Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - My Review

This evening my buddy Rupert and I went to a screening of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the Paramount lot. It wasn't in their largest theater but one of their smaller less impressive theater.

I'm sure everyone knows who the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are... but just in case. The characters originated in The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book before their expansion into a cartoon series, films, video games, toys, and other general merchandise. During the peak of the franchise’s popularity in the late 1980s through the early 1990s, it gained considerable worldwide success and fame. This is a reboot of the franchise.

Before I give you my review let me say that I never read the comic book, I may have seen bits and pieces of the cartoon and I've never watched the 3 movies. So I'm coming into this not really knowing anything about it. With that said I really enjoyed this movie. The effects are amazing, the story was good, simple and made sense. I loved that each of the turtles looks different and had very different personalities. There was a ton of humor and action, a nice balance of each.

I know haters are going to hate, they'll complain about the look of the turtles, Megan Fox, Michael Bay, blah blah blah... that's just what they do but I enjoyed the movie. It did was it set out to do.. entertain me. I will consider buying this when it comes out on blu-ray. I give Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a solid B.

Melissa, Joey, Working Out & Galavant

So I got up this morning, and started watching a new sitcom called Melissa and Joey. Melissa & Joey is an ABC Family original television series starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence that premiered back in 2010. I've seen commercials for it and it looked cute so I thought I'd give it a go. Though I am watching a few other series I like these quick 22 minute per episode series. I'm a few episodes in and I'm really enjoying it.

Well that was until my 60" 5 1/2 year old TV died. Yep, I go to turn it on and instead of the green "on" light I get the dreaded red "lamp" light. So I'm hoping the fix is just replacing the lamp. I don't know how hard or easy that will be or the cost but I figure it should be cheaper then buying a new TV.

I came across several videos that I wanted to share with you guys...

First is a one of the most honest workout videos that I have ever seen. It's totally me when I go to a gym.. both the girl and the guy :)

Next is a new TV series that's coming to ABC this fall called Galavant. It's a fairy tale-themed musical comedy television series. Yeah it sounds crazy and after watching the trailer I'm still not sure about it but I'll defiantly be watching. It kind of reminds me of Princess Bride but with musical numbers.

Later in the evening I went to Paramount to see a screening of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with my buddy Rupert. I'll be posting a review on a separate blog.

Animated Who, Peter Hollens, Hobbit & Camp Abercorn

I have several videos and things to share with you guys today...

First a friend posted this on Facebook. It's just a fan made opening sequence to The Animated Adventures Of Doctor Who. It's extremely well done that if you didn't know any better you swear this is real.. alas it is not. But it's still fun to watch and dream.

I came across a you tube singer. I saw his video for Gollum's Song from Lord of the Rings. And I was so impressed with him vocals that I dug further and found a whole slew of amazing covers sung by this guy. His name is Peter Hollens and he uses nothing but his voice, sounds from his mouth and claps to produce some amazing harmonies and songs. But not only is his music great but the video from them are also very well produced. Here's the video that got me started Gollum's Song and The Misty Mountain song.. he's so amazing.

Speaking of Gollum and Lord of the Rings.. Warner Brothers released a deleted scene from the upcoming release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Extended Edition. It arrives on Blu-ray November 4th! Featuring 25 minutes of new and extended scenes, and 9 hours of new bonus content. I SO CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

And last but not least I backed a new webseries that looked really good. It's called Camp Abercorn.
Every summer hundreds of thousands of Scouts head off to summer camp at hundreds of places just like Camp Abercorn. Each faces their own individual challenges, and writes their own stories.

Camp Abercorn is a dramatic web series about the blunders and the victories—an authentic portrayal of life on camp staff. For ten weeks each summer Camp Abercorn becomes a bustling wonderland of activity for boys, guided by their fearless leaders—the camp staff.

To tell our stories we’ve created the Compass Guides of America, a fictional organization that parallels the Boy Scouts of America, an organization that we regard with the utmost respect and appreciation because we were Scouts, too.

Hawkins, Birthdays & The Quest

Started day with TV issues.. my 60" TV has been going dark the past month or so. Now it's taking a few minutes to actually start up. I mean I hear the audio but the picture takes a while to start up. I don't think it's going to last much longer.

So I came across this movie called The Theory of Everything gave the trailer a watch. It's actually the life story of Stephen Hawkins and I have to say it looks really good. I don't know if he is involved with this movie, but I hope he is. I don't really know much about the man but after seeing the trailer he looks to have had one of the most romantic love stories in a long while. I'm looking forward to seeing this when it hits theaters. Check out the trailer below.

Another video caught my eye and left me mesmerized. I kept trying to figure out how it works.

I came across another cute video that reminded me of my life. It's Murphy's Law, what ever line I get into it will move the slowest.

Headed out to celebrate the Birthday of my buddy Dallas, we went to this interesting high end burger place out in Glendale. I couldn't afford a $10 dollar burger so instead chipped in for some fries and a very expensive diet coke (spent $11 for those, yeah way to much). After the dinner the group headed out to go drinking down in Hollywood with other friends but I opted to head home instead. I'm not a big drinker, drinks cost money and I really wasn't in the mood to be in a bar.

So I headed back home and watched episode 2 of The Quest with my buddy Erik, and I have to say that I'm loving it more and more. The production values still blow me away and I'm loving the storyline. I also realized that one of my favorite Paladins (contestant) is my friend Bonnie who I met earlier this year at a friends birthday party.. I knew she looked familiar. If you're not watching this you are really missing out on something special.. especially if you're a fan of Fantasy like I am.

Anyways I found a cool Behind the Scenes video from the premiere episode. It's a cut/extended scene. If you watched episode one be sure to watch this video as well.

Firefly, The Voice & Baby Giggles

I came across this cool picture of a mashup of Disney and Firefly. Or if Disney created an animated version of Firefly... how shiny would that be. Love little River and that they have a pet Firefly.

I spent the evening watching The Voice blind auditions on you tube. I normally don't watch the "singing" competitions as I have a hard time with the really bad ones.  So I usually wait until clips are put up on You tube and I can pick to watch just the good ones. I really like The Voice as the judges only hear the persons voice and have to choose solely on that, looks play no part in their decision. What started out as a few videos turned into three hours that took me well into the AM.

Oh.. one more thing.. Baby giggles are the best... so I couldn't pass up sharing this hilarious video.. enjoy!!

Lunch, Laughs and Lightsabers

Today I had lunch with my buddy Chris or as he is commonly referred to by his last name Quilty. Chris is one of the my oldest and dearest friends. We go back to 95/96 and working together on The Dating Game. We don't see each other as often as we would like in recent years but we still try and get together a few times a year and when we do it's like no time has passed between us. We met up at Shakey's pizza parlor, it's been a tradition of ours to have the lunch buffet for the past 10 years or so.

It's always great catching up on each others lives. He is a father of two beautiful little girls and it's fun to hear of all his fatherly adventures. We both work in the entertainment industry, he's a producer. So we usually bitch and complain about work and the stress we are under. But overall it's just great spending a few hours with an old friend, eating really "bad" food and laughing.

Every year we say we need to hang out more and every year it doesn't happen.. but our lunches at Shakey's always makes up for that.

During the evening I got to play some Star Wars The Old Republic (SWTOR) with my buddies Chris (not Quilty) and Brett. We haven't played in over a month so it was nice to jump back into that world for a few hours. Hopefully it won't be another month before we get to play again.

HIMYM, Star Wars & Sundries

I came across this awesome mashup picture combining Star Wars with How I Met Your Mother. It's pretty awesome and I had to share it with my buddy Chris who loves both of those things.

My friend Felicia Day announced that her company Geek and Sundry has been acquired by Legendary Films. This is huge news and I'm extreme happy for Felicia and everyone associated with G&S. Can't wait to see what comes out of this collaboration. You can read more HERE.

Today was Lydia's last day of her vacation and the last day she'll be staying with me. She has been here for 33 days, but all good things must come to an end. I have to say it was nice having a roommate for a month but it will be nice to live alone again.

I really miss Star Wars Clone Wars but there is a new series about to start called Star Wars Rebels, unlike Clone Wars which took place between episodes 2 and 3. Rebels takes place between episodes 3 and 4, which is a section of time that we've never seen. Here's an extended preview of the pilot episode. Check it out below...

Cool Restaurant, Rocket & Baby Groot

Just an updated on my back.. it's doing better, a bit sore but a thousand times better then it was.

I saw this news story about this restaurant called Signs up in Canada, at first glance it didn't look like anything special but wow is it!!! Watch the video below.

I think there should be more restaurants like this. I've been teaching myself sign language over the past few years and I would love to be able to go to a place and have to try and order food. I love all the enthusiasm that the employee's have. For some of them it's their first "real" job.. how awesome is that.

I came across another story on Facebook about the creators of the new movie Guardians of the Galaxy honoring the man who co-created Rocket Raccoon. The gentleman is bed bound so they actually brought a copy of the movie to him (which is near impossible with all the legal red tape). Just goes to show you how awesome these people are. Read the entire story HERE.

A friend posted about this amazing Baby Groot figure on Twitter. It was being sold via Etsy so this was obviously someone who crafted it. It truly is amazing but the price of $40 bucks was just to steep for me. And at the time of me blogging about it, it looks like it was pulled so it's no longer for sale. Hopefully Marvel will realized that Baby Groot is super popular and make something similar for half the price.

Xena, Guardians and Friends

Before I get into my day I wanted to share this really awesome geeky mini fridge that I saw that someone posted about on Facebook. Of course it's made by ThinkGeek. I don't really need a mini fridge but if I had the extra money I'd surely buy one.. I mean Resistance is Futile. You can check it out on ThinkGeek's website HERE.

Thomas came over today to watch more Xena. We continued were we left off with season two.

First up was S2 Ep4 "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer face the evil god Bacchus, who turns innocent girls into bloody wild women called the Bacchae. While Bacchus tries to turn Xena and Gabrielle into Bacchae, they will have the help of Orpheus, who has lost his body and is a speaking head.

I enjoyed the story of this episode but OMG the way this was shot just killed me. Shaky camera to the extreme. Weird close up and blends, loud music for no reason. Thomas said they did it to try and hide the bad effects but I'd take bad looking effects over how badly this was shot.

Then we watched S2 Ep5 "Return of Callisto" When Callisto escapes from prison, she builds an army of evil and sends Joxer to tell Xena that she's going to continue killing. Perdicus marries Gabrielle, but Callisto interrupts their honeymoon.

I really enjoyed this episode. As soon as Perdicus married Gabrielle I turned to Thomas and said.. oh he's going to die and sure enough minutes later he did. Callisto is pure evil!! And at the end I thought for a moment that Xena was going to save her but I'm happy that she didn't.

Third episode of the day was S2 Ep6 "Warrior... Princess... Tramp" Xena comes back to help Princess Diana once more. She takes the place of Diana, but there's an unexpected problem: another Xena look-alike, a tramp called Meg, is already trying to supplant the princess.

I can't believe they made another one of these.. this time there is a third person who looks exactly like Xena. It was campy fun, nothing you could take serious. Joxer has been in the past few episodes and I'm really enjoying his character. Lucy Lawless is amazing bringing these three completely different characters to life.

After the third episode Lydia, Aaron (who arrived about halfway through episode 6), Thomas and I headed to the Arclight Sherman Oaks to meet up with a few other friends to watch Guardains of the Galaxy. This was my original plan to see the movie before Lydia surprised me with Thursday tickets. I was super excited to see it again. This time we were seeing it in 2D but with Dolby Atmos audio which I just love. I didn't think it was possible but I loved it even more!!!

Afterward we went to Buffalo Wild Wing for some tasty dinner.

Back at my place Thomas and I continued our Xena marathon.

We started back up with S2 Ep7 "Intimate Stranger" Callisto, with Ares' help, takes Xena's body and leaves Xena, in Callisto's body, in Tartarus. 

I knew this was coming, I remember when Lucy Lawless broke her pelvis (I thought it was her back) and was replaced by the actress who played Callisto. I actually liked how they did this. Instead of shutting down production or cutting a few episodes the writers came up with an ingenious way to cover for Lucy while she recovered. The changed the ending and instead of Xena getting her body back, they re-shot it so she didn't

We watcehd S2 Ep8 "Ten Little Warlords" Someone has made Ares mortal by stealing his sword, which leaves him incapable of putting Xena back in her own body and removes his control over the anger of peaceful people.

Again we have Xena in Callisto's body and once again I enjoyed the story, but these gods really need to keep a better hold of their things.. first Hades helmet and now Ares' sword. I liked how everyone was getting angry especially Joxer and Gabrielle who become a comedic duo in this episode. And I did like the end when Xena was returned to her body.

Then we moved on to S2 Ep9 "A Solstice Carol" Over one holiday night, Xena and Gabrielle stage mini-dramas in King Silvus' bedroom to get him to change his bitter ways.

I had seen this episode recently. I figure I must have been flipping through the channels and came across this as I had not seen it all but I defiantly saw a big part of it. Though this isn't a favorite of Thomas' I actually enjoyed this "Christmas" episode.  Not a lot of physical fighting in this episode as Lucy (Xena) was still recovering.

The second to last episode for the evening was S2 Ep10 "The Xena Scrolls" In 1940, two archaeologists look for the legendary scrolls that Gabrielle wrote about her adventures with Xena.

This was another episode that I had seen at some point. It's a departure from your "regular" episodes. I like that we see the roles of Gabrielle and Xena reversed. I also enjoyed the fact that the stories of Xena have become legends and myths. Again very little physical fighting in this episode.

And the final episode of the night and this round of Xena watching with Thomas was S2 Ep11 "Here She Comes... Miss Amphipolis" A fragile peace may be derailed by behind-the-scenes mayhem at a beauty pageant, in which the rulers of all three former enemies have entered their girlfriends as contestants.

Of all the episodes I have seen this one felt the most "modern" and most ridiculous. I mean I liked the meaning behind it all and that all the ladies (and drag queen) learned something about themselves but it was an episode about a beauty pageant... come on!!! Still, it had it's moments.

After a fun filled day of Xena and Guardians I had to say not only goodnight to my favorite Irish man Thomas but also goodbye as he heads back home (via Calgary) tomorrow morning. It's sad to see him go but I am happy that we spent a lot of time together on this trip. Safe travels buddy and I can't wait to get together again for some more awesome Xena marathons.

Why Do People Stare?

So I wanted to ask a question to you all and/or share an observation of mine and wonder if this happens to other people.

Why do people stare at me?!?!

I've noticed this the past 10 years or so but I tend to have people stare at me. These are complete strangers, people I see on the street, or in a store. It doesn't matter where I am, people take a long hard look at me. Even when I catch them looking they don't look a way, it's like they are trying to figure out something.

Now I know it's not because I'm the nice looking, I've always considered myself average when it came to looks. So is because I look Funny? Interesting? Strange? or do I look like a "famous" person? I don't get it.

Maybe it's my height, I'm only 5'3", stocky, broad shoulders, barrel chested. Maybe my body is shaped funny... I really don't know what it is.

I do have a very small "fan" base thanks to appearing on The Guild and various other webseries. I also have a fairly decent size following from listeners to all the podcasts I hosts. But I can't imagine they are "fans" and recognize me from those things.

So it brings me back to my original question, why do people stare at me?

The Quest & More Xena

Since my back was on the mend I didn't do much today. I started by watching a new ABC reality series called The Quest. I had heard of The Quest from my buddy Brett who tried to get me to go with him an a audition. I didn't go but my buddy Brett did (was didn't make it). If you don't know what The Quest is here is a brief description: The Quest is a new reality adventure that takes 12 lucky contestants on the journey of a lifetime when they enter the world of "Everealm." For The Quest, the Executive Producer of the blockbuster movie franchise The Lord of the Rings has joined forces with the creators and producers of The Amazing Race to conjure a land of magic and malevolence, where mythical creatures lurk in the woods, agents of darkness stir in the shadows, and mystical beings infiltrate the keep. For 12 lucky souls, a fantastic world will come alive in a unique competition series where players will engage in epic challenges. Fantasy meets reality when one player emerges as a real-life hero.

The first episode had a lot of set up and just one challenge towards the end but I have to say that I love the look, the style, and production values of this series. It sucked me in right away. I was into the story and characters. I really can't wait for the second "regular" episode and see how it plays out. I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea but I'd watch this just for the fantasy aspect alone. I'm not into that many reality shows but I'll definitely be watching more of The Quest.

Thomas came over mid day and we spent the rest of the day watching more Xena. Today we watched the final two episodes of Season One and the first three episodes of Season Two.

First up we watched S1 Ep23 "Death Mask" Xena finally confronts Cortese, the warlord who burned her village and turned her into a warrior.

We delve into Xena's past with the introduction of her older brother and the man who sent Xena down her path of destruction. I wasn't a fan of her brother, seemed a bit to whiny for me. But at least Xena can close that chapter of her life with the death of Cortese.

Then we watched S1 Ep24 "Is There a Doctor in the House?" When Xena and Gabrielle take a wounded and pregnant Ephiny to a healing temple in the middle of a civil war, Xena must take over as healer when the priests would rather pray than act.

I felt this was an usual finale but I really enjoyed the episode. It's all set in this "hospital" and Xena showing these "doctors" how to practice real medicine. Gabrielle dies but of course I knew she wasn't going to actually die. But we do get to see how much Xena truly loves her and what she is willing to do to save her.

We then moved on to Season 2 with Ep1 "Orphan of War" Xena and Gabrielle travel to the centaur lands to help them against Dagnine, a man who once fought at Xena's side when she was evil. Dagnine wants the powerful Ixion stone, who was hidden by Borias, Xena's former and now deceased lover. Xena meets there a young boy called Solan who lives with the centaurs, and she tells Gabrielle he's actually her son.

More secrets about Xena are revealed. She has a son, who doesn't know she is his mother. I was hoping that she would tell him at the end but she didn't. I did hear from Thomas this is an ongoing storyline so that made me happy.

Next up is S2 Ep2 "Remember Nothing" When Xena protects the temple of the Fates, they grant her wish that she had never followed the sword, but only if she never draws blood in anger. As she sees her loved ones tormented by warlords she eliminated in her original life, her temptation to fight for right increases. Will she be able to resist ... and should she?

This was one of those "What if" stories. Xena helps out the fates, and accidentally kills a young boy, The Fates grant her one wish and change one event in her life, she never picked up the sword against Cortese. Everything changes around her. Her younger brother is back, who original died in the initial fighting. But her mother is dead in this timeline. Also Gabrielle is a slave and these evil men she killed in her timeline live and are killing thousands. Xena is selfish for a time but realizes that she has no choice and has to correct everything and revert back to the original timeline.

And our final episode of the night S2 Ep3 "The Giant Killer" Retelling of the David and Goliath story in which Goliath is a friend of Xena's who has fallen into evil ways from grief after losing his family.

I actually enjoyed this episode. It actually took me to half way through this episode to realize that the kids name was David and the Giant was Goliath and this was the retelling of the famous battle from the Bible. It was a bitter sweet ending as Goliath was a friend of Xena and actually saved her life and by doing so sacrificed his wife and child. He is obviously killed at the end but realizes that he will be reunited with his family.

Guardians of the Galaxy - My Review

Today I went to Universal Citywalk to have dinner with some of Lydia's friends and to see Guardians of the Galaxy in IMAX 3D.

I don't really know much about this comic book series. I had never heard of it until they started making plans for this movie so I went into this movie with an open mind. I had seen a few of the trailers and it looked fun and something that I would like so I was excited to see it.

First let me say... Guardians of the Galaxy is fantastic, pure and simple. It's witty and snappy sense of humor, fantastic writing, unbelievable looking special effects (I saw it in 3D, and the space scenes were mind blowing), well rounded and lovable characters and an overall story that weaves its way effortlessly into the Marvel movie mythos.

But it also stand out from all those other Marvel movies. Guardians of the Galaxy is a weird, risky prospect for a studio that's all about relatable humans in recognizable settings. Maybe that's why it works: faced with a tougher sell, they've gone the extra mile to make something special and boy did they. It's one of those rare, jam-packed rides that makes me want to just go get right back in line and enjoy it all over again.

I feel Guardians of the Galaxy succeeds in not only introducing and connecting these relatively unknown characters into the Marvel Movieverse, but in making it one of the most enjoyable and unforgettable of the bunch. The film's mischievous misfits presented great chemistry along with its dynamic supporting cast. In a mere two hours the characters grow and attach themselves to your heart, which is incredible for 5 major characters never before introduced to the Marvel Movieverse.

The whole cast is phenomenal, but it's evident that Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) steal the show. Chris Pratt is fantastic as StarLord, Zoe Saldana is amazing as the assassin with a heart of gold, Gamora and Dave Bautista's character Drax is just hilarious, literally.

And last but not least is the music, OMG you couldn't ask for a better soundtrack. From beginning to end the nostalgic 70's music is spot on and brings in a bit of familiarity to these very alien worlds. I know alot of my friends have said as soon as they got out of the movie they purchased the soundtrack and I have to say that thought crossed my mind as well.

I give Guardians of the Galaxy a solid A and I can't wait to see it again (which I will be doing on Saturday) and this is a definite buy when it comes out on blu-ray. 

Zeus Is Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure

My friend Michael G. Munz is a Science Fiction and Fantasy author. He's has written several books including the near-future science fiction series The New Aeneid Cycle and just released his newest Fantasy/Mythology/Comedy book, Zeus Is Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure.

THE GODS ARE BACK. DID YOU MYTH THEM?

You probably saw the press conference. Nine months ago, Zeus's murder catapulted the Greek gods back into our world. Now they revel in their new temples, casinos, and media empires - well, all except Apollo. A compulsive overachiever with a bursting portfolio of godly duties, the amount of email alone that he receives from rapacious mortals turns each of his days into a living hell.

Yet there may be hope, if only he can return Zeus to life! With the aid of Thalia, the muse of comedy and science fiction, Apollo will risk his very godhood to help sarcastic TV producer Tracy Wallace and a gamer-geek named Leif - two mortals who hold the key to Zeus's resurrection. (Well, probably. Prophecies are tricky buggers.)

Soon an overflowing inbox will be the least of Apollo's troubles. Whoever murdered Zeus will certainly kill again to prevent his return, and avoiding them would be far easier if Apollo could possibly figure out who they are.

Even worse, the muse is starting to get cranky.

Discover a world where reality TV heroes slay actual monsters and the gods have their own Twitter feeds: Zeus Is Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

He was kind enough to give me an advanced copy but unfortunately I wasn't able to read it before it's release date.. but now that it's out I want you all to pick up a copy for your kindle or you can buy the actually real life book, with pages and all.

I just started reading it so I can't give you my full review on it yet, but I can say I'm loving it so far... so instead here are some reviews from Amazon, btw the book has 30 reviews (all positive) and a 4.5 out of 5 star average.

Reviews from Amazon:

"Zeus Is Dead is full of laugh-out-loud moments, lashings of sly wit, moan-worthy puns, and a complex, fast-paced storyline. There aren't very many humorous fantasy murder mysteries out there, especially not as intricately constructed as this one. Michael G. Munz takes a 'What if,' and runs with it like a toddler with Mom's smart phone. The guffaw-worthy throwaway bits will remind you of Douglas Adams. A very enjoyable read." -Jody Lynn Nye, author of View from the Imperium and co-author of the Myth Adventures of Aahz and Skeeve

"Not since the people of Atlantis predicted 'low humidity' has there been such an original twist in Greek Mythology. This book is also far more amusing." -Brian Rathbone, creator of the bestselling Godsland Fantasy Series

"Zeus Is Dead is a book about the return of old gods, but Cthulhu is not in evidence, and it did not drive me to the very edge of madness. Instead it is a hilarious, satirical, page-turning romp through a world beset by plagues of monsters, egotistical gods, and reality television shows. I highly recommend this book to those who value both their sanity and a hearty guffaw. " -Seamus Cooper, author of The Mall of Cthulhu

"A hilarious mythological tale of god-like proportions. Munz has crafted a tale of bizarro comic fantasy that sits comfortably among the ilk of Gaiman and Pratchett." -Andrew Buckley, author of Death, the Devil, and the Goldfish

"Munz's tale echoes the bureaucratic insanity of Douglas Adams's creations, the banter of Grant and Naylor's Red Dwarf, and the cynicism of Ben Croshaw in order to bring us a clever, hilarious tale of adventure and grudging heroism." -Jonathan Charles Bruce, author of Project Northwoods

You can follow Michael on Twitter @TheWriteMunz, and/or "Like" his author page on Facebook.   

OUAT Frozen & Galaxy Quest Continues...

I read several geeky things today that I am really excited for and wanted to share with you all.

First, Once Upon a Time released a picture of Elsa and Kristoff from the upcoming OUAT Season four. You can even see Sven in the picture. I'm really looking forward to season four though I have a feeling they are going to make Elsa the "big bad" this season or at least half the season. I don't know how Frozen fans will take to a truer book Elsa (Snow Queen).

The other news is amazing and something I have been looking forward to for 15 years.. looks like they are going to continue the story of Galaxy Quest. Not in movie form but as a comic book series and it's going to continue where the movie left off. Here's the deets from a Blastr article written by Trent Moore.

It’s been almost 15 years since Galaxy Quest stole our hearts and minds with its pitch perfect Star Trek impression and overdubbed F-bomb — and now, the crew is back for more adventures.

Sadly, we’re not getting a sequel, but the property has been picked up by IDW to become a new comic book series dubbed Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues. Writer Erik Burnham and artist Nacno Arranz have been tasked with bringing the rag-tag characters played by Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver to life on the page.

Burnham sounds like a true fan of the material, and chatted with Comic Book Resources about the approach he’ll take to adapting the film for the comic medium. Basically, he hopes to maintain the geek-tastic wit we all love, while picking up a storyline that fits perfectly with the film’s finale:

“Well, at the end of their movie, Tim Allen's character, Jason, used the Omega 13 device to rewind time 13 seconds and undo the catastrophic death of his crew. (Um... sorry for the 15 year-old spoilers!) Messing with time. Maybe that affected more than the ship. If it was more widespread, sure, most folks would just have a powerful case of deja vu. But what if it changed something else? That's what we're starting with. They're the reason a new race -- called the Drythans -- seek them out and say, ‘You screwed something up. Fix it.’

As a joke, I played with the conceit of how many sequels reuse certain beats from their predecessor when I introduce the cast in a similar way to the way they were first introduced in the movie. That one may be too meta to see without being told, but it still makes me chuckle … Everyone from the movie will be back. I was even asked to include Brandon, the role Justin Long played, so we got everyone. There will be a new race of aliens, too.”

Loot & Xena

It was a very low key kind of day... my back was doing better but still at about 60% mobility. I could move but it had to be slow precise movement.

I got a surprise in the mail today from Lootcrate. Being a judge on the Geekie Awards has it's benefits and one of them was a free Lootcrate. I got a shirt, some socks, comic book, key chain and other various geeky things. Thanks Kristen

Since I couldn't move Thomas came over to hang out with me and keep me company. We watched more Xena. Our plan is to watch all of Season One before he heads home to Ireland... we might even get lucky and watch some of Season Two. Today we watched Season One Episodes 19 -22

First episode was S1 Ep19 "Altared States" Xena rescues a young boy on the run from his father, who wants to sacrifice him.

I enjoyed this episode, we are introduced to people who believe in one god. We also get to see the young Karl Urban. 

Next we watched S1 Ep20 "Ties That Bind" An old warrior claiming to be Xena's father complicates her rescue of a group of slaves.

This episode was okay, we are introduced to Xena's father and find out about their relationship. We come to find out that it's not really her father but Ares the God of War trying to manipulate Xena into being bad again. Which she does kind of regress to. I didn't like this about her character as she's been doing so much good but one incident (yes it was the so called killing of her "father") and she goes all crazy and ready to kill innocents again... didn't like that at all.

Then we watched S1 Ep21 "The Greater Good" Xena gets poisoned, and Gabrielle must take her place in fighting a warlord and protecting a village and the merchant Salmoneus, a.k.a. Lord Seltzer.

We get our first glimpse at Callisto, of course I know who she is as I have seen pictures and action figures but to the "regular" folks she's just some blonde warrior. But then the story turns and we don't see her again. I did like seeing Gabrielle pretend to be Xena and of course it backfires and all the craziness takes place. Xena's death scene was touching but we all knew that she wasn't going to really die. 

And finally we watched S1 Ep22 "Callisto" A blonde woman called Callisto kills innocent people stating she's Xena, Warrior Princess, and Xena and Gabrielle try to stop her. They meet for first time a warrior-wannabe called Joxer, and Xena has to face a dark event from her past related to Callisto and her village, Cirra. 

This is an episode I have been looking forward to. As I mentioned I kind of knew about Callisto but had never seen an episode with her in it. She is one twisted women. She's the polar opposite of Xena. Can't wait to see where her story goes. We are also introduced to Joxer who is completely in this show for comedy relief, he's a dork but I like his character. This was my favorite of the episodes we watched today.

Hobbit & Xena

They released another Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies poster. I really like it.. it's not as dramatic as the first one (Smaug) but none the less.. very cool.

Since I couldn't move at all and when I did I still had some pain (read previous blog post) my favorite Irishman, Thomas came over to watch some more Xena with me. We continued from were we left off before SDCC, Season 1 episodes 15 - 18.

First up was S1 Ep15 "Warrior... Princess" Someone is trying to kill Princess Diana, so Xena has to protect her. Since Xena and Diana are physically identical, they exchange their roles so Xena can discover who's the killer.

Not sure I liked the fact that this Princess looks exactly like Xena but it was fun seeing Lucy Lawless play a completely different character and when she would play one character pretending to act like the other character, it was pretty fantastic. The story was fine and the fighting was pretty good.

Then we watched S1 Ep16 "Mortal Beloved" Xena's dead love Marcus appears on earth to tell her the underworld has been taken over by mad Atyminius, who has confined the good souls to Tartarus and given evil the run of the Elysian Fields. But if Xena succeeds in getting Hades' Helmet of Invisibility back, Marcus will be punished in Tartarus forever.

I was happy to see Marcus again. I liked that we got to see the Underworld. The Harpy effects were pretty rough, even for Xena but I liked the story.

The third episode of the night was S1 Ep17 "The Royal Couple of Thieves" Xena drafts Autolycus to steal back the property of some friends of hers, which turns out to be the Ark of the Covenant.

The return of Autolycus.. well the first appearance of him in Xena but he's been in Hercules. I love Bruce Campbell and his character is funny and kind of slimy at the same time. I did like the ending when you find out that he didn't take the villagers money. He's a nice guy after all. 

And the final episode for this evening was S1 Ep18 "The Prodigal" After she and Xena are assaulted, Gabrielle asks herself if that's really the kind of life she wants to spend and returns to her village, Potadeia, which is going to be attacked by a warlord. Their only help will come from a former mighty warrior, Meleager, who is now but a shade of he used to be, while Gabrielle has to face her sister, Lila, who doesn't like the decision she took when she decided to travel with Xena.

It's funny but when I started watching this episode I knew I had seen it before. This is one of the very few episodes that I have previously seen of Xena. I liked this episode as it was more of a Gabrielle episode and we don't get to many of those. We get to see how much Xena has really rubbed off on her, made her a pretty good fighter. I also liked the character of Meleager.

Though my day started in pain, it end with a good friend and a fun few episodes of Xena. 

Living Alone & Having an Emergency

Today I had a health scare, after a shower I went to put on my underwear and got one foot in but as I lifted my other leg to slide through the hole I felt this immense pain in my lower back and I dropped to the floor like a rock.

I was in so much pain that I was actually howling in agony and uncontrollably crying. I was completely immobile. I laid there naked and scared on my bedroom floor. I couldn't move a muscle and when I did sharp pain would run through my boby.

I had to calm myself down and control my breathing as I couldn't breath properly and had to take short shallow breaths. 

I knew my phone was on my bed and that was only a few feet away but I couldn't get to it, if I had I probably would have called 911 I was in that much pain. I laid there completely still for about 20 minutes. 

After the 20 minutes I slowly began to move and for the next 15 minutes I climbed up on to my bed and laid down. I had my phone now and debated on calling 911 but I didn't feel it was an emergency anymore.

I laid on my bed for about an hour before I felt okay enough to get up, put on some clothes and go sit in the living room where I stayed the rest of the day. I had gotten a text from Lydia asking how the lunch with Jeff was going (something I was suppose to do) and I informed her of my back issue and on her way home she was kind enough to bring me some lunch.

During the 20 minutes of being paralyzed on my bedroom floor your mind gets to thinking..  I remember stories of people being found days later after a fall or stoke or heart attack and that is truly one of my biggest fears about living alone. Luckily Lydia was still staying with me but she was out to lunch and would be home in a few hours, so I knew eventually someone would find me.. but the idea of Lydia finding me sprawled out on my bedroom floor naked was not a happy thought.

I'm not what I would consider really old but I am getting to my mid 40's and I do know folks who have heart attacks and strokes at these ages and then you have my trick back. Even though this was the worst back issue I have ever had, lucky for me it only lasted few hours and I was able to be mobile. I still got sharp pain if I turned a certain way or moved to fast but at least I could move.

I'm going to give it a few days to see if it gets any better before making a doctor appointment. I can't really afford to go to the doctors but if it continues to hurt like it has I need to have it looked it. I'll keep you all posted on Twitter, Facebook and/or my blog.