New Gig

Today on my last day on my current job I got a call my boss on my current job and she offered me the Post Super job on the upcoming sixth season of Deadliest Catch for Discovery. Of course I said yes and the really cool part is that the job doesn't start for two to three weeks.. so I'll get some much needed time off between gigs.

Last Day on America's Toughest Jobs

Today is my last day on America's Toughest Jobs. It's been a good six months worth of work.. I've had good and bad days but for the most part it was a good experience. As for the show it didn't do as well as NBC was hoping and it doesn't look like it will get a second season.

New Trek Pixs

Today Paramount released five new Star Trek pictures from the up coming re-imagined Star Trek franchise.. all I have to say is OMG... I love them. I like the look of the ship, the look of the uniforms and the look of the much younger crew. I was never a huge fan of the original series so the changes made don't really bother me. I am so pumped for this new movie.. I miss having new Trek in my life.

Final Week

This is my final week working on America's Toughest Jobs.. it's been a long seven months on this gig. I've had some good times and not so good times.. but in the end we made a really good 10 episode series. I don't have anything lined up just yet. I hope to take a few weeks off before starting a new gig.. but will see what happens.

Day Off

Today was my first day off in 21 days.. between my regular job and doing volunteer 15-hour days with The Guild I haven't had a day off in a long time. I had planned so many things to get done on this day. I wanted to visit my Dad, do laundry and various other things that I have put off because my weekends have been full. I got up today and felt really good.. did a few things around the house, cleaned up the kitchen and fixed the back door. Then I jumped online and spent a few hours online. Once Harry got up I made us breakfast and then we planned to go visit day. Well about the time we were actually suppose to be at Dad's both Harry and I were sitting on the couch watching TV. So I called Dad and told him that we weren't going to make it down and will try for next weekend.

This opened up our schedule a bit and now we had time to do laundry. Well lunchtime came and we ate and again sat on the couch and watched TV. Yeah we did that the rest of the day. Neither of us really moved and to be honest after 21 days of work it was nice to just hang out with Harry on the couch and watch some TV.

Blizzcon and The Guild

Today I got to go to Blizzcon, if you don't know what that is it's a huge convention for video game fanatics, this year being held at the Anehiem Convetion Center. I had never gone before not being a gamer myself but The Guild were the guest of houner and they were doing a panel and autograph signing and I thought it would be cool to video tape this for their BTS DVD extra stuff. So the wonderful Kim (Producer of The Guild) got me a "All Access" pass for the day.

I got there about 10am and there were geeks and nerds everyone. It reminded me alot of Comic Con. But it's very different once you are inside. There are a few booths and table but the majority of the area is made of to a few hundred computers. There were three main game areas, Diablo III, StarcraftII and World of Warcraft.

As soon as I got there Kim took me to Feleica who was playing Diablo III. I said a quick hello.. didn't want to bother her and then headed to The Guild table where they were selling cast photos, an exclusive drawing of the cast as their characters (which is beatiftul) and season one DVD. I hung out there and took some video, Guild stars would come and go, they would sign a few autographs and then head out to play a game. We all did lunch and headed up to the panel room. The room was packed, holding about 500 people and tons had to be turned away. (when will these people ever learn. Some this popular needs the largest room.) Anyways the panel went great.. the crowd loved them and I had a front middle seat and got some great video. They also showed a rough cut of episode one of season two and the crowd went crazy.. as did I. It was sooooo good and I can't wait to see the final product.

After the panel everyone headed down the the table to sign autographs. They were scheduled to sign from 3pm to 5pm. When we got down there, there was already a long line of people waiting. We got set up and started to sign. I videoed taked the autograph session as well as the super long line. I was going to videotape fans but it was so loud in that place. They had at one point at least 400+ people waiting. The autograph session went to about 5:30pm before the line finally died down. At this point I jumped in line because I'm a huge fan and I got the entire cast to sign a group cast photo as well as one of those beautiful drawing of the cast.

After the signing a few of them left for the day (the non gamers) while other went back to the floor to play some more games and Felicia and Jeff (Vork) stayed around and signed autographs for the late comers and did a few international interviews. I walked around to take some footage of the con it's self.

We finally closed the table down around 6:30pm and it was time for me to head home. With my Blizzcon goody bag in hand and some great footage for the BTS it was a wonderful day.

One more to go

Yay.. it's Friday and we finally finished episode nine of America's Toughest Jobs. I have one more week on this job and one more episode to finish. I can't wait for this job to be over.. it's been a long seven months. So are I have nothing lined up. I have a few leads but nothing solid yet. I would love to take off a few weeks before starting a new job. But if something comes up sooner I can say no... wish me luck this last week.

Doctor's Appointment

Today I had a doctor’s appointment.. it was a follow-up to do some blood work to make sure the new cholesterol and testosterone medicine weren't effecting my in a negative way. Of course I have gained even more weight.. surpassing the horrible number of 200. I now weigh 205.. that was a wake up call.. time to start working out again and trying to eat better :)

I did find out why I am hungry all the time 24/7. The testosterone that I am taking increased my appetite 10 fold. He said it's like being a 12 old kid again. Now if only my voice would deepen.. that's a side effect I could live with.

I find out next week if the cholesterol medicine is effecting my liver.. so far so good.

Online Purchases

Today I got a 1 terabyte hard drive. I currently own a 500-gigabyte hard drive but it can no longer back up my computer as it is out of space.. so I have two choices.. get rid of stuff off my computer or buy a larger storage drive.. well the choice was easy. :) So I shopped around and found a pretty good deal on ebay. Maxtor 1 TB External USB/Firewire 400 Hard Drive and total with shipping was only $190.00. As soon as I get this I can back up my computer and start digitizing all this BTS Guild footage so I can start creating magic.

Also today I purchased from Amazon.com Pushing Daisies Season One boxset. I love this series and some friends of mine from down in Texas sent me a gift card. Once I had the gift card I knew exactly what I wanted to buy.. so thank you Jen and Dave for buying me Pushing Daisies Season One boxset for my Birthday.

Logging Footage

Today was really slow at work so I decided that I would start logging the seventeen tapes I have shot so far for The Guild BTS DVD extra stuff. I labeled all the tapes and began to watch. I managed to get through four and a half hours of footage so far. So much cool stuff.. I just have to come up with a way to cut it all together and have it make sense. At least I was able to get started on the logging.. I hope to get more done this week.

Clone Wars TV Series

Well I was finally about to sit down before work today and watch the first two episodes on this series... I LOVED THEM...

What a great way to start the series with a Yoda episode. And as many have said this was the ESB Yoda.. when he gave his speech to the clones about how special each one was and with the music, not even realizing it I had tears in my eyes.. it amazes me that a cartoon can move me so much but then again it's Star Wars and Star Wars has always been very special to me.

Episode two was fun.. gotta to see more of the Anakin and Ahsoka's relationship which I really enjoyed from the movie.

I can't wait for more of this series.. I'm so excited that I'll get 30 minutes (well 22 minutes) of Star Wars goodness each week.

More of The Guild Goodness

Today was another Guild shoot day.. my fifth so far. Though they are alot of fun they are starting to take their toll on me. Working long hours Monday through Friday at America's Toughest Jobs then working 12 to 15 hours doing stuff for The Guild is not only hard of my "old" body but I miss Harry. I see him when I get home but lately it's only been a few hours before I go to bed to get up and do it all again the next day. I haven't had a day off in the past 20 days. Not that I'm complaining and I know it's only for a short time. And in the end it will all be worth it with all the cool DVD BTS stuff I get to create from all this footage.

So today was another long 15 hour day. All cast members were shooting today which was kind of fun. Since this is my fifth shoot I'm being more selective on what I shoot and I'm taking more photos with flash for better results. I'll be starting interviews soon and I really do need to start logging all these footage.

Next weekend I'm going to Blizzcon (gaming convention) to film their panel.. It’s only one day so I'll be off Sunday.. yay!!!

Guild Shoot.. starring the Homeless Guy #1

Today was another Guild shoot. Today shoot was in the Hollywood area (can't tell you were) and was extra special because I was going to be on camera as a homeless guy. All shoots are always fun, very busy and long. Today was no exception. One cool thing that happened today was the house we were shooting at had a chessboard and Sandeep (Zaboo) asked if I wanted to play.. so for the next eight hours we played a game of chess.. between takes we would keep coming back to the board and making moves. I hadn't played in years and with the help of our audio guy Sean I held my own for a while.. in the end Sandeep won but it was a lot of fun.

The other cool thing about today’s shoot was I was an actor as well. About mid-day it was time to shoot my scene. I had given some ragged clothes to Leah (art director) so she could dirty them up. Next I went to the make up artist and she made me look dirty and sun worn. I put on my rags and was ready for action. We were shooting out on a Hollywood street. My job was to sit against a wall with several trash bag around me and leery at Codex (Felicia Day) and Zaboo (Sandeep) when they walked by. It actually started to lightly rain while I sat there. I pretended to drink from a bag-covered bottle and we did the take over and over and over again. Between scenes I would continue to sit there as 'regular' folks would walk by and stare at me or skit by me hold their purse close to them. It was alot of fun.. will see if I make it to the final cut but nonetheless it was great that they asked me to participate in one of my favorite web series.

Today's shoot lasted 12 hours and by the end I was exhausted and ready for home as we had another shoot day tomorrow.

Pretty Cool Offer

Today I got an email from the Producers of The Guild; it's the web series I have been volunteering on the past few weekends. They asked if I would play the part of a homeless man during there up coming shoot... how cool is that?? At least I think it's cool, they said when the thought of a homeless guy they thought of me... LOL.. of course they were joking and I immediately replied with a YES. Not sure what I'll be doing but it should be fun.. I'll keep you posted.

Pushing Daisies is Back

Wooo Hooo.. Pushing Daisies is back on TV with all new episodes.. this was one of my favorite new TV series from last year. But with the writers strike we only go nine of the 22 planned episodes last year.. so it's been a long nine months waiting for new episodes and it came back in all it's Daisies goodness. Still quirky, beautifully shot and super funny the first episode of season two brought back all the magic from the first season. I can't wait for me... if you don't know what Pushing Daisies is.. check out the LINK

One Year in House

Today officially marks one year living in our house in Reseda. Can't believe a year has gone by. Luckily the owner of the house we are renting gave us the option of renewing the lease for another year without a rent increase... of course we took him up on his offer and signed another year lease. Here's to another great year in that house.

Blizzcon

Just got word that the Producers worked their magic and got permission for me to film The Guild Panel at this years Blizzcon. So it looks like I will be going down to Anaheim Saturday Oct. 11th. While I'm down there filming the panel I'll be able to interview fans of the show as well. Should make for some good BTS material for the DVD. Never been to Blizzcon.. should be fun.

The Guild Shoot (Codex & Zaboo)

Today was another Guild shoot. Today's shoot was at one of The Guild's producer's house in Van Nuys. This was good news as I didn't have to get up so early and she lived only 15 minutes from me. I got there around 9am and set up my stuff. Today was going to be easier as we were working in just one room with two people as opposed to five rooms with many actors like yesterday. Of course these are the main two characters so there was more stuff to shoot but today shouldn't be as long as yesterday.

Today I got to meet Sandeep who plays Zaboo and man is a funny guy. Like Jeff (Vork) from last night it was so hard to not laugh while shooting, both actors are improv actors. Felicia and Sandeep have great chemistry and timing. They would ad lib stuff and I would just crack up.. luckily I have a lot of these banter between takes on film and hope to cut something together. There were alot of camera movement and set changes but everything went fairly smooth. I got out of there around 9pm and it was another fun filled shoot day.

The crew and people associated with this show are fantastic. Alot of them are volunteers or getting paid very little. They do it because they love The Guild and I think its makes the long hours not so horrible.

Next weekend more shooting... can't wait...

The Guild Shoot (Tinkerballa,Clara,Vork,Bladzz)

This weekend was one of many weekends I was volunteering to help out one of my favorite web series The Guild. Today's shoot was going to happen at the creator, writer, producer and star of The Guild, Felicia Day's house. She lives in a very cool house in Los Angeles area. When I got there at 7:30am I got my "good morning" hug from Felicia (she's a sweetheart), while the crew had begun to set up, I found a area to set up my battery chargers and tapes and then got to work filming the set up. They were setting up Tinkerballa's very pink room. I got to meet more of the crew, which was great since I was going to be doing interviews with them in the weeks to come. I got to me Amy who plays Tikerballa's as she was the first to shoot. It's always fun to see how things are put together. I'm a huge fan of The Guild and I know how TV works but it's still fun to watch them create something that you love right in front of you.

After Tinkerballa's (Amy) shoot it was time to shoot Clara's part. I met Robin who plays Clara and then they brought her three kids and a special new character (which I can't say who..) and we did some of Clara's lines. Next was the kids part and these are the same three kids from season one and they have grown up quite a bit, especially the powerstrip eating baby. So we spent hours and hours getting the kids stuff done. By this time we were behind schedule and Vince (Bladzz) showed up and Jeff (Vork) showed up for their parts.

After the kids and Clara's stuff we broke for lunch. At this time it was 3pm. We started to shoot just Clara's lines with no family. That took a few hours. After that we started to shoot Vork (Jeff's) lines. Jeff is way to funny and it was so hard to stop myself from laughing. After his stuff it was time to shoot Bladzz which went fairly quick. By the time we were done it about 10pm. It was a long but very fun and productive shoot day. I took about 3 hours of video and 250 stills. Now I have to get some sleep and get up early again for tomorrow's shoot.

Birthday Dinner

Tonight my good friend Christopher took me out to Chevy's for a be-lated Birthday dinner. It was great catching up as Christopher and I haven't seen each other since he was my best man at my wedding at the beginning of August. It was a nice dinner and conversation. Just wish we both had more free time to do it more often.

It Just Hit Me

Today I said goodbye to about half of my co-workers. We are winding down at my current job and finishing our last two episodes with a few lucky folks and it just hit me that I will be out of a job in a few weeks so I started to update my resume so I can start sending it out again. That is one thing I hate about freelancing..well there are many but the worse one is looking for a new job every few months. This one lasted about seven months which is pretty long but once again I have to start bugging friends for any leads. If anyone is looking for a Post Production Supervisor please let me know... thanks

TV is Back

So excited to have TV back.. so far we've watched the premieres of Heroes (Fantastic), The Big Bang Theory (Laughed so hard) , How I Met Your Mother (Very funny), Sarah Conner Chronicles (Can't wait to see more), Fringe (Cool new show) , Survivor Gabon (Great cast of characters) and a few others.. but there are still some big ones that I am looking forward too like Pushing Daises, Kyle XY, Amazing Race and the return of Battlestar Galactica.

I have cut back on TV.. alot. I use to watch about 30 hours of TV every week and for the life of me can't figure out how that worked with a 60 hour work week and 40 hour school schedule.. but somehow I made it work. As I have gotten older and time seems to have gotten shorter I pick and choose what I really want and stuff that can wait till DVD. I think I'm currently down to about 10 hours a weeks of must see TV. This TV season looks to be just as good as last season... bring on the new shows.

Birthday Wishes

I got a ton of Birthday Wishes from my Online friends... it was fantastic. My friends over at the Treks in Sci Fi forum even made me some Birthday videos and posted them on youtube. There was alot of geeky love gong around. I have a bunch of great online friends that I consider just friends even though we have never met person. Folks like Rico, Jen, Rick, Meds, Tim, Bryan, Rob, Morelius just to name a few. Thank you all for making this crazy work day a wonderful Birthday.... Love to you all.

Happy Birthday To Me

Today is my 38th Birthday. This was going to be a pretty low-key day since we celebrated on Saturday. Last night I got a call from my story producer informing me that my runner got his car impounded. And we had several very important runs that had to be done early in the morning. Since it was 11 at night there wasn't much I could do so I decided that I would come into work early tomorrow and do them myself. Only problem was that Tuesdays and Thursday are the days Harry takes the jeep so he can go to the park. So now we had to postpone that so I could get up early and take the Jeep to work and do the runs.

I got to work at 8:15 and my boss wasn't here at he said he would be. I couldn't deliver the DVD's unless I had a drive on and he was the only one that could call and get me one. Come to find out that he got out of work an hour before I got there at 7am and went home to freshen up. So I called him and left a message and he finally got back to me around 9:25am.. so I got to work early for nothing and waited an hour in my office for him to return my call and let me know that I had a drive on. He finally called and I was able to deliver the DVD's to NBC, and of course when I get there.. the person I was delivering them too wasn't in the office yet.

So that is how my Birthday started. After that everything was pretty good.. my co-workers Erin, Armando and Maggie took me to Chevy's for a Birthday lunch. And of course they surprised me when the waitress came over and put a sombrero on my head and they all sang happy birthday. Then a few hours later Darla (my boss) came over with a cake and cup cakes and the entire post crew sang happy birthday and we all ate cake.

I was hoping to go home a little early as I had gotten here early but around 5:30 Jarrod my boss calls and tells me that he needs a run to Paramount/Compton area at 6:00pm. Maggie was doing runs today for me but there was no way I was going to let her drive to Paramount/Compton after dark but Jarrod insisted that this DVD had to be delivered. I was not happy and of course the person that I am said I would take it. This sucked because I did wan to go home early and Harry planned to take me out to dinner for my birthday. Well I called this person that we were suppose to take this DVD too to make sure she would be there. She informs me that there is already plans set for her to get it tomorrow morning and didn't need it tonight. So I got so spend the last 30 minutes stressing trying to figure out how to get this DVD to this person tonight.

Needless to say I was done and headed home. Once home Harry and I went to one of our favorite but rarely visited restaurants Outback Steak House and had a very nice birthday dinner.

Guild Shoot

Today I got to volunteer on a wonderful web series called The Guild I was producing, shooting and will be editing Behind the Scenes stuff for there second season DVD. I'm a huge fan of Felicia Day, the star, producer and writer of the Guild so it was a thrill to met her and she is as sweet a person as you can ask for. The entire production team was fantastic. We worked from 7:30am to 3:30pm and the time just fly by. I took about 3 1/2 hours of video and roughly 150 still photos. I can't say much about the story but it was an awesome shoot and I look forward to the next couple of weekend shoots.

If you haven't watched season one of this fantastic series check it out here. It's only 10 episodes running 3 to 6 minutes each... it's really funny.

Birthday BBQ Bonanza

Today I celebrated my 38th birthday with family and friends. We had a very nice BBQ in the backyard. About 20 folks showed and we have some great tasting BBQ even though I burned the dogs a bit.. it was all good. The highlight was my drinking beer.. for those who don't know I don't drink.. or I don't drink very often.. maybe a beer or two once a year. My brother said he would stay longer if I drank with him so I decided to have a few beers. This was the first time my brother and I (pictures above) drank together and he got a kick out of it. After one beer I was dizzy, two beers I was feeling pretty good, then on the third beer Jessica encouraged me to chug it which I did and felt sick afterwards.. the nausea passed I went for my fourth beer.. and that when my laughing attacked happened. For those who have experience it I'm sure you remember it well.. for those who haven't... maybe one day you will.

It was a fun time had by all.

First Birthday Gift

Today when I got home there was a package waiting for me from my friend Rick from Aberdeen Washington. Of course my birthday was a few days away and I got online and asked him if he wanted me to wait to open it. He said no way open right away so I did. There were two gifts inside, one was a very cool Marvel 2009 Calendar and the second more personal one was a three section picture frame with some beautiful shots that Rick had taken. He recently got a new camera and has taken some very incredible beautiful shots.. so he framed three that he thought I would like. It's a great gift and I want to Thank Rick and Amy for giving me my first birthday gift this year.

The Guild Shoot

Whoo hooo.. got my call sheet for The Guild shoot on Sunday.. call time is 7:30am. That's kind of early.. but I'm still excited to be part of the team.

Twitter

So I finally joined Twitter, if you don't know what it is it's a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. The sender can restrict delivery to those in his or her circle of friends. Users can receive updates via the Twitter website, instant messaging, SMS, RSS, email or through an application such as Twitterrific or Facebook.

It's a pretty cool way to keep up to date with my life.. if you belong to Twitter look me up. I can be found under Geekyfanb

The Guild Shoot

Just found out that I'll be shooting some behind the scenes stuff this coming Sunday. Can't wait to get started. This should be alot of work.. but also alot of fun.

Getting Old Sucks

Today I had a doctor’s visit. I went back in June and they did some blood work. So today I got the results. Blood pressure is a bit high 89 over 139, but the bad news was my Cholesterol was too high 241, that's the most it's ever been. So I'm now taking medicine to control it as well as having to change my diet. I go back in three weeks to make sure the new meds aren't affecting my liver. There were a few other items that needed addressing but over all everything seems to be working fine. Seems like the older I get the more issues I have.... oh well it could be worse.

Fringe

Tonight Harry and I were able to catch a speical repeat of the premiere of JJ Abrams (Lost) new TV series Fringe. It's kind of like the X-Files but not. Here's a short synopsis, When an unlikely trio uncovers a deadly mystery that involves a series of unbelievable events, they discover it may be part of a larger, more disturbing pattern that blurs the line between science fiction and technology.

Both Harry and I enjoyed it enough to want to watch the second episode. Check it out if you can.

Whoo Hooo

Today I got confirmation that they liked my idea and that I will be volunteering my services as producer, camera person and co-editor (along with Harry) for the DVD Extras for the web series The Guild second season. I'm very excited to be part of such a cool series. If you don't know what The Guild is, check out www.watchtheguild.com

7 Years Ago

We must never forget!!!

Sarah Connor Chronicles

Today was the first episode of the second season of Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles premiered tonight and man was it tense. Made me realize how much I missed this series and I'm so happy it's back. And this episode had an OMG moment at the end that's going to make this season AWESOME.

Star Wars: Clone Wars

I finally got to see this movie. I've been wanting to see this since it came out a few weeks ago but time has been very limited. Today I knew I had to go or I don't think I would have been able to see it in the theater. Harry wasn't interested so I went alone. Star Wars Clone Wars is an animated weekly series that's going to start up in October. It tells the story between episodes two and three. The WB decided to release the first three episodes in the theater to get everyone excited and man did it work.

I'm a huge Star Wars fan as it was this that got me started on my love of sci-fi/ fantasy and collecting action figures. This was a non stop action film and really started to flesh out some of the characters from the movie. I know Cartoon Network has ordered 100 episodes so we are in for a long haul with this series and seeing what they did just with the first three episode has really gotten me excited for the series.

Updated Website

Spent the weekend updating my website.. I've been wanting to do this for quite some time. I added a "My Wedding" section with 36 pages of pictures. I changed "My Partner" page to "My Husband". I added 14 pages of pictures to "My Toy Room" section and added a report and pictures on Harry and my final adventure at Star Trek the Experience. So check out my website if you haven't already and let me know what you think.

Star Trek Poster

Today Harry and I got our Star Trek XI posters. While at Comic con this year you have the opportunity to sign up to get a free Star Trek Poster. I signed both Harry and I up. What I didn't expect was the size of the Poster.. I thought the poster was going to be a mini poster as that is what they normally give out at comic con, but it's not. It's a large theater poster and sent in a very solid tube so it's in perfect shape. It's a great addition to my collection.

Scare with Dad Last Night

Last night while driving home I got a call from my brother. I was in the middle of driving home and didn't have my blue tooth so I couldn't answer. When I got home I checked my phone and there wasn't a message from him, which is kind of weird. So an hour passed and I get a call from my Mom. Now it's 9pm and I know something is wrong, as my Mom doesn't call me this late. My mom tells me that my Dad is in the hospital again and it looks as though he had another stroke. Michael my brother has had enough and can't deal with Dad anymore. I immediately called my brother to get details on Dad. They were still in the waiting room and a nurse was looking him over. She said it looks like a stroke; he couldn't walk, slurred his speech and was sweating very badly. So I hung the phone with my brother and told him to call me back when he found out more info. So another hour passed and my brother called me back to inform me that Dad's blood sugar level was 32. He recently found out he had diabetes and he is suppose to keep his blood sugar between 80 and 140. The nurse gave him OJ and cracker to try and raise his sugar level and it seemed to work. I called Dad this morning and after 3 glasses of OJ and a few crackers they managed to get his blood sugar level back up to 108 and everything went back to normal. So no Dad learned a lesson about letting his blood sugar get to low as well as too high. I'm just glad everything worked out for the best.

Dr. Horrible's Soundtrack

So if you caught the phenomenon known as Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog in July then you’ll want to check out Itunes for the entire Soundtrack from the very shiny web series. You can go to the main website and click on the link to itunes.

http://www.drhorrible.com/

All Good Things....

Must come to an End... Star Trek The Experience officially closes today. It's a very sad day in the Star Trek Fandom. It was a great run while it lasted and both Harry and I have many great memories.

Family Labor Day BBQ

Today Harry and I went to my Dad's family annual Labor Day BBQ. This is our third year going and this year more family and friends showed up. My dad's half brother Wally puts this together every year. We always have alot of fun. There is always lots of Hawaiian music and great food to eat. We played a little volleyball and little poker and did alot of visiting. It's funny to think only a few years ago we didn't even know dad had a half brother living a half hour away.. weird how life changes to quickly sometimes.

Jen's Birthday

Today is one of my favorite online friends Birthday.. though we never met in person we talk every week as we both co-host a podcast for the Treks in Sci Fi Podcast RPG game. I wish you all the best Jen.. have a very Happy Birthday.

The Guild DVD

Today I got the DVD of The Guild. This is an online web series about Online Gamers and it's extremely funny and well written. The DVD has all ten episodes of season one along with several gag reels, a Christmas sing along and several cool interviews. It's worth the $20. Check out the episodes online here... http://www.watchtheguild.com/

America's Toughest Jobs

Tonight at 9pm the show I'm currently working on premeires on NBC.

America's Toughest Jobs.

From creator/executive producer Thom Beers ("Deadliest Catch," "Ice Road Truckers") and executive producers Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun, "America’s Toughest Jobs" is a new extreme competition series that will test 13 men and women who venture out of their safe and comfortable careers and are injected into some of the most challenging, dangerous and demanding jobs on earth.

From logging high in the Washington forest to oil drilling on the Texas range, and driving icy roads to extreme fishing – each job requires guts and stamina, and the competitors will have to live up to the same standards as the pros. At the end of each episode, their new boss and co-workers will determine success or failure, and those who don't make the grade will be sent home. Upping the ante, the annual salary of each job will be thrown into the pot until the finale – where one rookie will take home the well-earned cash.

One Last Time

Today we went to Star Trek The Experience. This was our main reason for coming to Las Vegas this weekend. If you don't know what it is here is a brief description.

Star Trek The Experience is an interactive adventure based on the voyage of the most exciting futuristic television series of all time, Star Trek. Visitors are immersed in the futuristic world where they see, feel, touch and live the 24th century. Included in the Experience are two multi-million dollar interactive adventures, Borg Invasion 4D and The Klingon Encounter. They also have a History of Future Museum featuring more then 200 items; it is the largest permanent collection of Star Trek props and costumes in the world. The museum like exhibit featuring authentic Star Trek costumes, weaponry, make-up, special effects and props used in the five Star Trek television series and the ten motion pictures. If you get hungry you can go to Deep Space Nine and eat at Quark’s Bar and Restaurant. After eating you can then shop at Deep Space Nine’s Promenade with the largest retail stores for Star Trek merchandise.

This was Harry's sixth or seventh time and my eight or ninth time visiting the Experience but this visit would always be special because it would be our last. After ten years of service to the Star Trek community The Experience is closing down. Their contract is up at the end of the year at the Hilton and it was not renewed. Since it will take several months for them to remove everything and be out by the end of the year Star Trek The Experience will be closing September 1st. When we heard it was for sure closing we made plans to go one last time.

We brought along our video and digital still camera to capture as much footage and pictures as we could. We have already taken a ton of pictures and video but this was going to be our last chance to get anything we missed.

We got up around 9am and went down to breakfast around 10am with Dad. He planned to hang out in the space casino and play slots while Harry and I spent the entire day hanging out at the Experience. We got to the Experience around 11am as they opened at 11:30 and sure enough there was a line to get in. We waited a half hour in line and chatted with a few folks standing around us. They opened the doors and we went to buy our tickets. I checked online for some of there package deals and we went with the The Latinum Package. This package includes a dual mission ticket, admission to "Star Trek: The Experience: Secrets Unveiled" and two free photos (in the Captain's Chair and the BORG Regeneration Chamber).

We entered the Experience and decided that we would skip the museum and all they goodies and go directly to one of the rides. Both had lines but the Borg Invasion 4D was shorter so we choose to go on that first. After the ride you exit downstairs in the shopping/restaurant area. It was so sad to see that all the stores except one were closed. They had moved all the merchandise into this one store. We walked through to see if we could find any super great deals but didn’t find anything that we must have. As we headed back up to the entrance of the Experience we noticed two people doing charactures, but these weren’t your typical charactures. They would take your face and morph it into a Star Trek theme character. We knew we wanted to do this but they were busy so we headed over to the waiting area to get our pictures taken on the TNG bridge and Borg alcove. A girl picked up a group of us and took us to the TNG Bridge of the Enterprise where we got to sit in the Captain’s chair while they take a picture. After that we went to a small room that was set up like a Borg Ship. There were two life-size Borg’s standing in an Alcove and we got to stand in the middle while they took a picture. Once that was over we went back to the casino to find dad and see how he was doing.

We found him at a slot machine and he was up a few hundred dollars. We decided to grab a snack as we had tickets for the 4:30pm behind the scene tour and figure we would eat afterwards. We got something to drink and a snack and sat at a table and relaxed. At this time my friend Michael and his wife Kathy who also were coming to Vegas for the Experience texted me to let me know he had arrived. They met us over at the café and we headed back to the Experience together. Since Harry and I did the Borg 4D ride already we all went on the second ride The Klingon Encounter.

Between the two rides I still enjoy The Klingon Encounter a bit more then the Borg invasion 4D. They are both a ton of fun and will immerse you into the Star Trek World; I just think The Klingon Encounter is a bit cooler.

After we got off the ride we were once again in the shopping and restaurant area. Harry and I picked up our Captain’s chair and Borg Alcove pictures, they turned out great. We looked over at the guys doing the Charactures and they were finishing up so Harry and I decided that we would do ours now. A few minutes later Kathy and Mike joined us, as they wanted to do one as well.

So Harry and I sat for one and Michael and Kathy sat for the other. I asked for the guy to make me an Andorian (blue skinned alien) and Harry wanted to be a Klingon. Michael went with a Kirk like character and Kathy was an Orion Slave Girl (a very green sexy alien). We sat there for about half hour as this guy and girl worked their magic. While you are sitting there you can’t see what they are doing and a crowd of people gather around and watch as you get this done. It’s strange sitting there in a spot light and having folks stare at you and then look at the picture and point and smile.

Our guy finished first and when he showed it to us I laughed out loud. He nailed us… I looked perfect as an Andorian and Harry was awesome looking as a Klingon with his ridges. Mike and Kathy were going to be a little longer so we headed up to the casino to show Dad the picture. A few minutes later we headed back down to check out Mike and Kathy’s picture and it turned out just as cool as ours.. we were all very happy that we spent the money and did this.

After the charactures, Mike and Kathy went to grab a snack while Harry and I decided to go to the museum and take as much video and pictures as we could before our 4:30pm BTS tour. We spent about an hour taking pictures and video of everything. Once it was 4:15pm we headed to the waiting area for the BTS tour. I found out that it was going to take an hour and a half to finish the tour, which we did not plan as we were all hungry. So I called Mike, Kathy and my Dad to let them know.

They had been doing this BTS tour for several years but we never took it. Since this was going to be the last time we figured… why not. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about Star Trek and The Experience. She was hired a year before the Experience even opened and portrayed a Vulcan and Andorian character. They had about 10 actors who dressed up and walked around the Experience in character, taking pictures and interacting with the guests.

She began the tour walking through the museum and giving us tidbits about the props and costumes. She then explained how they created the giant Enterprise, Voyager and Klingon modeled ships. The sad thing was, she told us that it would cost 2 million to remove the ships safely so it looks as though they will just be torn down when the Experience is taking down. She then took us through a side door and we got to see some blueprints of the Experience. She then took us on to various parts of each ride. The TNG corridors, the Borg station area, the TNG Bridge and so many other cool areas. As we went to each area our tour guide had very interesting information about how it was created, she was a wealth of knowledge. One of the highlights of the tour was seeing how they actually Transport you from the ride to the Transporter room of the Enterprise D… now that was a very cool effect. Another cool part was seeing the Shuttle ride from beneath it, watching how all the hydraulics work. We also go to see the make up area and costume area and the business part of the ride. At the end she took us up to the “party room” above Quarks and handed out some really cool certificate that stated that we finished the behind the scene tour. All in all it was a very cool tour, we were very happy that we finally took it.

After the tour we headed back to the casino where dad was waiting for us. We called Kathy and Michael and they were in line for the Borg 4D ride. We decided to go down to Quarks and get some dinner. Kathy and Mike said they would be done in about 10 minutes. So Dad, Harry and I got a table and ordered some Holy Rings of Betazoid and sodas. Kathy and Mike showed up a little later and we all ordered food and enjoyed the Star Trek atmosphere.

After dinner Mike and Kathy headed back to there hotel while Dad went back up to gamble a little bit more. As Harry and I really wanted to do both rides one last time. When we got up there only one ride was open, The Klingon Encounter so we got in line and waited and waited and waited. We wanted to leave Vegas around 8pm and it was already 8:30. They finally let us on the ride and we enjoyed it for the final time. When we got off the ride the worker said.. if anyone wants to do the Borg 4D ride follow him and he would show us a short cut to the line. We got back to the line and the Klingon Encounter was closed and there was a line for Borg Invasion 4D so we got to ride that one last time and it was a fantastic way to finish our final adventure at Star Trek The Experience.

It was a little past 9pm and we headed back home. I was exhausted and I don’t know how I was able to drive but I managed to drop dad off at home around 1am and Harry and I got home around 2:30am and went straight to bed.

Star Trek The Experience is an AWESOME place and it’s so sad to see it get torn down. But at least Harry and I go to geek out in that Star Trek World one last time.

Thank you for all the great memories and fun times.. you will be missed.

Las Vegas

Today Harry and I got up at 6:30am and started to get ready for our trip to Vegas. We planned to go to Vegas because of Star Trek The Experience at the Hilton. It was closing at the end of the month and Harry and I both being avid Star Trek fans had to go one last time before it's gone forever. We decided to bring my Dad along for a present for his recent birthday and since he hadn't been there in over 8 years it was a great opportunity to take him along. So this became our Honeymoon/Dad's Birthday trip.

We planned to pick up my Dad at 8am and then head to Vegas... of course we were a bit behind and picked up dad around 8:30am. We headed out around 9am and began our drive. I had rented a car for the weekend for this trip so we were enjoying the AC as it was getting very hot. We have a quick stop at a rest stop to stretch our legs then again when we hit the town of Baker as we were hungry and grabbed some breakfast.

We hit Primm Nevada about 1pm and decided to stop at Buffalo Bills and gamble a bit. Dad won money, Harry and I lost money but it was a lot of fun. We left around 2pm and headed to Vegas. We got there about 40 minutes later and I missed an exit that I had planned to take, as I wanted to show dad the new strip since he had not been there in over 8 years.. a lot has changed. Instead I wound up on the back end of the strip and buildings so when we finally found a street to cut across we had missed most of the strip so we went south on the strip to show dad all the new casinos then turned around and headed back north on the strip to the Hilton which is on the northern end of the strip just off to the side.

Got to the hotel and checked in, checked out our rooms then went back down to grab some lunch. We planned to go to Quarks but there was a huge line and we were hungry so we opted for a cafe in the Hilton. After lunch we went to the Space Quest Casino section. This is the slot machines area right outside Star Trek The Experience and we played a few slots.. again Dad winning, Harry winning and I was losing. After that we decided to rest for a few hours. Dad watched Ironman while Harry and I relaxed. A few hours passed and we went down to grab some dinner and we gambled a little bit but it was close to 11pm and we were tired and called it a night.

Renting a Car

Today was my fourth car rental in the past two months. This time I was renting a car because Harry and I were driving to Vegas and it was cheaper to rent a car then pay for the gas of my Jeep. I got 2009 Chevy Aveo.. never heard of the car.. it was an economy car and you could tell.. no perks other then AC. The cool thing was it was brand spanking new. Only had 30 miles on it and they just recieved it the night before. Still had that new car smell.

Hellboy II

Today Harry and I finally went to the movies.. with the wedding and visiting family we fell behind in watching movies. We opted for Hellboy II tonight.

It was everything I want in a fun, action, sci fi'ish movie. Great effects, cool creatures, decent story, cool fight scenes and the list goes on and on. One of my favorite new creatures was The Angel of Death.. that was 100% Del Toro.. The first Hellboy was good but was done on a budget.. this one you could tell had more money and it showed.. A great sequel to a cool series.. let's hope for Hellboy III.

Wedding Photos

Today I picked up our professional wedding photos. Alex took over 500 pictures, he retouched about 20 of them and printed two for us. He did a wonderful job and captured some very beautiful moments. Alex was a lifesaver as my original photographer bailed on me the last minute. Thank you Alex for the wonderful job you did.