as he barely grimaced or made any faces during his tattoo time. He mentioned a few times that it wasn't pleasant, especially toward the bottom closest to the ankle but he took it like a champ.
I on the other hand winced and did some controlled breathing to fight through the pain. Parts of my ankle area was numb but the majority wasn't and I felt it all. Luckily it wasn't a complicated tattoo and only took about 45 minutes to complete. Compared to my 4 1/2 - 8 hours tattoos, this was nothing.
Derek opted for a completely black logo and place it on the outside of his right ankle area, I decided on doing a black logo but with a green cape, green being my favorite color and place it on the inside of my right ankle area.
After the gym I had another record session for my new podcast The Geek Roundtable, this is the second recording. Joining me as guest hosts for this recording are Adam West, Anne Westcott, Josh Marvin , John Higgins & Lauren Andrews. Five guest hosts this time around, instead of my planned four (me being the fifth). I'm hoping to record six topics, Farscape, Gaming, Lord of the Rings (movies), Whedon Universe, Star Wars A New Hope & Star Wars Empire Strikes Back. I originally had planned to do four to six episodes (topics) per recording but the first session I only planned four and we had an hour or extra time that we could have recorded a few more episodes so this time I booked six topics and sure enough we ran out of time and could only get through four of them. I wind up cutting the two Star Wars topic (which we will do at a later date). Part of the reason is that we had six people talking instead of five like last time and also the dynamic of the group. I think we had more talkative people then time around compared to my last record session. We had a great time talking geek, we could have gone on and on and after the first two episodes I had to come up with a hand signal to let them know they needed to wrap up and move on. There was also a topic in there that I knew very little of (Gaming) so I didn't participate as much and was more of a moderator in the truer sense. But overall it was a great time, we had lots of laughs, some good debates and lots of excitement. Thank you to Adam, Anne, Josh, John and Lauren for co-hosting these episodes and for helping me out with my new podcast endeavor.
So they announced the new Doctor Who companion as well as released a scene from an upcoming episode. Her name is Pearl Mackie and her character's name is Bill. I don't know the actress and I don't know if she's known in the UK. From what I can see she's going to be a interesting companion, but it really is hard to judge from a two minute clip. I was hoping we'd get a male companion but I guess that's to much to ask for. Peter Capaldi's Doctor is growing on me. He's still far from my favorite but I'm excited to see the Christmas special and then the new season in 2017. Check out the two minute clip below.
Came across this video on Facebook and it just made me smile. Two of my favorite loves coming together, British Royalty and Star Wars. If you know me you know I'm a huge Anglophile, I love all thing British including the royal family. So it was a real treat to see Prince William and Prince Harry on the set of Star Wars Episode 8 in Pinewood Studios. I hope their genuine reaction of excitement and wonder was real. They seemed like they were having a fantastic time on set.
Well I across this video on Facebook and I can't tell you why but I want one. When I found out that one actually made this I was bummed because I couldn't buy it but then I dug a little deeper and found this person youtube channel with an email address in which you can email her and request the cost of making one of these. I haven't done that yet.. but I'm super tempted. I can watch is video over and over and it makes me laugh everytime.
MTV's fantasy series The Shannara Chronicles was picked up for a second season. I was worried as this series didn't get an early pick up like others. I really enjoyed season one, especially the second half of the season. I knew it was based on a book series and had plenty more story to tell. And the way the season ended left plenty of questions that need to answered in season two. There is so little fantasy on TV it's nice to see they giving this series a second season.. I can't wait!!! You can read a bit more info HERE.
It's videos like these that give me hope for humanity. There is so much hate and bigotry and negativity that it's nice to see people being nice to people for no other reason then to be nice. This man give his shirt off his back to a homeless man but it doesn't stop there.. he also helps this man put the shirt on and then he gives him his hat as well. So much good in the video.
I came across this video about Bio Urn. I had never heard of them before but they are pretty amazing. Instead of having your ashes inside of a regular Urn on someone's mantel you can have your ashes added to the bottom of this Bio Urn, they will then planet a small tree in the top section of it. So you're ashes will become part of new living thing. There is something cool about the idea of becoming part of another living thing after you have passed. I know I don't want to be buried in the ground and when I die I hope to be cremated and now that I have seen these Bio Urn I'm really considering this route. Check out the video below...
The final video I want to share with you guys is the second trailer for Captain America Civil War. This one has a surprise guest appearance from Spiderman at the very end. I really enjoy all of these Marvel movies and since I'm blogging well after this movie has been released I can say that I love it and I'm sure I'll be blogging a review of it when I get to that date.
I came across this pretty awesome shirt that I think I will have to pick up if I ever travel to another country where English isn't he primary language. It has 40 universal symbols that eveyone should understand. All you have to do is point to what you want. I think it's pretty ingenious.
I saw this fan made Star Wars Saga video and it brought me to tears. This universe that George Lucas created is amazing and I'm so excited that I can visit it whenever I want with so many amazing movies, cartoons and books. And this universe is ever expanding with all of the future movies, cartoons and books. MAN I LOVE STAR WARS!!!
Today was another awesome NerdStrong Gym outing. This time I got a group together to go hiking in Malibu Canyon and to the old MASH TV filming site. It's a nice hike, it's roughly 5 miles and takes about 2 hours to complete. Joining me for this fun hike was Shannon, Derek, Kiki, Jen, Rob, Matt, Lauren, Naomi and Jim.
It was a beautiful day, a bit warm but blue blue skies. Everyone was excited for the hike, this was a first for everyone but me (this is actually my fourth time visiting the site). This is a great hike, not to daunting and only a few inclines here and there. My favorite part of this hike is the last third of it where you are hiking between two mountains next to a stream (when there is water). It's this great trail that runs along the side of the mountain. We did run into a down tree that was lying across the hiking path. There was really no way to go around it so we had to climb through the branches to get to the other side but at the same time avoid the poison oak which was all over the place.
Once we got to the site we hung out for about a half hour, took some pictures and ate a light lunch. We then made our way back the way we came. That's one downside of the hike.. the fact that you have to hike back the same way you came, though it's a beautiful hike and always nice to see twice. I do wish you could hike back a different way.
But we made it back with no injuries and everyone really enjoyed the experience. This is the second NerdStrong Gym hike, first was Vasquez.. now Malibu Canyon.. need to plan our third one.. but where should be go?!?!?
I've enjoyed the "reboot" of this franchise. Well I don't know if you can call it that since they are starting to combine both casts into one universe. But I really liked First Class and Days of Future Past so I went into this movie with high hopes and I have to say they didn't disappoint.
