The Odd Life of Timothy Green

Tonight Robert and I went to a pre-release screening of Disney's new movie, The Odd Life of Timothy Green.

Here's a brief synopsis;

Cindy and Jim Green, a couple residing in Stanleyville, are told they are unable to conceive, so they dream up their ideal offspring and write the child's characteristics and life events on pieces of paper, including "scoring the winning goal." The Greens place the notes in a box and bury the box in their backyard. After a stormy night, a 10-year-old arrives at their doorstep, claiming the Greens as his own. Soon they realize that the child, named Timothy, is far more special than they originally thought.

I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!!  First few minutes and I was in tears. Watching this couple, who want a kid so badly and not being able to have one broke my heart. I've been thinking about having a kid myself recently and I think it made these scene double heart breaking. I really enjoyed the fantasy/whimsical aspect of this film. There isn't a lot, most of the film is based in reality but the bits that were there were perfect. The kid, C.J. Adam is ADORABLE!!! He steals ever scene he's in. He's has the sweetest look and you just melt.

This movie is sweet, funny, sad, dramatic, whimsical, and just about perfect. The two parents Jennifer Gardner and Joel Edgerton were wonderful and give some amazing performances. The supporting cast was great as well. It's beautifully shot and the has a nice pace. This isn't an all out action crazy fast pace movie. It's this lovely story that unfolds in front of you that is just so beautiful.

I can't say enough good things about this movie. It comes out on August 15th and I plan to see it again. It's a great family film. I give The Odd Life of Timothy Green a solid A.

After the screening there was a Q&A with writers, producers and actors. Joining us were producer Jim Whitaker, writer/director Peter Hedges and actor Joel Edgerton. And added at the last second  actress Jennifer Garner and producer/writer Ahmet Zappa.

It was a fun panel that lasted about an hour. They talk about how this story came to be and how the actors came on board. They talked about filming a movie set in the fall but filmed in winter and how they had to create Autumn looking leaves and tress.. thousands and thousands of them. You could tell that this movie means alot to them as the writer/director was brought to tears talking about the experience. It was a fun and very informative evening. I hope this movie does well.. it deserves to be a success.

Podcasts, Post Office & Pollo

Got up early today because I had to edit several podcasts this weekend and when I say this weekend I meant half of the day today as I was booked doing other things this evening and all of tomorrow. So as soon as I got up I got to work editing my next Alien Nation Podcast. Had a really good time editing this one. It's one of my favorite episodes of the series and it come across in the recording. I finished around 2pm. I was really hoping to get both Alien Nation and My Gimpy Life podcasts done but that didn't happen. I went out and grabbed a bit to eat before converting and uploading the podcast and prepping it for release on August 10th.

Once that was done I needed to head to the post office to drop off some donation "rewards" that I had promised people a month ago as well as sending off my best friend Chris' posters and pictures that he got from SDCC. Got to the post off about 4:15 and was out by 4:30pm. I really wanted to get new glasses but I just didn't have time. I now had to leave the post office and head down the Mar Vista to meet up with my buddy Robert. He and I were going to a pre-release screening of The Odd Life of Timothy Green. But before that we wanted to pick up some dinner and decided to grab some grub from La Salsa. We had a nice dinner and when we were exiting a gentleman asked if we could help with purchasing his food. He only had a few dollars and change. Both Robert and I pulled out $5 dollars each to cover his meal. I'd rather buy a meal for someone then give them money. The man in return gave us both a huge and very tight bear hug. It was a very odd situation. After that we headed to the theater and got in live around 6:45pm, they left us in at 7pm and the movie started at 7:30. Blog about movie will follow this blog.

Once the movie was over we headed back to Robert's place where I crashed for the night as we were both going to Disneyland tomorrow for our buddy Anthony's birthday. Though I didn't get everything done that I was hoping I still feel it was a very productive day.

Will I Ever Be A Daddy?

Read a tweet earlier today that mentioned the fatherhood of my best friend and though the thought of him becoming a daddy makes me happy beyond belief I actually started to tear up as it hit me that fatherhood might not be something that I will have the pleasure of in the future.

As long as I can remember I have wanted to be a Dad. And as the years went by and I struggled with my sexuality that hope never died. When I finally came out of the closet at 27 I realized that having a child just got a bit more difficult. I know there is adoption, as there are a ton of kids who need a good home and I would do that in a heartbeat but for my first kid I've always wanted a biological child.

As a gay man, to have a biological child can be done but it takes patience and more importantly money. I've never been a rich man. I struggled in my 20's, was comfortable in my 30's and back to struggling in my 40's. Another factor was my long term partner Harry. When we first got together we both talked about having kids, but as the years went by and our battle with immigration issues continued, we never pursued anything. I guess that's a good thing as after eight years the relationship ended.

Now I'm 41 years old (almost 42) with no prospect of a partner. I've come to ask myself... am I done, is it too late for me to be a father. Part of me thinks... yes... it's too late. I want to travel and enjoy the latter part of my life. But then another part of me, the part that's longs to be called Daddy, still holds out hope that one day my dreams of fatherhood will become reality.

I guess all I can do is wait and see what the fates have in store for me.

The Bourne Legacy

Tonight after work I went to a PGA (Producers Guild of America) pre-release screening of The Bourne Legacy. I was able to bring one guest and that was my buddy Robert. He swung by my job and picked me up and we headed to the Writer's Guild theater. Traffic was horrible but we manage to get there with 15 minutes to spare. When we got into the theater it was packed. I was not looking forward to sitting in the far corner so we headed to the back and fortune was upon as as there were two seats in the second to last row in the middle section.

Both Robert and I were starving and because traffic was horrible we weren't able to pick up any food. Besides there is no food or drink allowed in the theater. Anyways with all PGA screening Kyle (PGA member who runs these things) gets up and does her speech and tells us which producers worked on this film. Then the movie starts, Robert made a comment that it's weird not having any preview before the movie.

(Gonna try and keep this a spoiler free as possible) I've seen all the previous Bourne movies and really enjoyed them so I was looking forward to this one even thought the main character Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) was replaced by another agent Aaron Cross played by Jeremy Renner. Over all I really enjoyed this movie. Lot's of set up for this new character but I liked the whole story idea and how they tied it in with the other three movies. Someone asked me if you needed to see the first three movies to enjoy this movie and I would have to say yes. You could watch this film as just a cool action movie and it works but you wouldn't get half of the plot without info from the other three movies. The action sequences were pretty awesome (as are all Bourne movies). You get to see some of the same characters from the previous three movies, which is always cool. If you enjoyed the previous Bourne movies then you'll enjoy this movie.. it's a great addition to the Bourne franchise. I give this move a B

After the movie Robert drove me back to my work so I could pick up my car.. but first we grabbed some noms from Taco Bell. It was a nice way to end a busy day at work.

Being Self Conscious

Today I wore my Dudes Marry Dudes shirt and of course I got stares but no hateful comments (thankfully). But after a while having people make eye contact with me and then move to my chest I started to get self conscious. Soon as someone would do that I would fold my arms in front of me. Or when I had to use the restroom and another person was in there I would make sure to obscure my shirt from them.

Now I'm not ashamed to be a gay man but I'm cautious as I've had a few run in with those who feel that I am an abomination. When I choose to where this shirt I really do think out my day. Where am I going, who will I be interacting with. And I hate that I do that but to me it's a necessary thing.

Today there was an unexpected lunch with my buddy Robert. We didn't plan to have lunch but he asked and it's always great seeing him so I said yes. We went to El Pollo Loco and it's in a "lower' income part of town and normally there are a ton of High School kids there.. but lucky for me it's still summer and we went a bit after lunch time so there were no run ins.

Part of me asks why I wear this shirt if it makes me uncomfortable at times but then the other part of me says why not wear it. I'm a proud gay man and I want marriage equality... who gives a f*ck what others think. I don't have to prove anything to anyone but myself. But still there's always that fear of being attacked (verbally or physically) and/or killed. Luckily I've only been called a fag or faggot a few times in my life and have never gotten into any physical altercation.

It's a constant internal battle but one of these days I'll be able to walk down the street with this shirt on and truly not care about the stares and name calling. I hope that day is soon..

My Gimpy Life Podcast Episode 101

Download from Itunes ow.ly/cFHMs or Listen or get a direct download from mygimpylifepodcast.com

Show Notes:

Here it is.. the premiere episode of My Gimpy Life CompanionCast

This CompanionCast covers Season 1 Episode 1 - Accessible

If you haven't seen the episode yet, You can see it HERE

My  CompanionCasts for The Guild were a huge hit so when Teal was putting together My Gimpy Life she asked if I would do some for her series and of course I said yes!!


I was on set almost everyday while they shot Season 1. As actors and crew were finished with scenes I would try and speak to them. Get some inside info about the scene they just shot. I also interview Teal Sherer (creator/star) and  Sean Becker about the directing. Each one of these CompanionCasts will be episode specific and will vary in length depending on how much bts goodness I am able to gather.

In this CompanionCast I interview Teal Sherer, Sean Becker, Leah Mann, Gabe Uhr, Gary Anthony Williams, Kim Evey and Eric Acosta

I hope you enjoy a look behind the scenes of Season 1 Episode 1 - Accessible
Kenny

MASH 4077 Podcast Episode 36

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 2, Episode #12 - The Incubator 36th Episode Overall

Directed by Jackie Cooper
Written by Larry Gelbart & Laurence Marks
Production code K412
Original air date December 1, 1973

Set during the Korean War in the 1950’s

Plot Summary: Hawkeye and Trapper John decide they need an incubator to help diagnose infections and have to fight the bureaucracy of the army to get one. There are three incubators available in Seoul, but the supply sergeant and base commander want more than the 4077th can afford..

Hope you enjoy it,
Kenny

Shaved Head, Stress & Gimpy Life

Got up this morning and decided to I wanted buzz cut my hair. I like having long hair but it go to a point where it just looked crazy. This would be the first time that I would be cutting my hair by myself. Got the clippers out and grabbed two blade guards. I couldn't remember which one I used.. one looked too large and one looked too small. Instead of going with the large one first I went with the small one and did one pass on my head and realized it was the wrong one. I used a #1 clip for my beard and the #3 clip for my head.. well it was too late and I had to continue to buzz cut my hair off. This is the shortest I've ever cut it.. I mean it's almost bald.

Oh well it's only hair and most of it will grow back in a matter of weeks and be the length I normally have it at. I came into work and got a lot of compliments so I guess it looks better then I thought. As the day went on I got use to it and now it doesn't bother me so much.

Speaking of work, about midday I had such a massive headache that I actually had to take 3 Advil's. I rarely take anything but the stress was so horrible here at work that my head felt like it was going to explode. Luckily for me because I don't take alot of medicine it works fast on me and it was gone in a matter of an hour.

It was a long day and I couldn't wait to get out of work. I had to get home and work on My Gimpy Life Podcast since the first episode of this new webseries came out yesterday and I'm suppose to have a companioncast come out a few days later. So when I got home I jumped right editing the first episode of My Gimpy Life podcast and by 11pm I was done and it was ready to be released. Won't post it until tomorrow morning though. So that's three of the five podcasts done. Two more to go Alien Nation due by Aug 10th and Confessions of a Fanboy due asap. I'm also working on getting this new The Geek Roundtable podcast up and running. And I'm still working on the Secret Project. Lot's going on but I'm having fun and that's all that matters.

No Shirt But More Hobbit

I was so tired from this past weekend that I drove to work without a shirt on. Now let me explain my routine. I have an hour and a half commute one way everyday sitting in traffic with the hot sun beating down on me. So I've started wearing white undershirts as I drive and then when I get to work I change into the shirt I am going to wear for the day. So like every morning I picked out a shirt and set it on my bed. Gathered up all my stuff and headed to my jeep, at this time I am normally shirtless because my white tees lives in my jeep. I normally put on the tee but I was so tired that I just got in my jeep and didn't realized I wasn't wearing a shirt until about halfway through my commute. Not only did I realize that I wasn't wearing a shirt.. but I also realized that I didn't bring the shirt that I was suppose to wear today. I quickly reached in the back and grabbed my balled up white tee. It was a bit wrinkled but it would do the job.

While driving to work I got a text from theonering.net informing us that Peter Jackson just announced that the Hobbit movies are going from two to three. Instead of splitting into two movies they are going to split it in three movies. I know some folks are upset thinking that it's just a way for the big companies to make more money and I'm sure that's some of it.. but with all the appendix stuff I'm sure they can add enough to the Hobbit movie to make a third movie, there is so much great story in there. So now we have part one coming out in December of this year, part two coming out December of next year and part three coming out Summer of 2014. I can't wait for this movie/trilogy.

Family Scare, Podcast Woes & Grease is the Word

Again today was suppose to be a catch up on podcast but that wasn't the case. My best friend Josh is in a stage rendition of Grease and today was the final performance. I missed him in Hello Dolly and Beauty and the Beast so there was no way I was going to miss this. It was at 4pm and out in Riverside, which is close to where my family is so I figured I'd go visit them before hand and then go to Josh's play and that's what I did.

I got up early once again (not a fan of doing that on the weekend) but I wanted to leave early so I could spend a fair amount of time with the family. Got there around 11ish and Dad, Brother, Sister-in-law, nephew and niece all went to lunch at Shakey's pizza. It was fun just hanging out with the family. After lunch my Dad and I went over to Walmart so I could pick up an SD card reader as the built in one on my computer died yesterday. While at Walmart I was with my Dad looking through dvd's when he started coughing and the next thing I knew he was falling to the ground. I managed to catch him mid fall and slowly lay him on the ground. I heart started racing as I kept talking to him but he wasn't responding. It was probably like 30 seconds but it felt like an hour, he finally came too. Of course we had some spectators and even a woman who I assume is a nurse as she asked if he was diabetic and if he recently ate.. and of course he did and he had a root beer and drank too much of it. After a few minutes he was okay to stand and we continued shopping. It was scary moment and I was just seconds away from calling 911. He knew he shouldn't have drank that entire soda..

I watched him closely for the next few hours and everything seems to be good. At 3 I left so I could get to the theater at a decent time and get a great seat for Josh's play. Got there around 3:30 and went to buy my ticket and met up with Nicole (Josh's ex). Got to catch up with her for a few minutes. I could have gotten a complementary seat but instead decided to pay a bit and get a front row seat... great choice.

Josh was playing Roger, who is one of the T-birds and isn't in the movie. It was fun watching him perform, dance and sing. They really had some great actors. I loved all the pink ladies and several of the T-birds. I wasn't a fan of Danny but Sandy was great. Doody, Frenchy, Jan and Rizzo were my favorites.. besides Josh's Roger (of course). After the show Josh and I got to hang out for a few minutes before he had to go and help tear down the stage (this was there last performance). I headed home around 7:30pm and wouldn't get home until a little after 9pm. I was tried but I still had to get more podcasts done. So far this weekend I wanted to do five and I manage to do one. I stayed up the next few hours recording and editing the next Knights of the Guild podcast. By the time I went to bed it was in the wee hours but I had finished my 2nd podcasts.. not the five that I was hoping for but two of the most important ones. Just wish there were more days in the weekend.

Knights of the Guild Ep 42

Download from itunes - http://bit.ly/KotGCast or listen, get direct download at http://bit.ly/2CrYxk
 

Show Notes:

• Guild Season 6 News
• Vork Comic Book Review by Eric Hargus
• Fan Interview with Guild of Extra's co-founder Jen
• Interview with the Bui Brothers who did the behind the scenes for Season Five.

Enjoy,

~Kenny~

Helping a Friend & Podcasting

Today was the start of an extremely busy weekend.. not like any of the past few weeks haven't been busy but this weekend I had to do so many things for my Geekyfanboy Productions.

But first I offered my moving services to my bestie Robert who was moving from Los Angeles area to Mar Vista. He had to pick up his truck at 9am so I had to be up at 7am and out the door by 7:30 to get to his place by 8:30. Traffic was great and I actually got to his place right at 8:30.

I drove him over to the Budget rental place and we picked up his truck. They didn't have any of the ones he reserved so they upgraded him with a larger truck (which I guess is good) but he only had a few large items that we needed to move.

We realized that he didn't have any allen wrenchs at his old place so we walked to the local auto store to buy a set and while we were out we picked up some breakfast at Subway which my best bud Chris introduced me to at Comic Con.

Once back at his place we disassembled his bed and started moving what was left in his place. Took us about an hour to load up the truck.. had to go up and down a staircase with a turn. For the most part we didn't have anything to difficult to move.  Once loaded up we headed over to his new place. This was my first time seeing the place (other then pictures) and it's really nice. It's located in a much better area of town, less traffic and it has a bedroom which his last place did not. The kitchen is larger and nicer and of course he rent is quite a bit more but you do get what you pay for.

Took us a little under an hour to unload the truck and carry everything up a set a stairs in into his new place. Once everything was unloaded he put together his bed and then went back to his place to pick up my jeep and we took the truck back to the budget place. Once that as done I drove him back to his old place to pick up his car and then we both drove to his new place. Once there we parked and walked to the corner of his street where a Taco Bell is located and had lunch.

There was a internal struggle going on inside me as I wanted to spend all day with Robert but I knew I had a ton of podcasting to do. I stayed a bit longer then I should have but we put on Mission Impossible 4 and watched it while he organized his desk.

Over all it was a farily easy move and I got to spend some one on one time with one of my best friends.

After spending most of the day with Robert I headed back to my place. I picked up some dinner on the way home. Once home I started editing my next MASH 4077 podcast since that is due on the 1st. I actually have five podcasts that I need to either record/edit but actually only got my MASH one done.

Didn't get nearly as much as I was hoping but like I said had an awesome time with my bestie.

Guildies, Olympics and Late Night

Today is the 5th anniversary of The Guild premiering on You Tube.  Can't believe it's been five years already and I'm amazed how this little webseries has impacted my life. Without the Guild I wouldn't have created one of my most popular podcasts (Knights of the Guild). I wouldn't have meet so many great people including my best friends. I got to hang out with Felicia Day and meet so many interesting people. The past four years have been pretty incredible and it's all because of The Guild. Happy 5th Anniversary guys!!!

Also the Summer Olympics start today, I've always been a huge lover of the Olympics, especially the summer ones. My buddy Adam was having an opening ceremony party but because I had a very late night here at work I wasn't able to make it, I did get home about halfway through the ceremony so I did catch some of it but for the most part I wasn't too impressed.

But I do have my DVR primed and ready to record as much as I can. 

More Secret Project Work

Secret Project & My Gimpy Life

Today on my lunch break I worked on my secret project that I'm doing with my best bud Chris. It's so tough for me not to tell you guys what it is as you all know I tell you guys everything. But Chris and I want to keep it under wraps for a little while.. or until we work out more of the details and it actually looks to be happening. All I will say is that it's something totally new for me and I'm extremely excited. Can't wait to share more.

After work I headed to Teal's place. She's about to launch her My Gimpy Life webseries in which I'm doing a companioncast/podcast for it. The first episode is coming out next week and I still needed to interview Teal and director Sean Becker for the podcast. So I got to her place around 7:30pm, she got us dinner so we ate and visited for a while. We started recording the podcast around 8 and we talked about all five episodes. It was so much fun. Get those two together and let the laughter begin. I look forward to editing the first of the companioncast for next week... stay tuned.

Dinner with Robert

Tonight after work I head out to meet up with my buddy Robert for dinner. We agreed to meet at Islands on Pico. It's about halfway between his place and my work. I got there in no time and found a meter to park at.. Robert on the other hand wasn't so lucky and drove around about 20 minutes looking for a spot.

He finally parked and we had a nice dinner.. both got yummy burgers. It's funny and I know I say this often but Robert and I talk everyday online via IM but there is nothing better then sharing a meal or just a quiet moment with one of your best friends. When you're with them, all seems right with the world.

After our visit he invited me over to his new place but I was just too tired and couldn't wait to get home.  I walked him back to his car and got a great hug goodnight and headed back to my jeep.

I didn't have any problem getting on the freeway but a few miles from the 405 and 101 intersection the traffic just stopped and was not moving. At this time my bladder is feeling a bit full and in need of being drained. It took me two hours to go those two miles. There was a huge traffic accident on the 405 near the 101 that stopped traffic. After the accident the freeway just flew and it took me another 45 minutes to get home. So I thought I'd get home around 9:30 and work on some podcasts, instead i got home around 11:30 and went right to bed. Wasn't the way I'd like to end a day.. but I still got to visit with one of my best buds.

Hobbit Production Video #8

I love these things.. here is the last one for Production...

Hiking & Hot Wings

Today I got up early to go hiking with Thomas as we wanted to go before it got really hot. A few hours passed before I got a text letting me know he was on his way. During this time I did things around the house and kept myself busy trying to catch up on my life.

He arrived around 10:30ish and we headed over to Vasquez Rocks. It was hot but there was a breeze. I took him on the eastern route and headed toward the big rocks near the freeway. It was a nice hike and we had a lot fun. After the hike we headed out to Chili's for lunch. As always I got my yummy buffalo wings and Thomas got an avacado burger. After lunch it was finally time to say goodbye. Thomas was heading back to LAX for his 9pm flight back to Belfast, well London to Belfest. It was great seeing him and it was even better because I got to see him more then usual on this trip.

Can't wait until I can get to Ireland to visit him for a week..

I came back home and once again tried to motivate myself to do some podcasts that I needed to get done.. once again my laziness took control and I watched some TV, worked on more of Chris and my special project and tried to catch up on my blog.

Burgers, Bats and Budgets

Today I got up a bit later due to the fact that I didn't get to sleep until 3am. I wasn't feeling so hot, the past few days I've woken up with a sore throat but today my stomach was hurting as well. I wound up cancelling my plans for Saturday evening with my buddy Sebastian and also my visit with family tomorrow. But today I was having lunch with my buddy Thomas (from Ireland) and watching Dark Knight Rises, I probably would have cancelled that but the tickets were already purchased and this Thomas' second to last day and I'm lucky enough to see him once or twice a year.

Before lunch and a movie with Thomas,  I had hoped to get some podcasting done, but yeah that didn't happen. I did manage to clean my entire house which made me so happy. I hate having a dirty house and I haven't been able to do any cleaning or anything since before comic con. I even had all my comic con stuff still all over the place. But I wasn't suppose to meet up with Thomas until 1pm which meant I had to leave my place by noon. That gave me a good two hours to clean and clean I did.

As it always happen my stomach started to hurt 15 minutes before I had to leave. So I had to push back our meet up time to 1:30pm. I got to Sherman Oaks Galleria around 1:30 and meet up with Thomas. We decided to have Fuddruckers this time. Last Wednesday we did P.F. Chang's before Spiderman. Thought my stomach issues were done but I was wrong. After eating lunch I started to feel stomach pains again and the bathroom at Fuddruckers was broken so we quickly went to the theater and I went directly to their facilities. I figured I'd be in there for a while so I told Thomas to go in and get our seats and I'll meet him inside,  hopefully before the movie started. I did manage to get to my seat just as the previews started. Was very excited as I got to see the new Man of Steel preview and it looks pretty awesome.

3 hours later the movie ended and we made our way back to the parking structure. We were saying goodbye when I suggested that we go hiking at Vasquez Rocks tomorrow morning before he makes his way south to the airport. Even though I wasn't feeling well I couldn't say goodbye.. just yet.

Here is my Dark Knight Rises review... As I've said in previous blog posts I'm not a huge fan of Batman or this reboot.. well I should amend that. After seeing The Dark Knight and rewatching Batman Begins I have to say I really enjoyed Dark Knight Rises. It was very entertaining, full of action, had a great story that connected it to first movie. I liked the SFX. I loved the batcycle especially when it turned and the wheels would roll. Catwoman was fantastic and I liked "Robin". I think it was a great ending for this trilogy. And I can now say without a doubt that I really enjoyed all three of these movies and look forward to having a marathon one day. I give this movie a B and the over all trilogy a B+

After the movie I came home and made some dinner (which again hurt my stomach). I finished cleaning up the house but the thing I really wanted to do was watch the series finale of one of my favorite TV shows Eureka.

Eureka is one of those series that is just plain good. I've been there since the very first episode and enjoyed the ride. I was sad to hear when Syfy cancelled it especially since it was looking like it was going to be renewed for a sixth season. Syfy was kind enough to actually give them one more episode to do a final goodbye episode. This is what I watched tonight and I loved every minute of it. They brought back all the "main" characters from seasons past. It was a nice way to end the series and to thank all their loyal viewers. I'm sad to see it go but so happy with got 5 seasons of this FANTASTIC series.

One other thing I did tonight..  I worked on Chris and my secret project. I created a budget for this project. It's tough not being able to tell you guys what this is but we want to make sure it's going to really happen before we announce anything.. so stay tuned.

I didn't get everything I wanted to do done but I still think I had a productive Saturday. And for the first time in two weeks I'm going to bed at a decent time.

Dinner with William

Tonight after work I got to hang out with my buddy Will.  It's been a while since he and I just hung out. I got to his place quicker then expected. Will was still at work so I asked if he wanted me to go get the pizza and meet him back at his place by the time he gets home. Well it would have been quicker if I just left my car in front of his place and walked to the pizza place. But no I didn't do that..  instead I drove over to the pizza place and drove around for about 20 minutes trying to find a parking space. What made it worse were the other drivers. This entire experience really soured my night... I was not a happy camper.

I did mange to find a parking space and get the pizza. By this time Will was home and waiting for me. Got to his place and luckily there was a free parking space under his apartment, so I didn't have to go through that same ordeal all over again. Got up stairs and was greeted by Will's smiling face, his greeting made the last half hour just disappeared. It always good to see him.

We were getting together to not only see each other but to celebrate Will's birthday, which was on Monday, since I couldn't make it to his party/dinner. Went inside with the pizza and was introduced to his new roommate (who's name I can't recall). I knew Will's old roommate was leaving but didn't realize he had gotten a new one and come to find out that it's been a few months. So his roommate joined us for dinner, luckily I had gotten a large pizza and some wings.

Will suggested that we watch Batman Begins and The Dark Knight since he just got both of them on blu-ray. I haven't seen Batman Begins since it was in theaters because I wasn't a big fan of it. And because I wasn't a big fan I didn't see The Dark Knight until a few months back. Anyways we popped in Batman and it was so much better then I remembered. I really enjoyed it and it got me pumped for The Dark Knight Rises.

It was late and I didn't want to do the other movie. I had planned to leave but then Will and I started talking and the next thing I knew it was 2am.  Luckily it was a Friday so I didn't have to work the next morning. So getting to bed around 3am wasn't so bad and I had a great time catching up with Will.

Trying to Recoup

The past two weeks I haven't gotten more then four to five hours of sleep. I might have been able to handle this when I was younger but man it's tough as you get older. I mean I love comic con and then seeing friends after work but I don't think I can take it much longer. I'm actually starting to get sick. They say you need less and less sleep as you get older but I think that's a myth. I feel the older I get the more sleep I need to feel really rested. Oh well guess you only live once.. gotta have fun while you can.

Spending Time with the Irishman

After work today I headed to Sherman Oaks Galleria to have dinner and watch a movie with my buddy from Ireland Thomas. He was visiting for San Diego Comic Con and was doing another week in Los Angeles. I wanted to spend as much time with him since we don't get to see each other very often.

Got to the galleria and he was waiting for me near the Starbucks. We opted to have dinner at P.F. Chang's since he's never eaten there before. We were both hungry and I have to say this is the first time that I have ever finished all my food from this place. It was some yummy stuff. During dinner I got the load down of the happenings in Ireland.

We were going to see The Amazing Spiderman and the great thing about going to the Arclight of Sherman Oaks is the seating is assigned. So we didn't have to wait in line. This is a quick story about getting these tickets yesterday. I purchased them online but failed to change the date so I got them for that night. I quickly called the theater and after the phone rang about 50 times someone answered and quickly changed my tickets from yesterday to today.

Anyways I enjoyed the previous incarnation of Spiderman on the big screen and I felt it was way too soon for a reboot but was looking forward to this movie. Got our soda and sat center, center and the movie started. First of all it had Sally Fields (she's one of my all time favorite actors) so yay!!! Now for my review of this version of Spiderman. Overall I enjoyed the movie. I have to say that I don't think it added anything new to the Spiderman lore. The SFX were pretty good and I enjoyed the acting. The origin story was good but again it didn't feel original. If the Sam Rami Spiderman movies didn't exist this would be a pretty epic movie. Andrew Garfield who played Spiderman did a pretty good job acting more like a spider (being twitchy) and man is he a good crier. But over all it was just good movie, not great. I'd give it a B.

After dinner and a movie we said our goodbyes and would be seeing each other again on Saturday when we do this all over again for The Dark Knight Rises.

My Gimpy Life Podcast Launches

Download from itunes  http://ow.ly/coXnG or Listen, Direct Download http://mygimpylifepodcast.com

Today I released episode 0 of my new podcast/companioncast for Teal Sherer's new webseries My Gimpy Life. This is just an introduction podcast to the the podcast and webseries. First episode of the webseries will be out July 31st and the first companioncast will be out August 1st or 2nd. So watch the episode and then listen to some cool and hopefully informative behind the scenes goodies. 

Just released the podcast today and it's already hit #132 on the top 200 TV/Film audio podcasts... how cool is that.

The Day After - Goodbye Chris

Mondays are tough enough but the Monday after San Diego Comic Con are much harder. Lucky for me my best friend Chris was still with me. Jes, Rachel, Chris and I all got up bright and early. I was heading to work and Chris was joining me for the day. Rachel and Jes were getting ready to head back up north. I made some breakfast and we all sat around enjoying ones company. 8am came around and Chris and I headed out. The ladies would be leaving a bit later.

On the commute into work Chris and I worked on our new "secret project". This is something that started as a joke months ago and then this past weekend kind of evolved into something real. Both Chris and I are really excited for this. We talked none stop as Chris took notes. I'm sure I'll be talking more about this as it comes into clearer vision. 

Got to work around 9:30am and was greeted with new editors and story producers. Chris pulled a seat over to my cubicle and sat next to me. He worked on his ipad as I did my work. Lunch time we headed over to Daily Grill to meet up with Robert. Lunch was a lot of fun, it was great having two of my best friends with me. After lunch Robert took Chris over to his work place to show him around. About an hour later Chris returned. He planned to go to the movies with some Guildies so I loaned him my jeep and he headed over to the theater. He was going to return to my work around 7:30pm which worked out great as my job normally ends around 7pm. But at about 6:15 the power went out in the offices and remained out. Slowly everyone left the building except me as I didn't have my car. I sat around in the dark watching my cell phone battery slowly die.

As planned Chris returned at 7:30. I jumped in the drivers side and we were now off to Downtown Disney where Chris was meeting up with Jen. Once again during our commute (which wasn't as bad as I was expecting) we talked about our "special project"and went over more details.. both of us know that this is the right thing for us to do as everything flowed so easily.

Got to Downtown Disney and found a parking space. Waited about 10 minutes and Jen showed up. Chris was having dinner with Jen and then she was going to drive him to his hotel near the John Wayne Airport where he would be leaving back to Montana tomorrow morning at 7am. This was the moment I was not looking forward to all week. Last time I said goodbye to Chris I sobbed into his shoulder and my heart literally ached. But this time there were no tears, though my heart was aching. I gave him the best hug I could muster. I had to convey all the love and gratitude I had for him. SDCC would have been completely different if he wasn't by my side. I did cry a bit on the way home as it actually started to hit me that I wouldn't be seeing him tomorrow or the next day and probably not for a few months. I did stop by Taco Bell to get some comfort food for the drive home. Got home around 11pm and I was once again alone.

San Diego Comic Con Day 5

It's our final day at San Diego Comic Con. Part of me is happy because, though con is a blast it's extremely exhausting. but the other part of me knows that when it's over my bestie Chris is going back to Montana.

But we still have one more day to go. My brother left in the morning (had to get back to his family). This time Chris and I dressed up in our Star Trek uniforms. We had planned to get a large group of people together to cosplay in uniform but in the end it was only Chris and I. We walked around the floor starting on one side. Though we've been there for five days I still hadn't seen the entire floor. So we made our way from booth to booth. Our Star Trek uniforms were not nearly as popular as my Hobbit and Chris' Altair outfit. But I guess that was good since we really did want to see the floor and not be stopped every few feet. We meet up with some friends here and there but the majority of the day it was just Chris and I.

We stopped my Marian Call's booth to say hi and get pictures. I also picked up all three of her CD's. The only thing we planned for today was to go to the Star Wars cosplay panel. When we planned this we had six or seven people planning on dressing up in Star Trek uniforms and Chris thought it would be funny if we crashed their event. In the end it was only Chris, Aaron, Will and myself in uniforms and nothing really happened when we walked in. I know Chris was disappointed at the reaction and I was disappointed in the panel.. it was just boring.

After the panel we meet up with Rachel and Jes and finished walking the floor before heading back to our townhouse for rest before heading out to dinner.

The Strip Club has become some what of a tradition as the place for our goodbye dinner. This is a place where you cook your own meat. Chris wanted to go here again though he complained last year about having to cook his own meat. We had a large party and it kept getting bigger. We ended up with something like 18 people but it was a great way to end con. Everyone had some yummy steaks that Chris and Olivia grilled and to end the dinner we all sang Happy Birthday to Milynn.

We slowly said our goodbyes to everyone before heading back to the townhouse to grab our stuff and walk it back to the car. Olivia and Thomas joined us to say goodbye. After his goodbyes to Olivia and Thomas we all piled in Jes' car with even more stuff then we came with. Once again Chris and I got really cozy in the backseat.

The drive home was uneventful. Jes' GPS took us what seemed to be a longer route but in the end it avoided all the traffic and we got home in a little over three hours. We unloaded the car and crashed at my place.

San Diego Comic Con 2012 has come to an end.

Overall it was a fantastic con. One of my favorites in recent years and there are two reasons for that. One I just relaxed and didn't try to get into any panels, I just cosplayed the entire time and two I got to spend the majority of my time with my best friend Chris. I couldn't imagine doing this with anyone else. I can't wait for SDCC 2013.. let the planning begin.

You can see all my Con pictures HERE 

San Diego Comic Con Day 4

Got up early once again, I was cosplaying as a Hobbit again (people seemed to really like it) but Chris decided to dress up as Barney Stinson from How I Meet Your Mother.

We did our normal routine and ate breakfast at Subway before making our way to the convention center. Once again this was a nice walk around the con in character and have pictures taken of us. We meet up with our friends Rachel and Jes, they had panels at Nerd HQ at noon but were going to hang out with us for a bit.

One of the highlights of the trip was when I was at the Weta booth and a Weta employee lady grabbed me and walked me over to where Richard Taylor (the man behind Weta) was sitting to show me off. He waved and gave me the thumbs up when he saw my outfit. Then another employee of Weta took my picture and said he would put it up on their website (You can see HERE  and scroll down to July 15th) and then he proceeded to take me to the Cave Trolls to get a picture of me there as well. Everyone there loved my outfit and it made me proud of what I put together. The guy who took my picture gave me a magnet in the shape of Hobbit feet... it's pretty cool.

After that we wandered around for a bit and I found my friend Jamie Chambers booth. He invented a new card game and I went to purchase it and reached for my wallet in my backpack when I noticed that my backpack was gone. Immediately I start to panic... not only is my wallet in there with a few hundred dollars, Chris' new Ipad is in there. The last place I remember it being was near the bathroom when I put it down to take some pictures with people. I guess I just walked away and left it there. Chris quickly ran back over there to see if it was still there but I was doubtful as it had been thirty minutes. He came back empty handed so we pulled out my iphone and checked the location of his iPad. I have a Find Friends app that allows me to see where my friends (with iphones/ipads) are, at all times. We saw that the ipad was still at the convention center, but the radius was to wide and we couldn't pin point the location. I decided to head to the Lost and Found booth. A few years back I lost my cellphone and it was turned in there so I was hoping I'd get lucky once again. We got to the lost and found and as I walked up they were emptying the content of my backpack onto a table and inventorying it. One of the guards just dropped it off. Everything was still in there.. whew.. that was a close call. I don't mind losing my stuff but I would have hated to have lost Chris' stuff. From now on that back pack is sticking to me like glue.

The ladies left and Chris and I continued to walk around the show floor. We went to the Jason Palmer booth (he's one of my favorite geeky artist). I was hoping he had something new but atlas there was nothing I wanted to buy. But my buddy Chris bought three paintings, Indiana Jones, Boba Fett and Serenity/Mal.. all three are AWESOME prints and will look great in his place. We also stopped by my friend Teal's booth were she and Sean Becker were promoting My Gimpy Life. It was great seeing those guys.

We meet up with my brother Michael, Aaron and Rupert and headed out to grab a bite to eat. When we first got into town I noticed that we drove by The Counter, a really cool burger place. so we headed that way. It was hot and my feet were killing me. The Counter wasn't that far from the con but when we got there it hadn't opened yet. We opted for TGIF instead. We were meeting Adam, Katie and her friend there. The seven of us had a nice lunch before going our separate ways. Chris ran off to see if he could get one of those knitted figures, while my brother and I went back to the townhouse to rest. Chris came back empty handed so he and I headed back to con.

This is when my second most memorable moment happen. I got to meet Sean Astin from Goonies / Rudy / Lord of the Rings. He was signing at the Hollywood Treasures booth. It cost $40 to get an autograph but I didn't care. I've been a huge fan of Sean for years and it was awesome to get to meet him. And a plus, he really liked my Hobbit costume. I was so excited to meet him that when I went to put his picture in my backpack.. yep.. I left it by his table. Luckily we were only a few feet away and Chris ran over and got it.

We headed back to the townhouse to drop off stuff and rest a bit. We debated on going back to con as we were going to a Marian Call concert at 7pm and we had to drive or bus there. I wasn't sure I wanted to go or just stay at the con til 7 cosplaying. We headed back to con for about a half hour when I realized it was a waste of time and I did want to go to Marian Call concert and headed back to the townhouse.

Chris helped my brother once again Tron up and Chris and I got ready to head out. We were meeting up with Luis who was going to drive us over. My buddy Will wanted to join us so he came along as well. Once at the church where she was playing Dallas and Aaron joined us. This was my first Marian Call concert thought I've enjoyed her music for years. She didn't disappoint. We all had a great time at her concert.

We drove back and everyone was going to hit the Slamcon party but my feet were killing me and I'm not much of a party person, unless it's my own party. So I said goodnight to the fellas and headed back to the townhouse were I found my brother in the window all lite up and people taking picture of him from the streets. I ate some left over hot dogs for dinner, chatted with my brother for a bit before calling it a night around 1:30am.

Tomorrow is our final day at comic con.

You can see all my Con pictures HERE 

San Diego Comic Con Day 3

Well Chris and I got up early and kind of hung around the townhouse in the morning. We opted to go get our breakfast at Subway before getting dressed up in our cosplay. We hung out with our friend Thomas who was sharing the room with us, waiting for my brother to arrive. Michael arrived around 10ish and Chris and I finally finished putting on the rest of our cosplay. I was going as a Hobbit and Chris was Altair once again.

We got to con around noon and walked around the floor for a bit taking pictures. My brother headed off to try and get into a panel while Chris and I continued to walk around and run into friends here and there.

It was a pretty laid back day. There was the Firefly panel which both Chris and I would have loved to do but folks were in line since 6pm the previous day. Yeah that's not my thing. I did panels for years but I no longer have the patience or need to wait that long. We had some lunch from the con floor, consisting of a pretzel hot dog. We searched for little knitted figures and again came close several times but never got one.

We left the con around 6pm and headed back to the townhouse to change. And to help my brother get into his Tron outfit. He planned to head back to con for the last hour and then hang out as his outfit is best when dark. After we suited him up we headed to the local Ralphs to pick up supplies for "The Geek Mob" party that I was throwing at the Guildie Townhouse.

I kept my hobbit pants and ears on but changed out my shirt for my cool LOTR/Beatles shirt and some shoes. Got to Ralphs and went shopping, bought some hamburgers and hot dogs to BBQ, chips and other snacky things to eat. Once we got back some folks had arrived and a few of them went to the local CVS to get some soda and beer. Around 7:30 more folks arrived and the party officially began at 8pm.

I had very limited space and it was tough picking and choosing who to invite. Since I did not rent the house I went by what Lydia told me. I could have up to 25 guests including the 7 guests staying in the house. So that left me with some hard choices. Choices that I didn't like making and it kind of put a dampener on the party for me. I had several people ask if they could bring others and I had to say no, even though some of them were actual friends. It wasn't a good feeling but I had no choice.

I spent most of the party moody and pouty, but luckily not many people knew. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. Chris got the BBQ going and we started to play several games of Card Against Humanity. We had so many people that we actually got two different games going. After Cards they hooked up the Xbox and starting playing Rockband. My brother finally got back to the house around 10pm, as he left the 7 and it took him 3 hours to go three blocks because he was asked to take so many pictures.

I continued to be mopey and cleaned up the kitchen while everyone else was having fun. I hate when I get in those kind of moods but again it didn't deter anyone from having fun. Finally around 2am I had to call it a night and asked those remaining to head out.

It wasn't the best party for me but everyone seemed to have a great time and that's important to me. Next up day four of comic con and the last full day at con.

You can see all my Con pictures HERE 

San Diego Comic Con Day 2

Friday has begun, didn't get a good night sleep as our townhouse sits on 5th street which is the busiest street in the Gaslamp so the noise level was off the charts. But I was also excited for the con so that could also be contributed to my lack of sleep. Anyways Chris and I were up bright and early, 7am. I took a shower bath. It's a huge bath tube that sits about 3 feet high and you have to climb into it. It has one of those hand held shower type things so you can't really stand. Anyways took my shower bath and prepare to Hobbitfy myself. Chris was taking his shower bath so I headed down stairs to see who else was up. Lou was up and making himself some breakfast. I started experimenting with my two different make ups for my ears. The one I had last year was way to light, I have a lot of red in my face. So this year I purchased a bit redder and darker hoping I would get a better match. I also prepainted my ears so it would be easier and faster to put them on.

By this time Chris came down and assisted me on applying on my ears. He did a FANTASTIC job, he also did a little paint job on them to get them just right. They weren't quite the same color as my face but with the wig you would never know.. And they were a 1000 times better then last year so I was extremely happy.

After my ears Chris and I went up stairs to finish putting on our outfits. Chris was going in his very popular Altair outfit from Assassin's Creed. We both finished about 8:30 and were ready for con. We were starving so we headed down the street and found a subway. It was so hot in that place and with all the clothing we were wearing we were both dying.

We ate quickly and headed to the con. Got in around 9:30 and the floor was open. Today I really just planned to walk around in my cosplay and have pictures taken of me. There was a photo shoot for all of us dressed in Hobbit cosplay for TheOneRing.net. So Chris headed off to a panel while I meet up with Jes and Rachel. Jes was dressed as a Elf. At 11:30 we headed to the meeting place and had some group shoots taken of about 20 folks in Hobbit cosplay.. it was pretty great.

We met back up with Chris and ran into Dallas and Aaron who joined our group. We left con to grab some lunch. This is always an ordeal, we had a party of six and the first place we hit up with Syfy's Defiance Restaurant (formally known as Cafe Diem). But we had an hour wait and we were starving.. so we decided to find another place. Next was the Old Spaghetti factory. Now in all the years I have been coming to con I have never eaten here because the wait is always a few hours, so imagine my shock when I tell them that we have six and the hostess says, stand here and will seat you. Mind you that there are about 30 people standing and sitting around waiting for a table. Come to find out that one of there larger tables just opened and we were the largest party there. So we sat and had a nice pasta lunch.

After lunch the group split up and Chris and I headed back to he townhouse to relax for a few minutes. We headed back to the con and the showroom floor. I wanted to get some pictures of me with the Cave Trolls. After that Chris headed off to a panel and I roamed the floors alone. I took pictures of cosplayer and had pictures taken a me. About an our later I meet back up with Chris and we walked the floor a bit more before heading back to the townhouse to suit up for tonight's Wootstock.

Before Wootstock we headed out to get some dinner. We were cutting it close because Wootstock started at 7 and we sat down for dinner around 6:30 at The Hard Rock Cafe, which was right down the street from the theater (Wootstock).

I forgot to mention something that Chris and I were doing all day. Twitter persona @GeekyHooker made these cut knitted little figures and she was dropping them off in various places and then tweeting the location. Chris and I have been trying to get one all day but missing it by minutes each time. While we were eating dinner the one Chris really wanted (Batman) was dropped back at con. About six blocks from where we were. Well Chris in a full suit and dress shoes ran back to the townhouse to get his badge and then to the con only to miss getting it by mere seconds. By the time he got back to the restaurant he was exhausted and tired. We were already 15 minutes late for Wootstock and Jes and Olivia who had joined us for dinner left for the theater. I sat there and waited as he scarfed down his food trying to relax. We got to the theater around 7:25 and the show was already going. We found our seats and for the next four and a half hours we were entertained by a variety of people. From Paul and Storm, to Wil Wheaton, to Marian Call to Adam Savage taking about poop. For the most part it was a very entertaining show. This was my first Wootstock and it won't be my last.

After Wootstock it was 11:30pm and we headed over to the Geek and Sundry Disco Party. I had planned to just pop in and say hi to Felicia and the gang but once I got in and heard the music pumping all my weary and achy bones and feet left me and it was party time and we danced teh night away until around 1:45am.

Chris and I got home around 2am and crashed. We had to be up in six hours for the day three of con.

You can see all my Con pictures HERE