Saturday, November 19, 2011
Captain America Review
Well I know I'm late to the party but I finally got to see Captain America. I wanted to see this when it was out in the theaters but circumstances kept me from doing so. Well I got it on blu-ray today and sat down immediately to watch and I have to say I absolutely LOVED it!! Great origin story, cool special effects and some very cool action scenes. Chris Evens is perfect for the character of Steve Rogers. They spent the first 1/3 of the movie with a "smaller" Steve and showed how great a person he really is. I loved that character and how he was portrayed. I like the idea of taking someone who is a "good" person and enhancing the good to great. Maybe because I'm short and have dealt with how people treat short people that I identified so much with him. I liked the romance between Steve and Peggy.. it was sweet and genuine... though heartbreaking. Tommy Lee Jones was great as always and of course I can't blog about this movie without mentioning the awesome effects of making Chris Evens look like a 100 pound super skinny guy. I watched the 'extra' on the blu-ray on how they did this and was surprised that they used several techniques. It's a pretty amazing effect. So glad I got this on blu-ray as I can see myself watching this over and over. I was excited for The Avengers but after seeing this I am even more excited.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Visiting Family
Woke up this morning and it felt like I had been hit by a bus. I was sore from head to toe. Who knew standing for 14 hours bent over a table could cause so much wear and tear on your body. I jumped into the shower and tried to sooth my aching muscles.
Today was family day. Had lunch with my Dad and got to visit with my brother, sister-in-law and nephew Kenobi. Every time to see Kenobi I feel like he ages months. He's getting so big and he now knows who I am and calls me Un.. he can't quit get it all out yet (Uncle) but he's working on it. He's adorable and I love him to death. I also got to visit my Lora my sister-in-law how is about 8 1/2 months pregnant with my niece Molly. She is so ready to get this baby out. I always enjoy my visits with the family. And it should growing by in any day now.
Today was family day. Had lunch with my Dad and got to visit with my brother, sister-in-law and nephew Kenobi. Every time to see Kenobi I feel like he ages months. He's getting so big and he now knows who I am and calls me Un.. he can't quit get it all out yet (Uncle) but he's working on it. He's adorable and I love him to death. I also got to visit my Lora my sister-in-law how is about 8 1/2 months pregnant with my niece Molly. She is so ready to get this baby out. I always enjoy my visits with the family. And it should growing by in any day now.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Time at the Barnyard
Today I went to Greg Aronowitz's house aka The Barnyard. He is currently working on four different projects and needed some help. So I got up at 8am and headed over there. When I got there they were in the middle of working on stuff for Minecon which is happening in a few days in Las Vegas. The first thing I worked on was a chicken. Minecon is a convention for the game MindCraft. That world is made of little boxes (kind of like 8 bit). So of course my chicken was made up of a ton of little boxes, each needed to be painted. When I finished the chicken I moved on to three sets of chicken feet. All I had to do there was paint them yellow, which took several coats because they were made of metal.
My buddy Anthony should up which I did not expect and later in the day my buddy Chris drove down to work the next three days so he could get in to MineCon. After the chickens I moved on to human arms and those took me the rest of the day to complete. Who have thought drawing out boxes and painting them would be such hard work.
14 hours later I was exhausted, I hated leaving everyone as they had days of work left to do but my body isn't use to standing for 14 hours bend over a table painting. And though it was hard work it was alot of fun hanging out at the Barnyard.
My buddy Anthony should up which I did not expect and later in the day my buddy Chris drove down to work the next three days so he could get in to MineCon. After the chickens I moved on to human arms and those took me the rest of the day to complete. Who have thought drawing out boxes and painting them would be such hard work.
14 hours later I was exhausted, I hated leaving everyone as they had days of work left to do but my body isn't use to standing for 14 hours bend over a table painting. And though it was hard work it was alot of fun hanging out at the Barnyard.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
MASH 4077 Podcast Episode 20
Download from itunes http://tinyurl.com/MASH4077itunes or listen/direct download http://MASH4077Podcast.com
Show Notes
Kenny Mittleider from Knights of the Guild, Alien Nation: The Newcomers Podcast & Confessions of a Fanboy Podcast, Simon Meddings from Waffle On Podcast, & Al Kessel from Tales from the Mouse House, Fast Forward & Just Because Podcast discuss one of the most successful and longest running television series in history.. M*A*S*H
Today we cover Season 1, Episode #20 - The Army-Navy Game
Directed by Gene Reynolds
Written by Sid Dorfman & McLean Stevenson
Production code J322
Original air date February 25, 1973
Set during the Korean War in the 1950’s
Plot Summary: On the day of the Army/Navy game, the unit finds itself under enemy attack. In addition to injury and some mild damage, they discover an undetonated bomb in the center of the camp. In order to defuse the bomb the characters are forced to deal with a variety of "joker"s from different branches of the military making suggestions about how to deal with the deadly missile. In a variety of scenes some of the characters act as if this is their last day on earth. Eventually the Navy calls back claiming the bomb belongs to the CIA. Hawkeye and Trapper are sent out to defuse the bomb with Henry reading instructions from a bunker. Due to a mix-up between Henry and Trapper they accidentally set off the bomb. As it turns out, all it does is fire propaganda leaflets into the air. The episode ends with Father Mulcahy winning the football pool, being the only person who bet on the Navy.
Hope you enjoy it,
Kenny, Meds & Al
Show Notes
Kenny Mittleider from Knights of the Guild, Alien Nation: The Newcomers Podcast & Confessions of a Fanboy Podcast, Simon Meddings from Waffle On Podcast, & Al Kessel from Tales from the Mouse House, Fast Forward & Just Because Podcast discuss one of the most successful and longest running television series in history.. M*A*S*H
Today we cover Season 1, Episode #20 - The Army-Navy Game
Directed by Gene Reynolds
Written by Sid Dorfman & McLean Stevenson
Production code J322
Original air date February 25, 1973
Set during the Korean War in the 1950’s
Plot Summary: On the day of the Army/Navy game, the unit finds itself under enemy attack. In addition to injury and some mild damage, they discover an undetonated bomb in the center of the camp. In order to defuse the bomb the characters are forced to deal with a variety of "joker"s from different branches of the military making suggestions about how to deal with the deadly missile. In a variety of scenes some of the characters act as if this is their last day on earth. Eventually the Navy calls back claiming the bomb belongs to the CIA. Hawkeye and Trapper are sent out to defuse the bomb with Henry reading instructions from a bunker. Due to a mix-up between Henry and Trapper they accidentally set off the bomb. As it turns out, all it does is fire propaganda leaflets into the air. The episode ends with Father Mulcahy winning the football pool, being the only person who bet on the Navy.
Hope you enjoy it,
Kenny, Meds & Al
PGA DVD Screeners
One of the major benefits of being a member of the PGA (Producers Guild of America) is I get screeners of movies towards the end of the year for the award season. They normally start rolling in mid November and last until mid December. So far I have gotten five screeners. Warrior, The Tree of Life, The First Grader, Contagion and Cars 2. I've heard great things about Warrior but I'm not much into MMA, want to see Contagion and Cars 2 and never heard of The First Grader or The Tree of Life. I normally get about 30 screeners so I'm looking forward to seeing what I get next.
Monday, November 14, 2011
The Hunger Games Trailer
So I read all three of these books and I loved book one, book two and 2/3'd of book three so I was looking forward to seeing this movie and WOW.. this trailer did not disappoint.. I even teared up on several scenes.. gonna be an AWESOME movie and hopefully trilogy.
Additions to my Harry Potter Bust Collection
Stopped by the post office today and picked up a package. I knew what it was as I'm expecting only one thing. I recently won several actions on Ebay and manage to snag both Fenrir Gryback & Cedric Diggory for a good price. I'm so happy that I'm getting more and more of these.. soon I'll be able to complete the set.
Catching up on TV
This morning I took Anthony home, did some errands and grabbed some lunch. When I got home I knew I needed to edit the next MASH 4077 Podcast as it's due tomorrow but instead I had hours and hours of TV that I needed to catch up on so guess which one I choose.. yeah I caught up on some TV. The big ones that I really was looking forward to watching was Once Upon A Time, Clone Wars and The Amazing Race. Amazing Race was good as always, Clone Wars was part 3 of a 4 part story about Rex and the Clone troopers and was as always excellent but the one that I loved the most was Once Upon A Time. This series continues to impress and amaze me. This time they brought in Cinderella and her dealings with Mr. Gold aka Rumpelstiltskin... so much fun.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
The Weekend
Wow.. what a crazy, fun, extremely busy weekend. But my favorite part of the weekend is I got to spend some time with some of my favorite people. On Saturday we went out to dinner to Denny's but one of my friends (Anthony) didn't show up and we started to worry. Well two hours into our dinner we got a call from our friend him and he informed us that he was in the hospital and was hit by a car. My heart dropped. I mean he rides a motorcycle and we were joking about him ending in up in some ditch and then come to find out he was in some ditch :( He texted me that he might need a ride home and of course I said yes and headed over to the Hospital, joining me we my friend Kim. When we got to the Hospital but they would only allow one of us in there and Kim was kind enough to let me go.
When I got to his room there was a nurse tending to his wounds. He had a HUGE bump on his head (mild concussion) along with several bruises and abrasions. His arm, knee and knuckles were scraped up and he broke several bones in his foot, but other then that he was okay. Nurse told me that he needed to be watched the next 48 hours and also needed to be woken up during the night to make sure everything was okay.
Got him back to my car and said our goodbyes to Kim. As we were heading to his place I asked if he had anyone to watch over him and he said he had roommates but they wouldn't be able to check up on him so I offered for him to stay with me so I can keep an eye on him and that's what we did. Got him home, he showered all the blood off and went to bed around 11pm. I finally feel asleep around midnight and set my alarm to get up at 3am to check on him and then again at 6am as we both needed to be somewhere early on Sunday.
Got up at 3am and checked in on him and he was awake as his hand as hurting. Everything seemed to be okay with him so I went back to bed. Got up at 6am and got ready for the day. Had another crazy, fun and busy day. We found out more about Anthony's accident as he doesn't remember anything. Come to find out that the woman made a u turn in front of him, so it was her fault. But she did stay and called 911. Afterward the fun day a group of us went out to dinner in Hollywood at Umami Burger... cool place, kind of trendy and very expensive but the burgers were pretty good. Afterwards I dropped off several friends in the Hollywood area and then Anthony and I headed back to my place. He was staying with me again so I can keep an eye on him and I was going to take him home on Monday. One positive from Anthony's weekend stay, at least for me, is I got to know him alot better... and I have to say he's one interesting guy.
Only downside to this weekend was I lost one of my SD cards which had several hundred pictures :( I hate losing pictures.
So it was a fun filled, hospital visiting, yummy dinners and great company kind of weekend.
When I got to his room there was a nurse tending to his wounds. He had a HUGE bump on his head (mild concussion) along with several bruises and abrasions. His arm, knee and knuckles were scraped up and he broke several bones in his foot, but other then that he was okay. Nurse told me that he needed to be watched the next 48 hours and also needed to be woken up during the night to make sure everything was okay.
Got him back to my car and said our goodbyes to Kim. As we were heading to his place I asked if he had anyone to watch over him and he said he had roommates but they wouldn't be able to check up on him so I offered for him to stay with me so I can keep an eye on him and that's what we did. Got him home, he showered all the blood off and went to bed around 11pm. I finally feel asleep around midnight and set my alarm to get up at 3am to check on him and then again at 6am as we both needed to be somewhere early on Sunday.
Got up at 3am and checked in on him and he was awake as his hand as hurting. Everything seemed to be okay with him so I went back to bed. Got up at 6am and got ready for the day. Had another crazy, fun and busy day. We found out more about Anthony's accident as he doesn't remember anything. Come to find out that the woman made a u turn in front of him, so it was her fault. But she did stay and called 911. Afterward the fun day a group of us went out to dinner in Hollywood at Umami Burger... cool place, kind of trendy and very expensive but the burgers were pretty good. Afterwards I dropped off several friends in the Hollywood area and then Anthony and I headed back to my place. He was staying with me again so I can keep an eye on him and I was going to take him home on Monday. One positive from Anthony's weekend stay, at least for me, is I got to know him alot better... and I have to say he's one interesting guy.
Only downside to this weekend was I lost one of my SD cards which had several hundred pictures :( I hate losing pictures.
So it was a fun filled, hospital visiting, yummy dinners and great company kind of weekend.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Hanging with Chris
Today my buddy Chris came down from up north and we got to hang out. It was great because normally when he is down here we hang out in a large group of friends but this time we got some one on one time for the first time.
I met up with him down in Hollywood and we went for lunch/dinner at The Counter, it's a build your own burger place. After that we walked to the Harry Potter store, Whimsic Alley and looked around for a bit. We then drove to The Grove and saw the movie Immortals (I'll do a review in my next blog). After the movie we hung out at the Grove and walked around the Farmer's Market and finally we drove over to Meltdown Comics before heading back to where he was staying for the night.
It was a fun visit, Chris is in the military and unfortunately is being relocated to the Midwest come February so I'm trying to hang out with him as much as possible as when he is gone, it's going to be very difficult not seeing him every few weeks. So today was a prefect day!!
I met up with him down in Hollywood and we went for lunch/dinner at The Counter, it's a build your own burger place. After that we walked to the Harry Potter store, Whimsic Alley and looked around for a bit. We then drove to The Grove and saw the movie Immortals (I'll do a review in my next blog). After the movie we hung out at the Grove and walked around the Farmer's Market and finally we drove over to Meltdown Comics before heading back to where he was staying for the night.
It was a fun visit, Chris is in the military and unfortunately is being relocated to the Midwest come February so I'm trying to hang out with him as much as possible as when he is gone, it's going to be very difficult not seeing him every few weeks. So today was a prefect day!!
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Lunch with a Friend
Today I drove down to my old job (MTV) to have lunch with a former co-worker of mine Brian. We bonded early in my MTV gig and would try and grab lunch at least once a week. We got to know each other pretty well and really come to enjoy one's company. As with most of my jobs I always tend to really connect with one or two people who I always stay in touch with and become friends when being co-workers comes to an end.. well Brian is that co-worker.
So I hadn't seen Brian since my gig ended at MTV and we were finally able to get our schedule synced and do lunch again. It was great seeing him, we caught up on each other life's and spent the next few hours just chatting. It was a really nice lunch and hopefully it won't be another month and a half before we hang out again.
On my way home I stopped by The Barnyard (Greg Aronowitz's) place to pick up some props from Season 5 of The Guild for my Kickstarter rewards. Greg was in a meeting but Red 5 was happy to show me the stuff. Now I just need to finish packing up everything and ship them off.
So I hadn't seen Brian since my gig ended at MTV and we were finally able to get our schedule synced and do lunch again. It was great seeing him, we caught up on each other life's and spent the next few hours just chatting. It was a really nice lunch and hopefully it won't be another month and a half before we hang out again.
On my way home I stopped by The Barnyard (Greg Aronowitz's) place to pick up some props from Season 5 of The Guild for my Kickstarter rewards. Greg was in a meeting but Red 5 was happy to show me the stuff. Now I just need to finish packing up everything and ship them off.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
My "Adventures of Tintin" Review (Vlog)
Thought I would do things a little differently and record my blog/review of Tintin. Gonna try and do this more often.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Confessions of a Fanboy #4
Download from Itunes: http://ow.ly/6lgMr or listen, get direct download http://ow.ly/6lgMs
Hey all you Fanboys and Fangirls, it's time for another installment of Confessions of a Fanboy.
On today's episode we have the Confession of a Fanboy, Charles Piner. Here's a quick bio on Charles. "What to say about myself? Well, from the earliest days of seeing Empire Strikes Back as a young kid, watching Star Wars for the first time on betamax, getting my first job at a comic book store, or even today breaking into the wonderful world of cosplay, I've always been a geek. Sure, Star Wars is my number one geek out, but I have such a broad and eclectic taste for anything geeky it would take hours to talk about it all! You can always find out more about me by visiting my blog at www.mastercharles.wordpress.com, or at my twitter @cpinerthegeek."
If you want to confess your fanboy or fangirl-ism to me send me an email at ConfessionsofaFanboy@gmail.com
You can also follow the podcast on Twitter @FanboyPodcast, or follow the Host Kenny @Geekyfanboy.
Please go to our podcast page on Facebook and "Like" us.. just click HERE
Thanks,
Kenny
Hey all you Fanboys and Fangirls, it's time for another installment of Confessions of a Fanboy.
If you want to confess your fanboy or fangirl-ism to me send me an email at ConfessionsofaFanboy@gmail.com
You can also follow the podcast on Twitter @FanboyPodcast, or follow the Host Kenny @Geekyfanboy.
Please go to our podcast page on Facebook and "Like" us.. just click HERE
Thanks,
Kenny
Knights of the Guild Ep 36
Download from itunes - http://bit.ly/KotGCast or listen, get direct download at http://bit.ly/2CrYxk
Today’s show features:
- * Knights of the Guild opening theme composed by Brian Arnold with Tweex Music http://tweexmusic.com
- * Guild News
- * What the Cast is Up too
- * Cast member Teal Sherer (Venom) joins me as a co-host and we catch up on her life
- * Guild Trivia
- * Behind the Scenes with Teal Sherer as she discusses Game Stop from Season 3
- * Questions for guest host Teal Sherer
- * Listener Feedback
- * Thank you and goodbyes
- * Special treat: Jeff Lewis singing Rock Lobster
Thank you again for all your support, I do this podcast because I am a fan myself and love taking other fans behind the scenes of this great webseries.
~Kenny~
Monday, November 7, 2011
Podcasting Mojo is Back!!!
Got up today and had a ton of energy, I was determined to get some podcasts done as well as get to the post office to get some of these kickstarter rewards sent out finally. So I did my typical morning thing by jumping on the computer and checking email, twitter, facebook and other things online. Had some breakfast and started working on my newly revamped Knights of the Guild podcast episode 36. I was on a roll and spent 4 solid hours working on it and no realizing that the hours were flying by. Around 2:30 I realized I was hungry, so I grabbed 45 poster tubes and headed out for some lunch at El Pollo Loco and then hit the post office on my way home. 2 1/2 hours later I was back home and jumped back on editing Knights of the Guild.
About 8pm I took a break and had a quick dinner and got back to podcasting. I spent the next hour or so editing my next Confessions of a Fanboy podcast before finishing up my next Knights of the Guild podcast. Will be posting this KOTG #36 tomorrow morning and then finishing my next Confessions and getting that posted either later that night or the next day.
It felt great getting these podcast done, beside finishing the next KOTG, and almost finishing the next Confessions of a Fanboy I strung out the next MASH 4077 Podcast and did notes for my upcoming and new podcast Alien Nation The Newcomers Podcast. So I would say I got my podcasting mojo back and it was fantastic!!!
About 8pm I took a break and had a quick dinner and got back to podcasting. I spent the next hour or so editing my next Confessions of a Fanboy podcast before finishing up my next Knights of the Guild podcast. Will be posting this KOTG #36 tomorrow morning and then finishing my next Confessions and getting that posted either later that night or the next day.
It felt great getting these podcast done, beside finishing the next KOTG, and almost finishing the next Confessions of a Fanboy I strung out the next MASH 4077 Podcast and did notes for my upcoming and new podcast Alien Nation The Newcomers Podcast. So I would say I got my podcasting mojo back and it was fantastic!!!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Lazy Sunday
Wow.. where did this day go? Tried to motivate myself to work on some podcasts and that didn't happen to instead I did some house cleaning. I love having a clean house, it's surprising how dirty one person can make a house. I spent a few hours cleaning the inside of the house and then spent a half hour walking around the outside of the house picking up debris that the winds brought over.
Surfed the internet for a bit but the big thing tonight that I was looking forward to was watching the 3rd episode of Once Upon A Time. I've been loving this series and tonight's episode was just as great as the first two. In episode 2 we got to see the back story of the Evil Queen and I love that she showed that does have a heart but in the end revenge is more powerful then the love she had for her father. In episode 3 I love the chemistry between the actors who portray Snow and Charming, even in the real world they are connected. I enjoyed getting to see Snow White's back story a bit and her first encounter with Prince Charming (as she names him). Other great news about this series is that the rating are holding.. and it was picked up for a full season.. so we are going to at least get one full season of Once Upon A Time.
Can't wait to see more of this fantastic fairy tale / fantasy series.
Surfed the internet for a bit but the big thing tonight that I was looking forward to was watching the 3rd episode of Once Upon A Time. I've been loving this series and tonight's episode was just as great as the first two. In episode 2 we got to see the back story of the Evil Queen and I love that she showed that does have a heart but in the end revenge is more powerful then the love she had for her father. In episode 3 I love the chemistry between the actors who portray Snow and Charming, even in the real world they are connected. I enjoyed getting to see Snow White's back story a bit and her first encounter with Prince Charming (as she names him). Other great news about this series is that the rating are holding.. and it was picked up for a full season.. so we are going to at least get one full season of Once Upon A Time.
Can't wait to see more of this fantastic fairy tale / fantasy series.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Grimm
So I finally took some time to watch the premiere and second episode of NBC's new series Grimm. If you don't know what Grimm is here's a short synopsis:
Set in present-day Portland, Oregon, the series puts a new twist on the stories of the Brothers Grimm in which a homicide detective learns that he is a descendant of a group of hunters known as "Grimms", who fight to keep humanity safe from the supernatural creatures of the world. Upon learning of his destiny, he has to protect every living soul from the sinister storybook characters that have infiltrated the real world.
Now this is one of two Fairytale / Fantasy TV series on this fall. The other being Once Upon a Time, which I totally love. This series couldn't be further apart from Once. This is dark, gritty, intense and scary at times. I really enjoyed the first episode even though in an early preview they tell the entire story in five minutes and shows everything, but it was still fun watching this cop learn who he is and what he now has to do with the rest of his life. I really like the "good" werewolf, he adds some comedy to this very dark story. The second episode was just as fun, gory and intense.
Though I love Once Upon a Time, I have a hard time understanding how they are going to continue this story for seasons to come.. But with Grimm it's a cop show with an element of fairy tales which can go on forever, but with that said I hope it's not a monster of the week kind of series. I guess will have to wait and see. I look forward to seeing where this series goes.
Set in present-day Portland, Oregon, the series puts a new twist on the stories of the Brothers Grimm in which a homicide detective learns that he is a descendant of a group of hunters known as "Grimms", who fight to keep humanity safe from the supernatural creatures of the world. Upon learning of his destiny, he has to protect every living soul from the sinister storybook characters that have infiltrated the real world.
Now this is one of two Fairytale / Fantasy TV series on this fall. The other being Once Upon a Time, which I totally love. This series couldn't be further apart from Once. This is dark, gritty, intense and scary at times. I really enjoyed the first episode even though in an early preview they tell the entire story in five minutes and shows everything, but it was still fun watching this cop learn who he is and what he now has to do with the rest of his life. I really like the "good" werewolf, he adds some comedy to this very dark story. The second episode was just as fun, gory and intense.
Though I love Once Upon a Time, I have a hard time understanding how they are going to continue this story for seasons to come.. But with Grimm it's a cop show with an element of fairy tales which can go on forever, but with that said I hope it's not a monster of the week kind of series. I guess will have to wait and see. I look forward to seeing where this series goes.
Vasquez Rocks
Today was a lull between rainy days so I took advantage of it and went for hike at Vasquez Rocks. It was beautiful outside but cold which makes for the perfect hiking weather. I also wanted to try out my new 360 Panoramic app on my iPad 2. It's a pretty sweet program as you just hold up your iPad and it snaps pictures as you move it from side to side so you get there incredible 360 views.
The hike was great, I had a ton of energy (not sure where it came from), but I hiked all over the place and grabbed a few 360 pictures along the way. Think I might try and do a hike there several times a week.. it's a great workout. Here are some of my 360 pictures.
The first one is from the ground level looking up at the iconic Vasquez Rocks. http://360.io/2bCTrS
This one is looking from one of the peaks down to the ground. http://360.io/wNmuX5
Here's another one I took while hiking. http://360.io/Chcjvm & http://360.io/8RqePh
And the final one is from the highest peak at Vasquez Rock, which I have always wanted to climb but never did.. until today. http://360.io/5kRcPp
If anyone ever wants to join me for a hike at Vasquez Rocks drop me a line, I only live 2 miles away.
The hike was great, I had a ton of energy (not sure where it came from), but I hiked all over the place and grabbed a few 360 pictures along the way. Think I might try and do a hike there several times a week.. it's a great workout. Here are some of my 360 pictures.
The first one is from the ground level looking up at the iconic Vasquez Rocks. http://360.io/2bCTrS
This one is looking from one of the peaks down to the ground. http://360.io/wNmuX5
Here's another one I took while hiking. http://360.io/Chcjvm & http://360.io/8RqePh
And the final one is from the highest peak at Vasquez Rock, which I have always wanted to climb but never did.. until today. http://360.io/5kRcPp
If anyone ever wants to join me for a hike at Vasquez Rocks drop me a line, I only live 2 miles away.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Where Does the Day Go
Wow.. when you're out of work the day just seems to fly by. I get up in the morning and have such huge plans for the day. Gonna do this and gonna do that but by the time the day is over and it's time for bed I look back and ask myself "What the heck did I do today".
I've been out of work now for a little over a month and you figure I would get so much stuff done but I haven't. I have a lot of things half started but not complete. My garage is half cleaned and almost done. My podcasts are half recorded/edited but not completely done. My house is half cleaned but not fully cleaned. I have closet I want to organize and yard work that need to get done and I want to re-finish my back deck. So much stuff to do and I feel like I do nothing by days end. Maybe I need to buy a big wipe board and make a list of everything that I need to get done and hang it in my office so I see it everyday.
When you're not working you get lazy and though I love TV I really need to limit the amount I watch on a daily bases. I think that is where alot of my time is spent.. just trying to catch up on TV. I hate the feeling when I got back to work and look back at my time off and realize I could have done so much more. So I'm making a pledge right now to all my blog readers.. I will get things done, I will watch less TV and focus on getting all the jobs completed and getting my life back in order.
I've been out of work now for a little over a month and you figure I would get so much stuff done but I haven't. I have a lot of things half started but not complete. My garage is half cleaned and almost done. My podcasts are half recorded/edited but not completely done. My house is half cleaned but not fully cleaned. I have closet I want to organize and yard work that need to get done and I want to re-finish my back deck. So much stuff to do and I feel like I do nothing by days end. Maybe I need to buy a big wipe board and make a list of everything that I need to get done and hang it in my office so I see it everyday.
When you're not working you get lazy and though I love TV I really need to limit the amount I watch on a daily bases. I think that is where alot of my time is spent.. just trying to catch up on TV. I hate the feeling when I got back to work and look back at my time off and realize I could have done so much more. So I'm making a pledge right now to all my blog readers.. I will get things done, I will watch less TV and focus on getting all the jobs completed and getting my life back in order.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Friendship is a Two Way Street
I don't know the author of this quote that I got from Facebook, but it really struck a cord with me. Now you can read this quote many ways, could be talking about a partner/boyfriend/girlfriend but I read it as a good friend. So I figured I'd blog about my thoughts on this.
First the Quote:
"If someone wants to be a part of your life, they'll make an effort to be in it. So don't bother reserving a space in your heart for someone who doesn't make an effort to stay."
I've been on the receiving end of alot of loop sided friendship over the years, where I would give 90% and they would give 10%. I would call, email or text them to try and keep in touch with very little effort on their part. Eventually I would give up and lose them as a friend. To me life is all about friendship and the relationships that your form along the way. Finding good friends is hard enough but friendship shouldn't be work. I understand that people get busy and you might not be able to see them as you once did, but with today's technologies it takes only a few seconds to text someone saying "been super busy but wanted to say hi" or "thinking about you, let's hang soon". It's so simple yet it's so hard for some to do. If my friendship with you is not worth a few seconds of your day then like the quote says I shouldn't be holding a spot in my heart for you. I have been hurt so many times by friends who I think are "good" friends but they really only want something from me and when they get it our friendship withers away.
Maybe it's me, maybe I expect to much from my friendships, all I ask is that they put in the same amount of effort I put into our friendship. I've always wanted that small group of friends, like on the TV show Friends. Six or seven folks who just hang out all the time... I've never had that and in today's society it may be unrealistic since peoples lives seem to be so busy now a days. But I guess I'm a dreamer as I still hoping to find that group of friends.
But friendships have changed over the years with social media and the internet. I have so many great "close" friends online whom I've never met (or met once or twice). And with those friends it seems like I talk to them almost everyday and they are closer to me then most of my "real life" friends. But online friends, as great as they are, can not be there for you when you need a hug or want to just hang out and watch TV. There is a limit to those kinds of friendships, not that it takes away any importance to them, but they are different.
I currently have some of the best friendships I have had in my entire life. Unfortunately I still don't have that small group of friends to hang out with on a weekly bases but I'm getting closer. I love each and everyone of my friends, from those that I communicate online with every once in a while to those I spend time with hanging out and enjoying ones company. Friendship is what makes the world go round and I'm just enjoying the ride.
First the Quote:
"If someone wants to be a part of your life, they'll make an effort to be in it. So don't bother reserving a space in your heart for someone who doesn't make an effort to stay."
I've been on the receiving end of alot of loop sided friendship over the years, where I would give 90% and they would give 10%. I would call, email or text them to try and keep in touch with very little effort on their part. Eventually I would give up and lose them as a friend. To me life is all about friendship and the relationships that your form along the way. Finding good friends is hard enough but friendship shouldn't be work. I understand that people get busy and you might not be able to see them as you once did, but with today's technologies it takes only a few seconds to text someone saying "been super busy but wanted to say hi" or "thinking about you, let's hang soon". It's so simple yet it's so hard for some to do. If my friendship with you is not worth a few seconds of your day then like the quote says I shouldn't be holding a spot in my heart for you. I have been hurt so many times by friends who I think are "good" friends but they really only want something from me and when they get it our friendship withers away.
Maybe it's me, maybe I expect to much from my friendships, all I ask is that they put in the same amount of effort I put into our friendship. I've always wanted that small group of friends, like on the TV show Friends. Six or seven folks who just hang out all the time... I've never had that and in today's society it may be unrealistic since peoples lives seem to be so busy now a days. But I guess I'm a dreamer as I still hoping to find that group of friends.
But friendships have changed over the years with social media and the internet. I have so many great "close" friends online whom I've never met (or met once or twice). And with those friends it seems like I talk to them almost everyday and they are closer to me then most of my "real life" friends. But online friends, as great as they are, can not be there for you when you need a hug or want to just hang out and watch TV. There is a limit to those kinds of friendships, not that it takes away any importance to them, but they are different.
I currently have some of the best friendships I have had in my entire life. Unfortunately I still don't have that small group of friends to hang out with on a weekly bases but I'm getting closer. I love each and everyone of my friends, from those that I communicate online with every once in a while to those I spend time with hanging out and enjoying ones company. Friendship is what makes the world go round and I'm just enjoying the ride.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Rewards & Dinner
Today I worked on getting together all the rewards for my Knights of the Guild Kickstarter project from a few months back. When folks donated we promised them rewards in return, ie poster, buttons and such. Now I have 60+ people that I need to ship rewards too. I have manage to get most of the rewards (still waiting to get the screen used props from Greg Aronowitz) but other then that I have everything else. It's just a matter of figuring out the best way to ship all these things. If you made a donation to my Kickstarter you should be getting your rewards in the next few week.. fingers crossed :)
Tonight I headed down the downtown Los Angeles as my buddy Mike was in town for a blogging and social media convention. Mike and I have been friends for years but never managed to have more then a 10 minute visit as the only times we see each other are at cons and both of us are normally very busy. So when he said he was going to be in town and wanted to grab some dinner I jumped at it. Since it was a Wednesday and in downtown LA I didn't want to drive as I knew traffic was going to be bad so instead I drove to the North Hollywood Metro (subway) station. That's only a 40 minute drive for me. I ride the subway very rarely but I did my research ahead of time to find out what exit I had to get off that was closest to where we were going to eat.
Got on the train right away as there was one waiting for me when I got down there. Took about 15 minutes and I was downtown (would have taken me over an hour in traffic to get there). I got off at Persian Square and went right for a few blocks (which I have to say were very ghetto). It was dark and I normally don't mind walking through a more "seedy" part of town but there were alot of homeless and less then nice looking folks just hanging around the sidewalk. Well I got about two blocks from the subway and realized I must be going the wrong direction as the street I was expected didn't show up as it should have. So I turned around and walked back through the same homeless and sketchy looking people back to the subway and then went left from there. It was like night and day. A block away there were young couples dressed to the nines, woman jogging alone, business suit men and women walking around. I found the street I was looking for and about ten minute later I was at my location.
We had dinner at Bonaventure Brewing Co. at the Westin. It was great to see Mike, we chatted non stop for hours and really got to know each other better. He's one of those friends that you feel like you have known forever and can talk open and honest about everything. It was a really good visit. His friend Danielle joined us later in the evening and we enjoyed each others company. Around 10pm I said my goodbye and headed back to the subway (this time I went to a different station). Had to wait about 10 minute for a train. Got back to my jeep around 10:30 and home a little after 11pm. It was a good night.
Tonight I headed down the downtown Los Angeles as my buddy Mike was in town for a blogging and social media convention. Mike and I have been friends for years but never managed to have more then a 10 minute visit as the only times we see each other are at cons and both of us are normally very busy. So when he said he was going to be in town and wanted to grab some dinner I jumped at it. Since it was a Wednesday and in downtown LA I didn't want to drive as I knew traffic was going to be bad so instead I drove to the North Hollywood Metro (subway) station. That's only a 40 minute drive for me. I ride the subway very rarely but I did my research ahead of time to find out what exit I had to get off that was closest to where we were going to eat.
Got on the train right away as there was one waiting for me when I got down there. Took about 15 minutes and I was downtown (would have taken me over an hour in traffic to get there). I got off at Persian Square and went right for a few blocks (which I have to say were very ghetto). It was dark and I normally don't mind walking through a more "seedy" part of town but there were alot of homeless and less then nice looking folks just hanging around the sidewalk. Well I got about two blocks from the subway and realized I must be going the wrong direction as the street I was expected didn't show up as it should have. So I turned around and walked back through the same homeless and sketchy looking people back to the subway and then went left from there. It was like night and day. A block away there were young couples dressed to the nines, woman jogging alone, business suit men and women walking around. I found the street I was looking for and about ten minute later I was at my location.
We had dinner at Bonaventure Brewing Co. at the Westin. It was great to see Mike, we chatted non stop for hours and really got to know each other better. He's one of those friends that you feel like you have known forever and can talk open and honest about everything. It was a really good visit. His friend Danielle joined us later in the evening and we enjoyed each others company. Around 10pm I said my goodbye and headed back to the subway (this time I went to a different station). Had to wait about 10 minute for a train. Got back to my jeep around 10:30 and home a little after 11pm. It was a good night.
I'm just so tired...
:: getting on soapbox::
I'm so tired of defending my lifestyle to everyone. How is it anyones business how I live my life. I'm not hurting a single person, I'm a law abiding citizen, pay my taxes and am just trying to live the best life I've been given. I'm tried of being treated as a second class citizen, I'm tried of the name calling, I'm sick of people constantly trying to take my civil liberates away from me. I'm tired of racist, bigoted, conservative assholes opening there mouths and spewing hate all over the place all under the guise of religion. I'm just so tired of it all.
::getting off soapbox::
I'm so tired of defending my lifestyle to everyone. How is it anyones business how I live my life. I'm not hurting a single person, I'm a law abiding citizen, pay my taxes and am just trying to live the best life I've been given. I'm tried of being treated as a second class citizen, I'm tried of the name calling, I'm sick of people constantly trying to take my civil liberates away from me. I'm tired of racist, bigoted, conservative assholes opening there mouths and spewing hate all over the place all under the guise of religion. I'm just so tired of it all.
::getting off soapbox::
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Mid-Life Crisis
Okay so October is over and as many of you may have noticed via my blog, facebook or twitter that I've been out of sorts lately. I think I'm going through some sort of mid life crisis. I've had some great highs this past month like the times spent with some of the best friends a guy could ever ask for and then there are have been some super lows like when I'm home alone for a weekend struggling to motivate myself to do anything. I've had friends ask if I'm depressed and suicidal. I admit I have been depressed from time to time but I don't think I would call it clinical depression. As for suicidal, defiantly not, I have never once in my life consider that.. so no worries there. Some have suggested that I see a professional, now I'm not opposed to the idea but I'd really like to try and work this out for myself before taking that step.
I am extremely lonely, even though I have some of the best friends that I have ever had in my entire life, I'm still feel alone. After hanging out with them and feeling on top of the world, I come home to this big house empty house in the middle of no where. I really think this is all fallout from the break up. Having someone in your life everyday for 8 years then nothing is going to take some getting use to. I felt as if I had gotten over Harry and was moving on with my life, but I guess deep down I'm still struggling with the loneliness.
I feel as thought I've hit a crossroads in life and I have to make some big decisions. I'm 41 (halfway though my life), jobless (really not sure if I want to go back into Post Production), and single (after an 8 relationship). Where do I go from here, what do I want to do with the next 40 years of my life. I need to really look at my life and figure out what direction I want to go.
I mean when I was younger and I though about my life at 40 this is not what I had in mind. I saw myself, as many of us do. With a loving partner of many years, 1 or 2 kids, a house and a satisfying job and right now I have the least important one of them all, a house.
I'm going to take this month (November) and really work out what my next steps will be to help me reach my future goal of partner, family, and satisfying career. I'm sure things won't just click into place, it's going to be a struggle but I'm hopeful that there is a light at the end of the dark tunnel.
I am extremely lonely, even though I have some of the best friends that I have ever had in my entire life, I'm still feel alone. After hanging out with them and feeling on top of the world, I come home to this big house empty house in the middle of no where. I really think this is all fallout from the break up. Having someone in your life everyday for 8 years then nothing is going to take some getting use to. I felt as if I had gotten over Harry and was moving on with my life, but I guess deep down I'm still struggling with the loneliness.
I feel as thought I've hit a crossroads in life and I have to make some big decisions. I'm 41 (halfway though my life), jobless (really not sure if I want to go back into Post Production), and single (after an 8 relationship). Where do I go from here, what do I want to do with the next 40 years of my life. I need to really look at my life and figure out what direction I want to go.
I mean when I was younger and I though about my life at 40 this is not what I had in mind. I saw myself, as many of us do. With a loving partner of many years, 1 or 2 kids, a house and a satisfying job and right now I have the least important one of them all, a house.
I'm going to take this month (November) and really work out what my next steps will be to help me reach my future goal of partner, family, and satisfying career. I'm sure things won't just click into place, it's going to be a struggle but I'm hopeful that there is a light at the end of the dark tunnel.
MASH 4077 Podcast Episode 19
Download from itunes http://tinyurl.com/MASH4077itunes or listen/direct download http://MASH4077Podcast.com
Show NotesKenny Mittleider from Knights of the Guild, Alien Nation: The Newcomers Podcast & Confessions of a Fanboy Podcast, Simon Meddings from Waffle On Podcast, & Al Kessel from Tales from the Mouse House, Fast Forward & Just Because Podcast discuss one of the most successful and longest running television series in history.. M*A*S*H
Today we cover Season 1, Episode #19 - The Longjohn Flap
Plot Summary: In the middle of a cold snap, Hawkeye receives a pair of longjohns from home. Hawkeye gives them to an ill Trapper out of sympathy and Trapper loses them to Radar in a poker game. The longjohns proceed to pass through the hands of almost everyone in the camp: Radar gives them to the cook in exchange for a whole lamb roast with mint jelly, and the cook bribes Frank with them to avoid being demoted because of the unsanitary conditions of the kitchen. Frank gives the longjohns to an intimidating Margaret as a sign of devotion to her, before Klinger steals the longjohns from Margaret's tent. A remorseful Klinger then gives the longjohns to Father Mulcahy, who in turn gives them to Henry (but not until after he spends the night wearing them). Henry claims he will return the longjohns to their rightful owner, but gets caught putting them on by Hawkeye and Trapper. Henry rebuffs Hawkeye's demand that the longjohns be returned, but later gives them back to Hawkeye in gratitude for saving his life via an appendectomy.
Hope you enjoy it,
Kenny, Meds & Al
© Geekyfanboy Productions
Monday, October 31, 2011
Halloween
Woke up this morning in Bryan's hotel room, didn't get the best night sleep as the hotel was pretty loud (being near a main street and me being a light sleeper). Bryan and I kind of laid there in bed, chatted and enjoyed ones company. We then got up around 9am and got ready for the day. I took him out to breakfast at Denny's and then drove him over to Disneyland as he was doing his third and final day there. I thought about hanging out with him all day today but really needed to get home to do two podcasts that are due tomorrow.
Traffic wasn't that bad driving home in the morning.. got home around 11am and pretty much did nothing all day long. There were several Halloween parties that I was invited to but I just couldn't get motivated to do anything. I kind of regret not spending the day with Bryan again as yesterday was so much fun and how often is he in town... but I didn't :(
The day started off great as I got to spend it with my buddy Bryan but ended kind of crappy as I didn't get any podcasting done, didn't go to any parties and regret not hanging with Bryan at Disneyland all day.
Traffic wasn't that bad driving home in the morning.. got home around 11am and pretty much did nothing all day long. There were several Halloween parties that I was invited to but I just couldn't get motivated to do anything. I kind of regret not spending the day with Bryan again as yesterday was so much fun and how often is he in town... but I didn't :(
The day started off great as I got to spend it with my buddy Bryan but ended kind of crappy as I didn't get any podcasting done, didn't go to any parties and regret not hanging with Bryan at Disneyland all day.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Disneyland & Medieval Times
Though I didn't go to bed until 3am this morning and was so drunk, I had made plans to join my buddy Bryan at Disneyland, who was visiting from Michigan. So I got up at 7am and actually felt pretty good. I was tired and had a bit of a hangover but for the amount of alcohol I drank and the little sleep I got I think I was doing pretty good. Luckily I stayed in Long Beach so getting to Disneyland didn't take me too long. I got there around 9am and made plans to hook up with my buddy in the front of the park. Bryan and I are online friends, we've been chatting for a few years and really get along online so I was very excited to finally actual meet him face to face.
You know it's always funny when you first meet a person that you only know for online. Bryan and I have only communicated over facebook chat, we've never verbally talked or did video chats. I knew what he looked like from his pictures so when I walked into the park I saw him walking over to me. Now I'm a hugger, always have been but some people don't like to be touched so I opted for the one are "straight" guy hug and said hello. Come to find out he's okay with actual hugs :)
Our bond was instant, there are some people that you meet and they are nice and you'll call them a friend but then there are those who from the moment you meet it's as though you've been friends all your life. That's what it was like meeting Bryan face to face.
First thing he wanted to do was show me a "birthday" gift that he wanted to get for me so we walked over to Tomorrow Land and to the Star Wars store area. There is a place where they take your picture and place it in a Star Wars scene. He wanted to buy one of those for me for my birthday. I've always liked those but never had gotten one. I was excited and of course I wanted him to be part of the picture so I looked for a two person picture and found the perfect one... and it turned out GREAT!!! ----->
Next we rode a few rides and chatted about life. He and I talk TV or movies most of the time online so it was nice to actually talk about our personal lives and get to know each other better. We headed over to California Adventures to go to the Aladdin live stage play. I love Aladdin so I was super excited to see this and it didn't disappoint.. That play will be a must watch every time I go to Disney.
We grabbed some lunch and watched the Star Wars Jedi Training, and continued to enjoy ones company. I talked Bryan into doing Autopia as he can't drive due to a medical condition and I figured it would be fun as you kind of drive those cars though they are on a track. I was behind him and got to watch him attempt to drive.. it was pretty funny.
Around 4:30pm we headed over to Medieval Times for dinner and show. This is something that I have been wanting to do since I was young but never did. Bryan is huge into Medieval Times and was excited to share this experience with me. He went all out and got lots of extras, like a picture of us in costume fighting the dragons.. that was fun. We got prime seating and some flags. It was everything I expected and more and I'm so happy that I got to share the experience with him. Good food, great company and a fantastic show. Can't wait to do it again one day.
After Medieval Times we headed back to Disneyland and spend a few more hours there before they closed. We did a few rides and I was excited to be able to take Bryan to ElecTronica as he's a Tron fan and we thought we weren't going to be able to make it, but we got the California Adventures 10 minutes before they closed.
At 11pm both parks were closed and Bryan was kind enough to offer for me to crash at his hotel room as I was so tired after all the excitement of Saturday and now a fun filled day on Sunday. So I said yes. Not sure what time we both went to bed but we spent a few more hours chatting.. it was great.
I had such a FANTASTIC time hanging with Bryan, I have to admit I'm a bit smitten with him but as with most of the great guys I know.. he's straight as well. Oh well, he's going to make some woman very happy some day. Can't wait to hang out with you again Bryan.. hope it's soon. Thanks for everything.
You know it's always funny when you first meet a person that you only know for online. Bryan and I have only communicated over facebook chat, we've never verbally talked or did video chats. I knew what he looked like from his pictures so when I walked into the park I saw him walking over to me. Now I'm a hugger, always have been but some people don't like to be touched so I opted for the one are "straight" guy hug and said hello. Come to find out he's okay with actual hugs :)
Our bond was instant, there are some people that you meet and they are nice and you'll call them a friend but then there are those who from the moment you meet it's as though you've been friends all your life. That's what it was like meeting Bryan face to face.
First thing he wanted to do was show me a "birthday" gift that he wanted to get for me so we walked over to Tomorrow Land and to the Star Wars store area. There is a place where they take your picture and place it in a Star Wars scene. He wanted to buy one of those for me for my birthday. I've always liked those but never had gotten one. I was excited and of course I wanted him to be part of the picture so I looked for a two person picture and found the perfect one... and it turned out GREAT!!! ----->
Next we rode a few rides and chatted about life. He and I talk TV or movies most of the time online so it was nice to actually talk about our personal lives and get to know each other better. We headed over to California Adventures to go to the Aladdin live stage play. I love Aladdin so I was super excited to see this and it didn't disappoint.. That play will be a must watch every time I go to Disney.
We grabbed some lunch and watched the Star Wars Jedi Training, and continued to enjoy ones company. I talked Bryan into doing Autopia as he can't drive due to a medical condition and I figured it would be fun as you kind of drive those cars though they are on a track. I was behind him and got to watch him attempt to drive.. it was pretty funny.
Around 4:30pm we headed over to Medieval Times for dinner and show. This is something that I have been wanting to do since I was young but never did. Bryan is huge into Medieval Times and was excited to share this experience with me. He went all out and got lots of extras, like a picture of us in costume fighting the dragons.. that was fun. We got prime seating and some flags. It was everything I expected and more and I'm so happy that I got to share the experience with him. Good food, great company and a fantastic show. Can't wait to do it again one day.
After Medieval Times we headed back to Disneyland and spend a few more hours there before they closed. We did a few rides and I was excited to be able to take Bryan to ElecTronica as he's a Tron fan and we thought we weren't going to be able to make it, but we got the California Adventures 10 minutes before they closed.
At 11pm both parks were closed and Bryan was kind enough to offer for me to crash at his hotel room as I was so tired after all the excitement of Saturday and now a fun filled day on Sunday. So I said yes. Not sure what time we both went to bed but we spent a few more hours chatting.. it was great.
I had such a FANTASTIC time hanging with Bryan, I have to admit I'm a bit smitten with him but as with most of the great guys I know.. he's straight as well. Oh well, he's going to make some woman very happy some day. Can't wait to hang out with you again Bryan.. hope it's soon. Thanks for everything.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Long Beach Comic & Horror Convention
Today I went to the Long Beach Convention Center where they were holding the Long Beach Comic and Horror Con. The Guild was going to attend on Saturday of the two day event so me and a bunch of Guildies decided to make it a group activity.
The day started off with Brian, Greg and Sean giving a location tour of Season 5, since alot of it was shot at the Long Beach Convention Center. After the tour we had a viewing of Season 5 (cut down to 45 minutes). It was fun watching the season all strung together though there were some huge gaps and scenes completely taken out for time.. but all in all it was a fun watch.
A handful of us went down to the show floor where all the dealers are. We walked around the floor looking at different folks in costumes and checking out the dealers that were there. We found our friends Team Unicorn and their booth and decided to hang out there and chat for bit.
At 1pm The Guild cast (Vince, Amy, Robin and Felicia, along with crew Greg, Sean and Kim) did a panel. It was a 45 minute Q&A session and after a slow started it really got moving. The cast and crew were funny as always. Once that was over a few of us agreed to meet back here at 2:30 to go to lunch. So I headed out with Chris to his hotel room and then we hit the floor again.
At 2:30 about 17 of us gathered at our meeting place for lunch. We headed across the street to Islands and Chris used is charm to get us a table in about 10 minutes which wasn't bad since we had 17 people. They placed us at 3 tables all within the same area. Lunch was a riot.. I got a strawberry margarita and I'm a light weight so I was feeling pretty good.. even had one of my infamous giggle feast.
After lunch we went over to the Jones Soda truck. We were told they were giving out The Guild Jones soda bottles. When I got there several of my friend told Will about my experiences with my previous Jones Soda orders and he gave me a full set (6 sodas) all in perfect condition for free. Jones Soda is a pretty amazing company and have one of the best customer services I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with.
We then headed back to the con to meet up with the other Guildie Extras at 5pm. The gathering started off slow but soon folks were mingling and when Amy, Robin, Sean, Brian and Greg showed up folks got really excited. This lasted to about 8pm and then the party moved to a local bar where we had some dinner and a few more drink. We then went to an bowling alley/ arcade and played a few games before heading back to Chris' hotel for an after party.
Now this is were the real fun began. Since the room was so small we only could invite a few folks to join us. I was drunk but not so much so that I wouldn't remember the night. I was having a blast and I didn't want to forget everything. The party last until about 3am where I and several others crashed were we could in Chris' room.
This day started off fun and just got better and better as it went. Thanks to Chris, Luis, Jes, Jen, Anne, Scott, Rupert, Aaron, Anthony, Ashphord and new friends Nikki and Megan for making this an AWESOME time.
The day started off with Brian, Greg and Sean giving a location tour of Season 5, since alot of it was shot at the Long Beach Convention Center. After the tour we had a viewing of Season 5 (cut down to 45 minutes). It was fun watching the season all strung together though there were some huge gaps and scenes completely taken out for time.. but all in all it was a fun watch.
A handful of us went down to the show floor where all the dealers are. We walked around the floor looking at different folks in costumes and checking out the dealers that were there. We found our friends Team Unicorn and their booth and decided to hang out there and chat for bit.
At 1pm The Guild cast (Vince, Amy, Robin and Felicia, along with crew Greg, Sean and Kim) did a panel. It was a 45 minute Q&A session and after a slow started it really got moving. The cast and crew were funny as always. Once that was over a few of us agreed to meet back here at 2:30 to go to lunch. So I headed out with Chris to his hotel room and then we hit the floor again.
At 2:30 about 17 of us gathered at our meeting place for lunch. We headed across the street to Islands and Chris used is charm to get us a table in about 10 minutes which wasn't bad since we had 17 people. They placed us at 3 tables all within the same area. Lunch was a riot.. I got a strawberry margarita and I'm a light weight so I was feeling pretty good.. even had one of my infamous giggle feast.
After lunch we went over to the Jones Soda truck. We were told they were giving out The Guild Jones soda bottles. When I got there several of my friend told Will about my experiences with my previous Jones Soda orders and he gave me a full set (6 sodas) all in perfect condition for free. Jones Soda is a pretty amazing company and have one of the best customer services I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with.
We then headed back to the con to meet up with the other Guildie Extras at 5pm. The gathering started off slow but soon folks were mingling and when Amy, Robin, Sean, Brian and Greg showed up folks got really excited. This lasted to about 8pm and then the party moved to a local bar where we had some dinner and a few more drink. We then went to an bowling alley/ arcade and played a few games before heading back to Chris' hotel for an after party.
Now this is were the real fun began. Since the room was so small we only could invite a few folks to join us. I was drunk but not so much so that I wouldn't remember the night. I was having a blast and I didn't want to forget everything. The party last until about 3am where I and several others crashed were we could in Chris' room.This day started off fun and just got better and better as it went. Thanks to Chris, Luis, Jes, Jen, Anne, Scott, Rupert, Aaron, Anthony, Ashphord and new friends Nikki and Megan for making this an AWESOME time.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Dinner with Friends
Tonight I had dinner with some friends. This was the couple I was suppose to have dinner with last week but totally forgot about it. John and Moises are some great guys and I love hanging out with them. We got to spend about 3 hours eating delicious food (Moises is a great cook) and having some fun conversation (mostly movie and tv related) since we're all geeks. I use to do TV night every week when I lived closer and these guys always showed up... I miss tv nights. It was great seeing them and hopefully it won't be months before I see them again.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Podcasting Rut!!
Well I've been trying to motive myself to getting some podcasts done that are due very soon but nothing really seems to be working. I don't know what it is but editing podcasts hasn't been that fun lately and I need to figure out why. I have a MASH 4077 due as well as a revamped Knights of the Guild but I haven't even started those yet. I have 30+ people on my Confessions of a Fanboy waiting list to be interviewed and I have four that have already been interviewed and all I need to do edit them and get them out. I'm also still in the middle of prepping notes for my new Alien Nation podcast.
I need to get the KOTG and MASH ones done by Nov 1st and I'm hoping to kick myself in the butt and get moving on the other in early November. I need to get out of this podcasting rut.
I need to get the KOTG and MASH ones done by Nov 1st and I'm hoping to kick myself in the butt and get moving on the other in early November. I need to get out of this podcasting rut.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Disneyland Again
Yep.. went to Disneyland to joined friends Al and Joyce and once again today I will be doing the same. I enjoy Disneyland but I just want to hang out with Al and Joyce who live in Arizona and I don't get to see them very often. Good thing is they are huge Disney fanatics so why not hang out with two awesome people in one of the happiest places on Earth.
It was another fun filled day walking around the parks enjoying ones company and the rides. I actually talked Al into riding Mickey's Fun Wheel (Ferris Wheel) and to ride in the moving cabs. We were paired with 2 young and very tiny girls so with Al and I weighting substantial more we were a bit lopsided and every time we swung our way we would turn the cab sideways and the girls would scream and grab the siding so they wouldn't fall towards us. It was a lot of fun but I kind of feel bad asking Al to do the ride because afterwards he needed a few hours to recover.
We hung out until 6pm then I was meeting up with another friend from Arizona who just happen to be visiting SoCal and the parks at the same time. So I met up with my buddy Aaron who I meet on the set of The Guild. Yeah he actually drove out from Arizona for season four and five to be an extra. Anyways we had a nice dinner at The Rain Forest Cafe, then walked around Downtown Disney for a bit before meeting back up with Al and Joyce where I said my goodbyes to all of them and then headed home.
I haven't been home in three days so I was happy to get back to my own bed... but I had a fantastic 3 days, two of them at Disneyland and one with my Mom. Was very happy that I was able to spend two days with Al and Joyce and at least have dinner with Aaron.
I love having my annual pass, you experience the parks in an entirely different way.
It was another fun filled day walking around the parks enjoying ones company and the rides. I actually talked Al into riding Mickey's Fun Wheel (Ferris Wheel) and to ride in the moving cabs. We were paired with 2 young and very tiny girls so with Al and I weighting substantial more we were a bit lopsided and every time we swung our way we would turn the cab sideways and the girls would scream and grab the siding so they wouldn't fall towards us. It was a lot of fun but I kind of feel bad asking Al to do the ride because afterwards he needed a few hours to recover.
We hung out until 6pm then I was meeting up with another friend from Arizona who just happen to be visiting SoCal and the parks at the same time. So I met up with my buddy Aaron who I meet on the set of The Guild. Yeah he actually drove out from Arizona for season four and five to be an extra. Anyways we had a nice dinner at The Rain Forest Cafe, then walked around Downtown Disney for a bit before meeting back up with Al and Joyce where I said my goodbyes to all of them and then headed home.
I haven't been home in three days so I was happy to get back to my own bed... but I had a fantastic 3 days, two of them at Disneyland and one with my Mom. Was very happy that I was able to spend two days with Al and Joyce and at least have dinner with Aaron.
I love having my annual pass, you experience the parks in an entirely different way.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Hanging with Mom
Since I was down at Disneyland yesterday and going back tomorrow I figured instead of going home (hour and a half drive) I would stay at my mom's (20 minute drive) and then spend the day with her. I haven't hung out like that with my mom for as long as I can remember.
Got up at 8am and of course my mom and chuck (step dad) were already up and waiting for me to go to breakfast. The three of use did breakfast and then headed back to the house. While chatting mom asked me if I wanted to get a manicure and pedicure as she needed to get her nails filled in. I have always wanted to get a mani & pedi but never have so of course I said "yes!!". We headed over to her local nail place (where she has been going for over 10 years). The ladies were all very nice and got to work on me straight away. One did my finger nails while another worked on my feet. The poor pedicure woman really has to work extra hard as my feet have 40 years of wear and tear on them. But about an hour later they were done and my finger nails looked fantastic and my feet never felt so good. They end the session with a 15 minute neck and shoulder massage. It was a pretty great experience and I can see me getting those every once in a while.
After the mani and pedi my mom and I headed out for lunch and do to a bit of shopping. I needed to get a hoodie as I was cold at Disneyland last night and I knew I would be cold again tomorrow night and I wasn't willing to pay $60 - $75 for a hoodie (at Disney). I did manage to get a pretty cool orange hoodie from Target for only $10.
After that we headed back to my moms where we hung out and I taught her a few things about her new iPad 2. She wanted to get one so she could talk to my nephew, her grandson. So we got that up and running but my mom is not computer savvy at all so will see how long she remembers.
Then the three of us (Chuck, Mom and I) went out to dinner. Once dinner was over we chatted for a bit until about 9pm then I went up stairs to my room to watch a bit of TV. I have to get up early tomorrow to get to Disneyland so I called it an evening around 10:30pm
It was a fun day filled with new experiences.
Got up at 8am and of course my mom and chuck (step dad) were already up and waiting for me to go to breakfast. The three of use did breakfast and then headed back to the house. While chatting mom asked me if I wanted to get a manicure and pedicure as she needed to get her nails filled in. I have always wanted to get a mani & pedi but never have so of course I said "yes!!". We headed over to her local nail place (where she has been going for over 10 years). The ladies were all very nice and got to work on me straight away. One did my finger nails while another worked on my feet. The poor pedicure woman really has to work extra hard as my feet have 40 years of wear and tear on them. But about an hour later they were done and my finger nails looked fantastic and my feet never felt so good. They end the session with a 15 minute neck and shoulder massage. It was a pretty great experience and I can see me getting those every once in a while.
After the mani and pedi my mom and I headed out for lunch and do to a bit of shopping. I needed to get a hoodie as I was cold at Disneyland last night and I knew I would be cold again tomorrow night and I wasn't willing to pay $60 - $75 for a hoodie (at Disney). I did manage to get a pretty cool orange hoodie from Target for only $10.
After that we headed back to my moms where we hung out and I taught her a few things about her new iPad 2. She wanted to get one so she could talk to my nephew, her grandson. So we got that up and running but my mom is not computer savvy at all so will see how long she remembers.
Then the three of us (Chuck, Mom and I) went out to dinner. Once dinner was over we chatted for a bit until about 9pm then I went up stairs to my room to watch a bit of TV. I have to get up early tomorrow to get to Disneyland so I called it an evening around 10:30pm
It was a fun day filled with new experiences.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Disneyland
My friends Al and Joyce are down from Arizona celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary and of course they are celebrating at their favorite place on Earth, Disneyland. They invited me to join them so I went down today. Had a rough start to the day as I was running late, then fighting the woodpecker, then when I left my house I noticed that I had a flat tire. I fixed it and was on my way and right before I got to the freeway I realized I left my medicine at home (which I needed as I didn't plan on come home for three days). So finally an hour behind my original schedule I made my way down to Disneyland.
Luckily there was very little traffic and I got to Disney in an hour and 15 minutes. I hooked up with Al and Joyce and spent a magical day at Disneyland. We focused on mostly Disneyland, but headed over to California Adventures to have dinner at Ariel's Grotto. Joyce had made reservations for us. It's a nice restaurant and had some great food but is fairly expensive.
Part of our dinner reservations were tickets for preferred "area" to the "World of Color". That's one of the water shows at the park. I had never seen it so I was really looking forward to it. After some crazy times trying to find a decent area to watch we settled into a good area and the show began. WOW!!! this show did not disappoint and it brought me to tears. If you don't know what it is, they project video on huge walls of water that kind of dance to the music being played. That was a great way to end my Disney adventure. If you get a chance to watch the show.. take it. I can't wait to see it again.
After Disney I headed to my Mom's who lives in Newport Beach as I was going to spend the day with her tomorrow and then return to Disneyland the following day.
Luckily there was very little traffic and I got to Disney in an hour and 15 minutes. I hooked up with Al and Joyce and spent a magical day at Disneyland. We focused on mostly Disneyland, but headed over to California Adventures to have dinner at Ariel's Grotto. Joyce had made reservations for us. It's a nice restaurant and had some great food but is fairly expensive.
Part of our dinner reservations were tickets for preferred "area" to the "World of Color". That's one of the water shows at the park. I had never seen it so I was really looking forward to it. After some crazy times trying to find a decent area to watch we settled into a good area and the show began. WOW!!! this show did not disappoint and it brought me to tears. If you don't know what it is, they project video on huge walls of water that kind of dance to the music being played. That was a great way to end my Disney adventure. If you get a chance to watch the show.. take it. I can't wait to see it again.
After Disney I headed to my Mom's who lives in Newport Beach as I was going to spend the day with her tomorrow and then return to Disneyland the following day.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Once Upon A Time
Once Upon A Time is a new TV series on ABC that I have been looking forward to for months since I read the description of this series.
~ On the wedding day of Snow White and Prince Charming, the Evil Queen arrives and delivers an ominous threat about a powerful curse she intends to release upon them. Some time later, a pregnant Snow White is worried about the curse and visits Rumplestiltskin who issues a prophecy that the Queen's curse will take them all someplace terrible where there will be no happy endings, except for her. He also reveals that Snow White's unborn daughter, Emma, will return when she is 28 years old to rescue them, thus beginning the final battle with the Queen. On advice from the Blue Fairy, Geppetto and Pinocchio fashion a wardrobe from a magical tree which will allow one person to escape the Queen's curse. On the day Snow White gives birth to her daughter, the Queen's curse strikes. Prince Charming places their daughter in the magic wardrobe, but is mortally wounded battling the Queen's henchmen. The Queen stands triumphantly over Snow White and Prince Charming as the curse takes them to "someplace horrible".
In present day Boston, Emma Swan lives a lonely existence working as a bail bondsperson and bounty hunter. After blowing out a candle on a cupcake for her 28th birthday, Emma is approached by a ten year old boy, Henry, who identifies himself as her son, whom she had given up for adoption as a teenager. Not wanting a relationship with him, Emma agrees to drive him back to his home in not-so-quaint Storybrooke, Maine. Along the way, Henry shows her a large book of fairy tales he has, insisting that all of the stories in it are real. When they arrive in Storybrooke, Henry informs her that everyone in town is in reality a fairy tale character, exiled by the curse and with no memory of their real identities. This includes his therapist, who is really Jiminy Cricket, and his teacher Mary Margaret Blanchard, who is really Snow White. He claims that time is frozen in Storybrooke (shown to be 8:15 on the Towns Clock) and the people are unable to leave, but that the curse will be broken by Emma. A skeptical Emma returns Henry to his adopted mother, the town Mayor, who is really the Evil Queen. When Henry soon runs away again, Emma finds him and decides to stay in Storybrooke temporarily. This decision causes the hands of the town clock, previously frozen, to begin moving again.
First of all it's a fantasy and there aren't many fantasies on TV these days. Second it deals with Fairy Tales which I love so I have been super excited for this forever. Then we started to see trailers and previews and my excitement grew. ~
Well tonight it premiered and I fell head over heels in love with it. I enjoyed every minute of it. I loved the mix of fantasy and real world. I loved, loved, loved the costumes in the Fairytale world. The special effects were pretty good and I liked the story. The scenery was beautiful (fairytale land) and it made me cry several times. I mean it's only the first episode but they set up the story pretty good all within the first episode. I immediately watched it again, which I hadn't done with a TV series in a long time. And on my second viewing I loved it even more and I know I'll be watching it a few more times before episode 2 on Sunday.
This is must see TV for me and I'm hoping it does well in the ratings so we see there this adventure goes. If you love fantasy, whimsical, great characters and a fun story then check out Once Upon A Time on ABC, Sundays at 8pm
~ On the wedding day of Snow White and Prince Charming, the Evil Queen arrives and delivers an ominous threat about a powerful curse she intends to release upon them. Some time later, a pregnant Snow White is worried about the curse and visits Rumplestiltskin who issues a prophecy that the Queen's curse will take them all someplace terrible where there will be no happy endings, except for her. He also reveals that Snow White's unborn daughter, Emma, will return when she is 28 years old to rescue them, thus beginning the final battle with the Queen. On advice from the Blue Fairy, Geppetto and Pinocchio fashion a wardrobe from a magical tree which will allow one person to escape the Queen's curse. On the day Snow White gives birth to her daughter, the Queen's curse strikes. Prince Charming places their daughter in the magic wardrobe, but is mortally wounded battling the Queen's henchmen. The Queen stands triumphantly over Snow White and Prince Charming as the curse takes them to "someplace horrible".
In present day Boston, Emma Swan lives a lonely existence working as a bail bondsperson and bounty hunter. After blowing out a candle on a cupcake for her 28th birthday, Emma is approached by a ten year old boy, Henry, who identifies himself as her son, whom she had given up for adoption as a teenager. Not wanting a relationship with him, Emma agrees to drive him back to his home in not-so-quaint Storybrooke, Maine. Along the way, Henry shows her a large book of fairy tales he has, insisting that all of the stories in it are real. When they arrive in Storybrooke, Henry informs her that everyone in town is in reality a fairy tale character, exiled by the curse and with no memory of their real identities. This includes his therapist, who is really Jiminy Cricket, and his teacher Mary Margaret Blanchard, who is really Snow White. He claims that time is frozen in Storybrooke (shown to be 8:15 on the Towns Clock) and the people are unable to leave, but that the curse will be broken by Emma. A skeptical Emma returns Henry to his adopted mother, the town Mayor, who is really the Evil Queen. When Henry soon runs away again, Emma finds him and decides to stay in Storybrooke temporarily. This decision causes the hands of the town clock, previously frozen, to begin moving again.
First of all it's a fantasy and there aren't many fantasies on TV these days. Second it deals with Fairy Tales which I love so I have been super excited for this forever. Then we started to see trailers and previews and my excitement grew. ~
Well tonight it premiered and I fell head over heels in love with it. I enjoyed every minute of it. I loved the mix of fantasy and real world. I loved, loved, loved the costumes in the Fairytale world. The special effects were pretty good and I liked the story. The scenery was beautiful (fairytale land) and it made me cry several times. I mean it's only the first episode but they set up the story pretty good all within the first episode. I immediately watched it again, which I hadn't done with a TV series in a long time. And on my second viewing I loved it even more and I know I'll be watching it a few more times before episode 2 on Sunday.
This is must see TV for me and I'm hoping it does well in the ratings so we see there this adventure goes. If you love fantasy, whimsical, great characters and a fun story then check out Once Upon A Time on ABC, Sundays at 8pm
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Alphas
So I finally sat down and actually took the day off of doing podcasts or anything and just watched TV. I have several series that airs last summer that are just sitting on my DVR waiting to be watched. I was going to start with The Walking Dead, but really wasn't in the mood for Zombies so instead I opted to watch Alphas. It's a new Syfy show that aired over the summer and I have all 12 episodes on my DVR just waiting.
Alphas it about five extraordinary humans with powers, I wouldn't call them super powers to me they seem more like they are humans higher up the evolution ladder.
Here's a description from Wiki "The series follows five people with superhuman abilities, known as "Alphas", led by noted neurologist and psychologist Dr. Lee Rosen as they investigate criminal cases involving other suspected Alphas. Rosen and his team of Alphas operate under the auspices of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the criminal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Defense. While investigating these crimes it doesn't take the team too long to discover that a group known as "Red Flag", who were thought defeated and eliminated long ago, are using other Alphas to commit crimes."
From the very first episode I was in love with this series. And many folks have said that the first few episodes were weak and it just gets better. So I'm already loving it (only seen the first 3 episodes so far) so I'm bound to really enjoy this series. Looking forward to seeing where the story goes.
Alphas it about five extraordinary humans with powers, I wouldn't call them super powers to me they seem more like they are humans higher up the evolution ladder.
Here's a description from Wiki "The series follows five people with superhuman abilities, known as "Alphas", led by noted neurologist and psychologist Dr. Lee Rosen as they investigate criminal cases involving other suspected Alphas. Rosen and his team of Alphas operate under the auspices of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the criminal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Defense. While investigating these crimes it doesn't take the team too long to discover that a group known as "Red Flag", who were thought defeated and eliminated long ago, are using other Alphas to commit crimes."
From the very first episode I was in love with this series. And many folks have said that the first few episodes were weak and it just gets better. So I'm already loving it (only seen the first 3 episodes so far) so I'm bound to really enjoy this series. Looking forward to seeing where the story goes.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Blizzcon & The Guild
Today I helped out The Guild booth at Blizzcon. If you don't know what Blizzcon is, it's a "Gaming" convention ran by one of the largest MMO company Blizzard. The Guild has a booth and some of the cast were signing. So I offered to help the two days. I got to the con at 11:30am and found the booth around noon. My schedule times were 1pm - 3pm & 6pm - 8pm but as soon as I got to the booth I was put to work and it didn't end until 9pm. Of course the busiest times are when the cast are signing autographs 11am - 1pm & 3pm - 6pm. The other times I would manage the booth by myself and chat with passer bys about the Guild and what it is and when the cast would be back.
I did get to see some of my friends who would stop by the booth and say hi and visit for a while. I also got a lunch break and my buddy Gabe went to the food area and grabbed a bite to eat.
After the convention was over I headed over to the Hilton for the Curse party. I was added to the VIP list but when I got there my name wasn't on the list but they let me in (just not a VIP). I texted my buddies Scott and Chris and they said they were waiting in line for drinks by the dance floor. Well the room I was in had no dance floor and come to find out I was at the wrong party. So I left and went next door to the actual Curse party and my name was on the VIP list and I got my special bracelet.
The party was loud, Chris, Scott and I went up into the VIP area and about ten minutes later the cast and some crew showed up. It was really too loud to have conversations. I tried chatting for a bit and then a group of us went down to the dance floor and danced for about 15 minutes. It was now 11:30pm and I was tired. I didn't have to working tomorrow (they wanted to give my badge to someone else), so I had an hour and a half drive ahead of me so I said my good nights and headed home.
Luckily I left when I did as I barely made it home and towards the end of my drive I struggled to stay awake.
All in all it was a fun day, love working the booth and interacting with The Guild fans. Bummed I didn't get to work both days.. but I guess one day is better then none.
I did get to see some of my friends who would stop by the booth and say hi and visit for a while. I also got a lunch break and my buddy Gabe went to the food area and grabbed a bite to eat.
After the convention was over I headed over to the Hilton for the Curse party. I was added to the VIP list but when I got there my name wasn't on the list but they let me in (just not a VIP). I texted my buddies Scott and Chris and they said they were waiting in line for drinks by the dance floor. Well the room I was in had no dance floor and come to find out I was at the wrong party. So I left and went next door to the actual Curse party and my name was on the VIP list and I got my special bracelet.
The party was loud, Chris, Scott and I went up into the VIP area and about ten minutes later the cast and some crew showed up. It was really too loud to have conversations. I tried chatting for a bit and then a group of us went down to the dance floor and danced for about 15 minutes. It was now 11:30pm and I was tired. I didn't have to working tomorrow (they wanted to give my badge to someone else), so I had an hour and a half drive ahead of me so I said my good nights and headed home.
Luckily I left when I did as I barely made it home and towards the end of my drive I struggled to stay awake.
All in all it was a fun day, love working the booth and interacting with The Guild fans. Bummed I didn't get to work both days.. but I guess one day is better then none.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
My New Niece
Today my sister-in-law sent me a picture of my new niece Molly Skye or Molly LeeAnn or Skye Walker, they haven't decided on a name yet. She is due on December 24th but if she's anything like my nephew will be seeing her really soon. She looks just like her brother and I can't wait to meet her in person. I'm gonna be an uncle for the second and probably last time.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Project: Clean Garage Day Two
So day I started bright and early. I also took precaution this time and geared up with a face mask and rubber gloves. I had nothing planned and really wanted to get a bulk of the work done and that's what I did. I would work for about a half hour to an hour and then take a break for a half hour and do that over and over and by 7pm I was exhausted and dirty but my garage was looking so much better. I still have at least a half day of cleaning and about a day of going through boxes to see if I still want to keep the stuff in them. I also want to re-box some of my toy boxes. Some of the plastic bins haven't held up to the weight of other bins on top of them and have started to crack. I have a about 10% of my toys in cardboard boxes and really want to get them into plastic bins as well. So it's far from over but man does it look a 1000 times better.
House Under Attack
I know I live in a rural area and there are critters all over the place but lately I feel like my house has been under attack more then usual. I have mice in my kitchen and garage damaging valuable stuff , woodpeckers damaging the side of my house and a murder of crows playing soccer on top of the roof. There are rabbits and prairie dogs digging up the grounds and when they decide to die they always seem to pick under the house so I get to deal with the smell of a decaying animal for a week. This is part of living in the middle of no where and I've dealt with it for two years but the past few months it seems to be getting worse. I don't want to kill things but I have to protect the house and at this point I'll do anything.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Lunch with Jeff
Late last night I got an twitter direct message from my buddy Jeff asking if I wanted to have lunch tomorrow as he is flying in from Philly for this weekends Blizzcon. I of course said yes and we made plans for him to drive out to my place and we'd grab some lunch.
So I got up today and started working on the next Knights of the Guild podcast. I was going to try and get back out to clean the garage but since I only had a few hours before Jeff was showing up I opted to do some podcasting work. I really wanted to get a start on my KOTG podcast and get another Confessions of a Fanboy done but in the end I only did a bit of uploading of some interviews for my next KOTG.
Around 12:30 Jeff showed up and we headed out to Panda Express. It was a really nice visit and I think it's the first time when it was just Jeff and I. Normally we hang out at comic con with others or when he did visit my place we had company when we went out to lunch. This time it was just to two of us and we had some good conversations about life. I learned a little bit more Jeff, which is always nice. After lunch we headed back to my place and just hung out and chatted until 4:30 when he headed to Studio City to see some of his other friends. It was a nice visit and I hope to see him again this weekend at Blizzcon.
Around 10pm I checked my phone and for some reason it was on silent and I noticed that I had a message from my friend John and then it hit me.. I was suppose to have dinner with him and his partner and I totally forgot. If you read my blog previously I lost all my calendar info yesterday and I thought I remembered everything that was lost.. well I didn't. I felt like crap as I know they made a special dinner for me and really wanted to catch up. Wasn't the best way to end my night.
So I got up today and started working on the next Knights of the Guild podcast. I was going to try and get back out to clean the garage but since I only had a few hours before Jeff was showing up I opted to do some podcasting work. I really wanted to get a start on my KOTG podcast and get another Confessions of a Fanboy done but in the end I only did a bit of uploading of some interviews for my next KOTG.
Around 12:30 Jeff showed up and we headed out to Panda Express. It was a really nice visit and I think it's the first time when it was just Jeff and I. Normally we hang out at comic con with others or when he did visit my place we had company when we went out to lunch. This time it was just to two of us and we had some good conversations about life. I learned a little bit more Jeff, which is always nice. After lunch we headed back to my place and just hung out and chatted until 4:30 when he headed to Studio City to see some of his other friends. It was a nice visit and I hope to see him again this weekend at Blizzcon.
Around 10pm I checked my phone and for some reason it was on silent and I noticed that I had a message from my friend John and then it hit me.. I was suppose to have dinner with him and his partner and I totally forgot. If you read my blog previously I lost all my calendar info yesterday and I thought I remembered everything that was lost.. well I didn't. I felt like crap as I know they made a special dinner for me and really wanted to catch up. Wasn't the best way to end my night.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Lunch and a Movie
As expected I slept horribly last night worried that I contracted the Hantavirus (see last post). But you know what... I can't worry about it. The possibility is very slim and if I did I'll deal with it when and if the symptoms show themselves.
Anyways today I was meeting up with my buddies Scott and Andrew. We were going to grab some lunch and then do a movie.
We meet up at Fudruckers at 1:30pm, Well Andrew and I did. Scott was running a bit late. So Andrew and I went in and ordered some food. Andrew really enjoyed the fact that he could get a beer as part of his combo meal. Andrew and I had our food for about fifteen minutes when Scott showed up, ordered his food and about ten minutes later was eating with us.
These guys are AWESOME and all conversations are very geeky. We talk tech, movies, TV, entertainment industry and personal lives. I could spend all day just hanging and chatting. After lunch we headed over to Yogurtland. They didn't have any soy type dessert so I had to opt out but the guys both got some yummy yogurt as I watched and wished I wasn't lactose intolerant. While there we talked about the new OS5 for our iPhones. They were talking about the iCloud which I didn't activate when I upgraded but I really wanted to be able to share my calendar between my iPhone and iPad and Andrew mentioned that I could upload it to my iCloud and then both of my devices would pull it from there. So I activated my iCloud.
After yogurt we headed to the movie theater and picked up tickets for the 3:30 screening of Real Steel. While we waited for Scott (who had to move his car) I noticed that my calendar was blank.. all my notices were gone. Andrew tried to reset them but with no luck. Scott showed up and we went into the theater.

Real Steel was a pretty AWESOME movie. I'm a HUGE Hugh Jackman fan and I loved Evangeline Lilly from Lost so I was looking forward to seeing this movie. I'm not into boxing movies but this was more of a father/son story and it involved boxers who happen to be robots. The SFX were fantastic, the acting was great. Story was simple and cool, my friend Andrew said they could have gone into a little bit more background but I think they gave us enough to enjoy the movie. First half moves along a little slow but once you hit a certain point it's none stop awesome!! It's defiantly one of those feel good movies. And everyone did a great job on taking this main character (Hugh Jackman) who you hate at the beginning of the film and by the end totally fall in love with. The kid actor (who reminded Scott and I of Jake Lloyd (Annie from Star Wars Ep1) ) but his acting was better. This is a good family film for all. It was will a must buy on blu-ray when it comes out.
After the movie the three of us said our goodbyes and I headed home. On my way home I stopped by Lowes to pick up some rubber gloves and breathing masks for when I continue to clean the garage tomorrow. I also picked up a plastic owl and plan to place it on top of the roof so ward off crows and wookpeckers (at least I hope it does). I also tried to recover my missing calendar data but it's gone and there is no form of back up of it. Oh well guess I'll have to try and remember my plans/events for the next few months.
Anyways, a good lunch, great friends and fantastic movie makes a pretty AWESOME day.
Anyways today I was meeting up with my buddies Scott and Andrew. We were going to grab some lunch and then do a movie.
We meet up at Fudruckers at 1:30pm, Well Andrew and I did. Scott was running a bit late. So Andrew and I went in and ordered some food. Andrew really enjoyed the fact that he could get a beer as part of his combo meal. Andrew and I had our food for about fifteen minutes when Scott showed up, ordered his food and about ten minutes later was eating with us.
These guys are AWESOME and all conversations are very geeky. We talk tech, movies, TV, entertainment industry and personal lives. I could spend all day just hanging and chatting. After lunch we headed over to Yogurtland. They didn't have any soy type dessert so I had to opt out but the guys both got some yummy yogurt as I watched and wished I wasn't lactose intolerant. While there we talked about the new OS5 for our iPhones. They were talking about the iCloud which I didn't activate when I upgraded but I really wanted to be able to share my calendar between my iPhone and iPad and Andrew mentioned that I could upload it to my iCloud and then both of my devices would pull it from there. So I activated my iCloud.
After yogurt we headed to the movie theater and picked up tickets for the 3:30 screening of Real Steel. While we waited for Scott (who had to move his car) I noticed that my calendar was blank.. all my notices were gone. Andrew tried to reset them but with no luck. Scott showed up and we went into the theater.

Real Steel was a pretty AWESOME movie. I'm a HUGE Hugh Jackman fan and I loved Evangeline Lilly from Lost so I was looking forward to seeing this movie. I'm not into boxing movies but this was more of a father/son story and it involved boxers who happen to be robots. The SFX were fantastic, the acting was great. Story was simple and cool, my friend Andrew said they could have gone into a little bit more background but I think they gave us enough to enjoy the movie. First half moves along a little slow but once you hit a certain point it's none stop awesome!! It's defiantly one of those feel good movies. And everyone did a great job on taking this main character (Hugh Jackman) who you hate at the beginning of the film and by the end totally fall in love with. The kid actor (who reminded Scott and I of Jake Lloyd (Annie from Star Wars Ep1) ) but his acting was better. This is a good family film for all. It was will a must buy on blu-ray when it comes out.
After the movie the three of us said our goodbyes and I headed home. On my way home I stopped by Lowes to pick up some rubber gloves and breathing masks for when I continue to clean the garage tomorrow. I also picked up a plastic owl and plan to place it on top of the roof so ward off crows and wookpeckers (at least I hope it does). I also tried to recover my missing calendar data but it's gone and there is no form of back up of it. Oh well guess I'll have to try and remember my plans/events for the next few months.
Anyways, a good lunch, great friends and fantastic movie makes a pretty AWESOME day.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Cleaning the Garage
Today I wanted to get started on cleaning up my garage. When we moved in we had everything really organized but now two years later it looks like a tornado hit the place. I have three car garage but one of them is sectioned off and I use that as my home Gym. That was fairly clean and only took me an hour or so to get everything looking good. Once that was over I went to lunch at El Pollo Loco and while I was eating I noticed a dollar bill under the tape but it turned out to be a ten dollar bill. I actually thought about taking it up to one of the employees but then realized that they would probably just keep it themselves so I pocketed it.
After lunch I headed back home and started on my other side and much large part of the garage. About and hour in I bent down and heard a loud rip and noticed that I tore the entire front of my shorts. As I was moving boxes I noticed a ton of mouse droppings and knew there must be a ton of mice hiding out in here.
About 90% of my things are in large plastic containers but there is still stuff in cardboard boxes. So as I was moving things around I would everything to see if anything was damaged and when I got to the box with my childhood stuff animals I found where the mice had nested. All of my stuff animals smelled or urine and had mouse droppings all over the place. I was so bummed as some of those were animals were very special to me so I threw away a third and opted to try and wash the other two-thirds. I didn't find any mice in that box but when I went to move a few moving blankets one of them had two mice tucked in and the other had one. I managed to contain them and move them outside where I let them run away.
About five hours in I called it a night, it was super dark and I was getting tired. As I checked my emails and such I got a tweet from my buddy Chris saying "@Jedisaber: @Geekyfanboy don't try to save them. Hantavirus is no joke. Say goodbye and protect better next time." This stopped me in my track and I had to look up the Hantavirus as I had heard of it but really didn't know anything about it. Come to find out that it's this horrible virus that attacked your lungs and is carried in the urine and droppings of deer mice. They advise to not disturb nests or push the dust around. Well I just spent the last five hours digging through urine and dropping laced boxes and stuff animals. I also took a air blowers and blew all the dust (and other things into the air) so much so that I was sneezing because I was inhaling so much of it. I used no protecting not knowing that what I was doing could be fatal. This virus has no cure and if caught early had a 50/50 survival rate.
Now the odds of the mice that are in my garage having this virus and then passing it along in their urine/droppings and me inhaling the infected dust is slim to none but you never know. So I spent the rest of the night worried and trying to research as much as I can. I know I'm not going to sleep tonight!! And I'll be worried for the next six weeks as it can take up to six weeks to show any signs of the infection.
After lunch I headed back home and started on my other side and much large part of the garage. About and hour in I bent down and heard a loud rip and noticed that I tore the entire front of my shorts. As I was moving boxes I noticed a ton of mouse droppings and knew there must be a ton of mice hiding out in here.About 90% of my things are in large plastic containers but there is still stuff in cardboard boxes. So as I was moving things around I would everything to see if anything was damaged and when I got to the box with my childhood stuff animals I found where the mice had nested. All of my stuff animals smelled or urine and had mouse droppings all over the place. I was so bummed as some of those were animals were very special to me so I threw away a third and opted to try and wash the other two-thirds. I didn't find any mice in that box but when I went to move a few moving blankets one of them had two mice tucked in and the other had one. I managed to contain them and move them outside where I let them run away.
About five hours in I called it a night, it was super dark and I was getting tired. As I checked my emails and such I got a tweet from my buddy Chris saying "@Jedisaber: @Geekyfanboy don't try to save them. Hantavirus is no joke. Say goodbye and protect better next time." This stopped me in my track and I had to look up the Hantavirus as I had heard of it but really didn't know anything about it. Come to find out that it's this horrible virus that attacked your lungs and is carried in the urine and droppings of deer mice. They advise to not disturb nests or push the dust around. Well I just spent the last five hours digging through urine and dropping laced boxes and stuff animals. I also took a air blowers and blew all the dust (and other things into the air) so much so that I was sneezing because I was inhaling so much of it. I used no protecting not knowing that what I was doing could be fatal. This virus has no cure and if caught early had a 50/50 survival rate.
Now the odds of the mice that are in my garage having this virus and then passing it along in their urine/droppings and me inhaling the infected dust is slim to none but you never know. So I spent the rest of the night worried and trying to research as much as I can. I know I'm not going to sleep tonight!! And I'll be worried for the next six weeks as it can take up to six weeks to show any signs of the infection.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Planning My 3rd Tattoo
So I'm planning on getting my 3rd tattoo in the coming weeks. It will be Lord of the Rings "One Ring to Rule Them All..." saying in Elvish script.
My original plan was to wrap that saying around my upper right arm but I have an issue with that now.. it's a pretty long saying and to wrap it around my arm on a single line would mean the lettering would have to be super small. I could do double line (like it's picture above) and the letter would be bigger but I'm not sure I like that since it's just one single line wrapped inside of a ring.
Also since I dressed up as a Hobbit for SDCC and Hobbits being my favorite characters from the books I wanted to get a set of Hobbit feet tattooed below the Elvish script and I'm not sure how cool that would look to the a double line of script wrapped around my arm with these floating Hobbit feet under it.
But I came across this cool picture of the Elvish script in a circle, single line that I really like and I thought maybe I could put a set of Hobbit feet in the middle.
I'm actually leaning more towards that design now.. just need to find the right drawing of Hobbit feet.
What do you guys think? Which version of the tattoo do you like better?
My original plan was to wrap that saying around my upper right arm but I have an issue with that now.. it's a pretty long saying and to wrap it around my arm on a single line would mean the lettering would have to be super small. I could do double line (like it's picture above) and the letter would be bigger but I'm not sure I like that since it's just one single line wrapped inside of a ring.
Also since I dressed up as a Hobbit for SDCC and Hobbits being my favorite characters from the books I wanted to get a set of Hobbit feet tattooed below the Elvish script and I'm not sure how cool that would look to the a double line of script wrapped around my arm with these floating Hobbit feet under it.
But I came across this cool picture of the Elvish script in a circle, single line that I really like and I thought maybe I could put a set of Hobbit feet in the middle.
I'm actually leaning more towards that design now.. just need to find the right drawing of Hobbit feet.
What do you guys think? Which version of the tattoo do you like better?
MASH 4077 Podcast Episode 18
Download from itunes http://tinyurl.com/MASH4077itunes or listen/direct download http://MASH4077Podcast.com
Show Notes
Kenny Mittleider from Knights of the Guild & Confessions of a Fanboy Podcasts, Simon Meddings from Waffle On Podcast, Al Kessel from Tales from the Mouse House, Fast Forward & Just Because Podcast and our special guest Harry Dauz discuss one of the most successful and longest running television series in history.. M*A*S*H
Today we cover Season 1, Episode #18 - Dear Dad... Again
Directed by Jackie Cooper
Written by Larry Gelbart & Sheldon Keller
Production code J317
Original air date February 4, 1973
Set during the Korean War in the 1950’s
Plot Summary: Hawkeye writes to his father again about several crazy events that take place at the 4077th, including the discovery of an Demara-esque fraud masquerading as a doctor, Frank becoming drunk, and Margaret’s attempt to sing “My Blue Heaven” at the camp “No-Talent Show.”
Hope you enjoy it,
Kenny, Meds, Al & Harry
Show Notes
Kenny Mittleider from Knights of the Guild & Confessions of a Fanboy Podcasts, Simon Meddings from Waffle On Podcast, Al Kessel from Tales from the Mouse House, Fast Forward & Just Because Podcast and our special guest Harry Dauz discuss one of the most successful and longest running television series in history.. M*A*S*H
Today we cover Season 1, Episode #18 - Dear Dad... Again
Directed by Jackie Cooper
Written by Larry Gelbart & Sheldon Keller
Production code J317
Original air date February 4, 1973
Set during the Korean War in the 1950’s
Plot Summary: Hawkeye writes to his father again about several crazy events that take place at the 4077th, including the discovery of an Demara-esque fraud masquerading as a doctor, Frank becoming drunk, and Margaret’s attempt to sing “My Blue Heaven” at the camp “No-Talent Show.”
Hope you enjoy it,
Kenny, Meds, Al & Harry
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