Boldly Go!! A Star Trek Musical

After my amazing day at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Hollywood, I headed to Pasadena to see a Star Trek Parody musical called Boldly Go! My buddy Adam mentioned that he was attending and asked if anyone wanted to join him. I love Star Trek and this sounded fun so I of course said yes. Here's more about the musical.

A musical of both substance and comedy, Boldly Go! follows the intrepid crew of the Starship Enterprise, along with some new characters, on an exciting and hilarious adventure. Assumptions will be confronted, paradigms challenged, alliances tested, and new contacts made – whether for good or ill as yet to be seen. And it’s all set to a side-splitting tour de force of musical mayhem!

While having fun with the sometimes farcical aspects of science fiction and parodying Star Trek, this new show—written by brothers Cole Remmen and Caltech theoretical physics graduate student Grant Remmen—also satirizes the musical theater genre. At its core, Boldly Go! is a story about being true to oneself and one’s convictions, about friendship and love, about discovery and wonder, about the triumph of the individual over adversity, and about the joy of sharing with each other this vast and mysterious Universe.

I found this interesting as this is an extra curricular activity for the students of Cal Tech, these are nerds and techy geeks. So I expected the sets to be amazing, and they were but I didn't expect some of the great acting and singing. They got this amazing looking and extremely talented Kirk and Spook was spot on as well. The rest of the cast was great and varied from pretty good to completely terrified when it came to acting and singing. I enjoyed the story and about 80% of the songs. The Doctor really stole the show with his amazing song, it was one of my favorites.

I loved everything about this, it wasn't perfect and the acting and singing was hit and miss but I didn't care. It was fun and entertaining and I was so happy that Adam brought this to my attention. The only downside was up until 5 minutes before the play started the seat in front of me was empty because the gentleman in front of that seat was fairly tall. Well just before the lights went down this extremely tall man sat in front of me and completely blocked my view. I was beyond annoyed but it was one of the few seats left as the show sold out so he might not of had any other choice but I spent the entire musical bobbing my head back and forth but I did miss a few key moments that happened right in the middle of the stage. But as I said I loved this musical and had a great time... Thank again Adam.

Attending Hogsmeade (Wizarding World Hollywood)

Last night I purchased my Universal Studios Hollywood annual pass. I went with their best pass which is the Gold Pass. This gives me access to the park 313 days out of the year which is cool but I'd love to have a 365 days a year pass.. but I'll take what I can get. Weekends in the summertime are all blacked out as are a few weekends here and there.

The reason I got my annual pass is that the past week or so Universal has been doing soft openings or as they like to call them technical rehearsals for their Wizarding World of Harry Potter section. I heard rumors that it might be opened this weekend, there is a hashtag on twitter "Potterwatch" that is notifying when the Wizarding World is open. So after this mornings workout I checked my phone and sure enough the park having a soft opening. These soft openings can last a few hours or the entire day.. it's all very random. So I flew home, showered and got the the park entrance in about a half hour.. I don't know how I did it but I did. I got into the park around 11:30am and immediately made my who in looking for the entrance to the park, about halfway into the park on the right you can see the backside of Hogsmeade so I kept following it until I saw the entrance and yes they were still letting people in. As I passed over the threshold a chill when down my spine and a biggest smile came across my face.. I am in Hogsmeade!!

I went to the Hogsmeade in Universal "Islands of Adventure" in Florida a few years ago but this was different because this is in my own backyard. I can come here whenever I feel like it. The first thing I did was walk through the entire section. I wanted to see how similar it was to Hogsmeade Florida and with a few exceptions it's identical. I think the biggest different is Olivanders is on the opposite of the street and Florida has an extra roller coaster (Dueling Dragons) and Hollywood does not.

After my walk through which really only takes a few minutes (that section of the park isn't that big) I decided to grab some lunch as I had just come off of a workout and needed some food quickly. Of course the only place to eat in Hogsmeade is The Threebroom Sticks so I headed over and ordered some yummy fish and chips. I asked for a Frozen Butterbeer but they informed me that they were currently not offering that in the Three Broomsticks so I grabbed my lunch and found a seat. As I as sitting down I saw to figured in the doorway and they were waving at me. At first I could only see their silhouettes as the sun was behind them but they kept waving and then I noticed one of them. It was my friend Chrissy and as they entered I recognized the girl next to her, Amy.  I was talking to Chrissy earlier today at NerdStrong as she was debating on if she was going to come to Hogsmeade today or not. Well they grabbed some lunch and I moved to a larger table. We all gushed over how awesome it was to be eating lunch in the Three Broomsticks.

After lunch we decided to stick together and experience Hogsmeade together. Both Amy and I had been to the Florida park but this was Chrissy's first time so it was great to see it through her tearful eyes. We did everything, we rode The Forbidden Journey, we walked through every shop, we went to Olivanders for a wand and Chrissy was selected to get her wand. We did The Forbidden Journey for a second time and walked around the shops again. I finally got me my frozen Butterbeer (it was as amazing as I remember), I also picked up some Butterbeer fudge and just a small bite of the corner could put you into a sugar coma.. it was amazing. We also watched both of the stage shows (Hogwarts Choir and The Beauxbatons Dancers & Durmstrang Performers) and just hung out in the Owlery taking it all in.

Amy left around 4pm while Chrissy hooked up with some other friends and went off with them. I jumped in line for The Flight of the Hippogriff ride and when I got off that one I headed out around 5:30pm as I had to head out to Pasadena to see a play with my buddy Adam at Cal Tech called Boldly Go!

It was an AMAZING day at Hogsmeade, so much so that I am going to cancel my plans for tomorrow and come back again.. I can't wait!!

NerdStrong Gym - My Past Week

This week started off a bit wonky and I only worked out for four days this week.

Saturday I was stuck in my parking garage and couldn't make it to the gym. If you wish you can read more about my ordeal HERE.

So my workout week started with Sunday's TEAM workout. And the theme of this weeks workout was.. Hogwarts: Year One. We were sorted into our houses, this time I was sorted into my correct house of Hufflepuff. There were four classes (stations) and we worked out as a group. We started with our Platform 9 3/4 warm up which consisted of 460 Meter Pacman Run, 10x Air Squats, Triceps Stretch, Shoulder Stretch and Hamstring Stretch. We then move on to your main workout. As I said there were four classes, Transfiguration (Step-Ups), Defense Against the Dark Arts (1 Arm Steel Club Swing), Herbology (Air Squats) and Potions (Steel Club Front Press).  We were 3 rounds of 2:00 minutes of work and :30 seconds to transition to your next class. If you were caught by Mr. Filch and Mrs Norris you had to do 20 Jumping Jacks.

As for who started were of course Hufflepuffs started in Hebology, Ravenclaws started with Defense Against the Dark Arts, Gryffindors with Transfiguration and Slytherin had Potion Class. We then would rotate according to the white board.

Afterwards we took our O.W.L's (of practice O.W.L's) as we all know we don't take our real O.W.L's until our fifth year. That was 3 rounds of 20x Oblique Toe Touch, 20x Weighted Sit Ups and 20x Alternate Leg Levers. It was a great workout and a awesome theme.. can't wait for Year Two.

For Tuesday's DEX class we did 5 five minute AMRAPS (As Many Rounds As Possible) First one was 5x Pull Ups (Negatives) & then 10x Burpees. We rested for one minute and then did a plank for one minute before moving onto the next AMRAP which was 20x Twisting Wallslams (10 on each side) and then 40x Mountain Climbers. We then rested for a minute and planked for a minute. Our third AMRAP was 10x Push Ups and 10x Kettlebell Swings. And again we rested a minute and planked a minute before moving on to our fourth AMRAP. For that one we did 50x Seal Jacks and 10x V Ups. We rested and planked before moving on to our final AMRAP of 20 1 Arm Club Swings to Banner (10 on each arm) and then 10x Squats with Club and of course we finished with one minute of rest and one minute of planking.

For a finisher we did :30 seconds of work, :30 seconds of rest Alternate Heel Touch. Yeah there were horrible as they are nothing but core and after all the work you did your core isn't to happy with you.

Wednesday CON class was one of my favorite.. Taste the Painbow. That's where coach Blair has a bag of Skittles in his pocket and each color skittle is assigned a workout and then he rolls a die and we did that many of them. Here's the break down. Yellow skittles meant Sit Ups, Orange skittles meant Burpees, Blue was Goblet Squats, Green was a Run and Pink were Mountain Climbers. When all was said and done we did 157 Sit Ups, 48 Burpees, 148 Goblet Squats, 20 meters of running and 50 Mountain Climbers.

One reason I love this workout is that it can be extremely tough or fairly easy.. it all depends on the roll which the coach makes us do so we can't complete about the numbers. We fared a bit better then the 6am class as they did more of everything with exception to Sit Ups, we did 36 more of those then they did. Overall it wasn't a bad workout. Can't wait to do this one again.

Thursday STG day started off with a nice warm up of a 230 meter run, 1 minute of shoulder circles, then 3 rounds of 10x PVC PassThrus, 10x PVC Good Mornings and 10x Hanging Knee Raises. We finished with another 230 meter run. We then worked on some mobility and did 3 rounds of 10x Seat to Z-Press. We then moved into the main workout which was push presses. We did 8 sets of 3 starting at 60% of our Max Rep Count, then 70%, 80%, 85% and then back down to 65%, 75%, 85% and finally 90%. I didn't have a one rep max so my partner Lauren and I started with 95lbs and went up from there. After the fourth or fifth rounds your arms start to feel like jello but you push through. And to make things worse in between sets we did what the coaches like to call and "active" rest. We did :30 seconds of rowing, which doesn't sound like alot but when your arms are like jello, rowing for :30 seconds is extremely difficult. For a finisher we did :30 seconds of work and :15 seconds of rest doing Medball Slams and Medball Sprawls.. we did 8 rounds before calling it a day.

Bummed I only got four days in for this workout session but Saturday was unexpected and there really wasn't anything I could do. But the four workouts I did do this week were fantastic.. as all workouts I do at NerdStrong Gym are... Thank Coaches.

Tonight I went back to Nerdstrong but not to workout .. tonight was our monthly NerdStrong Gym Game Night. As always we had a blast. Got to play games I loved and also tried out a new one. Good times are always had at Game Night.

Shannara Chronicles S1 Ep9 - My Thoughts

Before work today I watched The Shannara Chronicles S1 Ep9 "Safehold" Wil, Amberle, and Eretria arrive at Safehold, which turns out to be the ruins of San Francisco and Oakland (the name Safehold coming off the highway sign missing some letters). Eretria discovers that the tattoo on her back is a magical map to the location of the Bloodfire, and leads the group there. They are confronted by the Guardians of the Bloodfire, who attempt to turn the group against each other. Ander sends Commander Tilton to make an alliance with the Gnomes against the Demons. Allanon tries to teach Bandon how to use his gifts, but the Dagda Mor continues to control the seer's mind, forcing him to attack Ander, Catania, and finally Allanon, who subdues him. Elven Councilor Kael Pindanon, thinking Ander too weak to lead the Elves, attempts to seize the throne for herself and has Ander imprisoned. Commander Tilton and Slanter return to Arborlon with a Gnome army and free Ander from prison, and the Council accepts Ander as king after he announces the alliance with the Gnomes. Overcoming the mental assaults of the Guardians, Eretria finds that her blood is the key to unlocking the Bloodfire and impales her hand on a magical spike, causing the Bloodfire to ignite. Wil destroys the Guardians with the Elfstones, and Amberle immerses herself in the Bloodfire. When the Bloodfire vanishes, Wil finds that Amberle is nowhere to be seen, and Eretria is unconscious. The last leaf falls from the Ellcrys, and the Elves and Gnomes prepare for war as the Dagda Mor's Demon army begins its march on Arborlon.

This episode was amazing.. each episode up to this point has moved the story along slowly.. but today we finally get to Safehold and all hell breaks loose. I've really grown to like Eretria, if you asked me back with episode one if she would be a favorite I would have laughed but now she has actually become one of my favorites. I love that she is the key to everything, we've barely scratched the surface of who or what she is. I hope we see more of her past, that is if she survives.. she is currently unconscious/possible dead.  Really enjoyed all the Anders stuff, him claiming the throne then being thrown in the dungeon only to pull off a union between the Elfs and Gnomes.. great stuff. He truly has become the Elven King.  I was hoping Bandon defeated Dagda Mor's mind control but it doesn't look like that happened.

We only have one episode left and I don't know how they are going to resolve all the stuff that's about to happen. We have a war about to start, I do hope they resolve this storyline before it concludes next week. I haven't heard if the series got picked up for a second season or if it was meant to be a mini series and just a 10 episode story arc. Regardless I can't wait to see how this all ends (or doesn't end). Can't wait until next week.

Owing Taxes & New Tivo Feature

So I got a call from my tax guys and the informed me that my taxes were ready. I told her I could stop by tomorrow to pick them up. She then said those dreaded words... "Do you want to know how much you will owe". This is the first time in all the years that I have been paying taxes that I will owe money and it's not just a few hundred, it's a few thousand... I couldn't believe it. I don't know what I did wrong this year but whatever it was I can't do it again for this 2016 taxes. Luckily I have a job and though it will take several weeks to pay the taxes as least I have the money to do it.

On a happier note Tivo introduced a new feature to their units today. You can now literally skip commercials instantly. Before you could fast forward through the commercials but you could never stop in time or you would stop to soon and have to watch a few seconds of commercials. Now you just hit one button and Tivo will jump from the end of one segment to the beginning of the next one instantly.. it's pretty fantastic... thanks Tivo.

Getting Contacts For The First Time

Today I took and extended lunch and headed to Costco to see the eye doctor and see if I could possible get contact. I tried to wear contact back in my 20's and was never able to get them in my eyes. But after years of cosplaying I'm tired of not having my glasses on while at the Con and having to pull them out to read my phone everytime. So I figured I'd try again.

I knew I had to get a new prescription as my prescription for my glasses wouldn't work for contact lenses. I went through your typical eye exam and was told that I could indeed get contacts. I didn't realize that I was going to get contacts right then and there and that they were going to put a set in right away. It was an interesting experience having someone try and poke your eye and you allowing it. After several tries my doctor finally managed to get my right one in. The left one took a bit longer. I kept apologizing for blinking but he said this was perfectly normal. Once they were in they only irritated my eyes for a few minutes before I started to get use to them. These were only my temp contacts as I need a certain prescription and they should be arriving in two weeks but these should work for the time being. It's a very bizarre experience to not have my glasses on yet see extremely well.

But the adventure isn't over.. the doctor now sent me out to his assistant and they were going to teach me how to remove my contact and how to put them in myself. She explained the technique and after ten minutes I managed to get my right contact out.. she was impressed. It took another ten or so minutes for me to get my left one out. I was extremely happy at how fast I got them out. Now the real test.. getting them back in. I tried over and over again but couldn't get it done. Again I kept apologizing to the assistant but like with the Doctor she said this is normal. After about a half hour I managed to get my right contact back in and about twenty minutes later I got my left one in. In all it took me just over an hour to get both of my contacts it.

When I went in to get these contact I didn't intend to wear them all the time. It was more for times when glasses would get in the way, like with cosplay. But after having these in for an hour I played with the idea of wearing on a more regular bases.

I could only wear them for about two hours before I had to take them out, the next day I would do 4 hours then 6 and so on until I could wear them all day. My only issue with these particular contact is that I had to strain a bit when I read text on my phone. The computer wasn't that bad but the phone was nearly impossible and I was just kind of guessing what I was reading and typing. I'm hoping my actual prescription will be better at reading extremely small print. But for now I'll just try and get better at putting them in and taking them out. When I remove them at work it only took me about four attempts to get both out. But the real test will be tomorrow morning and getting them back in.. wish me luck. 

Pete's Dragon Trailer, Geeky Girl Toys & The Magicians Ep 6 Thoughts

Disney released a trailer for the remake of Pete's Dragon. The story looks a bit different then the original which is s classic and I must have seen hundreds of times when I was a kid.

Target stores are one of what I hope will be many retails store that are bringing geeky/nerdy things to the young girl population. As many have know girls can be geeky too and would like to see some of their favorite superheroins made into kick ass action figures. 

Well Target is finally making this happen. From an article about it "Hitting Target shelves this March, “DC Super Hero Girls” action figures – and the accompanying line of clothes featuring girl superhero awesomeness – are pretty freakin’ awesome. The toys will featuring some of the most famous lady superheroes out there like Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl and Bumble Bee. But they don’t stop there. They’re also including female villain action figures like Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn." You check out the full article HERE.

In the evening I watched The Magicians. You know I like the series when I watch it live. Tonight's episode is S1 Ep 6 "Impractical Applications" The first-years must pass a set of challenges called "the trials" set by the third years. During these, Quentin and Penny reconcile, Alice and Quentin share secrets, and Kady confesses the truth about her using Penny. Quentin turns into a goose at the end of the trials. Meanwhile, in an attempt to steal spells from Marina, Julia teams up with an older hedge witch who also has connections to Marina. The older Hedge witch turns out to be Kady's Mother and dies in the process of stealing the cabinet of spells from Marina's safe house. Kady had been working for Marina in payment of a debt related to her mother. Kady does not yet know that her mother has died and that Marina is responsible.

This episode has some crazy moments in it. I think the most shocking was the death of Kady's mother. It was very bloody but also looked extremely painful. We just meet this character in this episode but you feel bad for her. What a horrible way to die. I enjoyed the "tests" that the first years were put there. All these tests are so serious as if you don't pass you get your mind swiped and put back into the "normal" world, in essence you flunk out of collage. Some secrets are revealed with some not go good consequence and then of course you have the end when the remaining first years turn into geese and fly off.

Can't wait to see what happens next!!!

NerdStrong - Yoga Tune Up and Mobility for Performance Class

After workout today I headed to Hungry Fox to grab some brunch with some fellow NerdStrongers. As always brunch was fantastic and we had a fun time hanging out after a crazy workout. I walked back to the gym with Lauren and Brent. When we got back Lauren had an hour before she attended a special NerdStrong Yoga Tune Up and Mobility for Performance Class. Brent and I were not attending but we hung around to keep her company. After a half hour the coaches arrived and opened the gym. The three of us went inside and kind of just hung out. Coach Christy came by and asked if I wanted to join the Yoga Tune Up and Mobility for Performance Class as there was one more spot available. I had initially planned to visit my family so I didn't sign up this to class but I found out earlier in the day that everyone is sick so those plans were cancelled.  So I was free so when she asked me I considered it. I asked how much it cost and she said $40, I hesitated for a minute and coach Blair came over and said that he'd pay for it. He said that I do alot of the gym and it's the least he could do. I was very appreciative of the offer so of course I took the last spot.

Suddenly it was time for this 2 hour yoga/mobility class that I never intended on attending. Luckily I had my yoga mat in my car and I was still wearing my gym clothes from my earlier workout. We had a special guest host Alex Ellis leading the class. This yoga/mobility workout is all about working with small, medium and large balls. We started with the balls of our feet and worked all the way up to our neck. Alex was extremely knowledgeable about anatomy, muscles and tendons. She went into great detail about how and why we move the way we do.

The two hours just flew by and the next thing I knew the class was over. It was like giving yourself a massage and it felt amazing. Afterwards we had the option to purchase a set of these magic balls to continue our work on our mobility. I got two of the smaller balls and the large ball. I've used the large ball before in class on my back and it's amazing. The smaller balls are perfect for the feet and calves area. I look forward to continuing with these techniques.

Thank you to coach Christy for offering me the final spot and to coach Blair for making it happen. I'd also like to thank special guest coach Alex for a very informative and relaxing yoga/mobility class. If you want to learn more about Alex and her Yoga Tune Up and Mobility for Performance Class, check out her page HERE.

Trapped, Taxes, Daredevil and LARPS

So I woke up excited for the weekend, had a tough work week so I was looking forward to a weekend of doing nothing..other then a few workouts. I headed down to my parking area (which is under my apartment complex) I got in my car and drove toward the front gate. I reached up and pressed by garage door opener and nothing happened. This has happened before as someone will open the door within the door and if it's not closed properly the main door will not open. So I got out and checked it. Clicked the clicker again and nothing. I noticed that the light on my clicker was dual so I figured the battery was low. I went to open it and noticed it was a square battery. I quickly went upstairs and tried to find a square battery.. I couldn't find one. I wasn't going to make the 9am NerdStrong gym class so I cancelled and was extremely disappointed. I quickly ran to 7-11 to see if I could buy a square battery and of course they had some but you had to pay through the noses but I didn't care.. I just wanted to be able to get my car out of my garage. Since I had the battery I figured all was well so I signed up for the 10am NerdStrong Gym class as I walked back to my place.. I was happy again.. I replaced the battery and clicked the clicker... nothing. I popped open the clicker and noticed that these little levers inside the clicker had to be in a certain sequence, a pattern that was unique to this garage door opener. I must have hit them when I opened the clicker the first time and now I no longer knew the "code" to my garage door. I sat in my car hoping someone would leave and I could just get my car outside the apartment and deal with the clicker later.. but nobody left. I contacted my manager to see if I could get the code from him but after an hour of wait he informed me that he didn't have the code on him and that I should ask one of my neighbors. Now I've been in my apartment for over two years and though I see my neighbors every once in a while I don't feel comfortable enough to knock on their door on a Saturday morning and ask to see their garage clicker.

Needless to say I had to cancel my second NerdStrong class at 10am today and knew that it wasn't meant to be today. But I had bigger problems. I scheduled to do my taxes at noon today. I booked this appointment back in November as my guy books early. There was no way I could miss this. It's now 11:30 and I'm in a panic. I actually did tried a few of my neighbors but no one was answering their door. I figured I'd could just us Uber to get to my tax guy and as I was scheduling my Uber my manager texted me the "code" for the clicker and I as able to move the levers in the right position and open my garage.

I made it to my tax appointment just in time. After Mike finished my taxes he informed me that the numbers didn't look good and that he was hoping that I'd just break even. If I have to pay this will be the first time in all the years of me paying taxes that I would owe. I'll find out in a week or so the results.

So my nice relaxing Saturday has been anything but that. When I got home I decided that I didn't want to do anything. I was just going to sit down in front of the TV and veg for a while. Now I had choices in what to watch. I went back and forth with a few things but in the end decided to watch some Daredevil. I had still not seen season one and many of my friends have raved about it and with season two coming out soon I didn't want to fall further behind.

I started with episode 1 and then moved on to episode 2, then 3 and then 4. I had heard so much hype about this series and was hoping it could live up to it and obviously I enjoyed it as I couldn't stop watching. I loved the storytelling and bouncing between the past with his father to the present with his current situation. I main actor playing Daredevil is fantastic and I'm really liking the side characters. The fight scenes are amazing and as everyone said the finale fight scene in episode two was so well done. One continuous shot is tough and with all those moving parts it was extremely impressive.

This show is dark.. and after four episodes I had to stop and take a break from all that violence and dreed. As I said I enjoyed the show but I'll have to watch it in 4 episode blocks. I look forward to my next block of episodes.

I watched a few light hearted Big Bang Theory episodes to cleanse my palette before checking out the DVD extras for the webseries LARP's The Series. Getting DVD's of season one and two was a perk for contributing to the season two kickstarter. If you know me you know I love DVD extras and behind the scenes goodies and LARP's did not disappoint. They had deleted/extended scenes, hilarious commentary and many mini makings of. This cast and crew reminds me so much of The Guild and watching all these behind the scenes things just reminded me of the amazing years I spent working them.

So my relaxing day didn't start off that great but it ended on a high note.

NerdStrong Gym - Recapping

I'm continuing my five days of workout a week. This week I did Saturday CON, Sunday TEAM, Tuesday DEX, Wednesday CON and Thursday STG.

First up was the continuation of our D&D Campaign workout with Chapter Two. This one involved lots of running around a graveyard. The workout required four rounds of a Run around the parking lot (230 meter) with a steel club, then back into for 20x Runners Lunge, 20x Steel Club to Guard and then 15x Jump Squats. Once you finished your fourth round you were attacked by two resurrected fallen friends (Tyler and Cate). In order to take out Cate we had to do 350 Push-Ups and to take down Tyler we had to do 400 Sprawls.

You can follow this LINK to read the continuing story and to watch a video of coach David DMing... it's pretty fantastic.

For Sunday we had a TEAM Themed workout titled "The Doctor". Yep it was a Doctor Who workout. We teamed with a partner (one Doctor and one Companion) I teamed up with my gym husband (John). We had to do four rounds, each had a movement, then a run (because the Doctor always runs) and then Seal Jacks.

Round one started with Push Ups, we had to do 2, then 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12. So I'd do two Push Ups then John did two, then I'd do four and he'd do four and so on until we finished twelve each. In the end we did 42 of each movements. After doing the movement we did a partner run (230 meters) then came back and did 50x Seal Jacks. John and I had a bit of fun and faced each other and did our Seal Jacks synchronized. After that we moved on to Round two we did Split Jumps, again it was 2, then 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12. We did the run and synchronized Seal Jacks. For our third round we did Box Jumps and for our final round we did Slam Balls. Coach David and coach Andrew talked John and I into using a 40lbs Slamball, which is quite a bit heavier then what we usually use. I was surprised that I was able to handle the heavier weight, it was a bit tougher for John but he got through them all. 

It was a pretty tough workout but it's always fun with you have a buddy to workout with.. thanks John.

Next up was Tuesday's DEX workout.. it was titled Bea's Evil Smile (Honestly I don't remember why it's titled that). We started with the build, 230 Meter Run then 2 rounds of 10x Air Squats, 5x Wall Squats and 10x Goblet Squats. We then moved on to the "Proficiency" part of the workout and that was a 2 minute Couch Stretch on both sides. We then moved onto the Quest which was 5 Rounds of 5x Pull-Ups, 5x Push Ups, 5x Plank Pulls and 5x Dips. For the "Battle" we did 2 rounds of :45 seconds of work :15 seconds of transition, Bulgarian Split Squat, Plank, Wall Sit, Push Ups, Bear Crawl, Dumbbell Push Presses and then 2 minute rest. 

This was a lot of work and as with most DEX days it was a wide variety of movements. 

For the Wednesday CON day the workout was titled "Quad Runner" and yes it involved alot of running... 2.28 Miles to be exact. After the nice warm up was go to the main workout. We had 40 minutes to complete this. We started with a 920 Meter Run (that's 4 times around the parking lot), then 30x Wall Balls, 20x SDLHP (Single Deadlift High Pull). We then did another 920 Meter Run came back in and did 30x SlamBalls, 30x Kettlebell Swings before going back out and doing another 920 Meter Run and 30x Over Walk Lunge then 30x Knees to Elbows before finally doing our final 920 Meter Run around the parking lot. 

This was a tough workout but I'm happy to say that I finished it with a few minutes to spare. These CON workouts are all about endurance and pacing. As I workout more I am learning to listen to my body and trying not to go all gong ho at the beginning and having nothing at the end. It's tough to balance all these as you want to finish everything within the time limit but you don't want to start off to fast and tire yourself out before you are able to finish.

Thursday Strength Day was a favorite of mine as we got to practice our Bench Presses. This is one of the few barbell workouts that I actually enjoy doing. After a nice warm up we did 8 rounds of 3, we started at 60% of our max, then 70%, 80%, 85%, then back down to 65%, 75%, 85% and finally 90% of our max. I used my older one rep max of 205 lbs to get these percentages. I really do need to test for a new one rep max as it's been awhile since I got the 205.

For a finisher we did a TABATA (:20 seconds of work :10 seconds of rest) we did half Spellcaster and half Zootman. 

The Straightest Gay Man

I've often questioned myself if I'm bad at being Gay?!?!?

I've always said that being gay doesn't defy me, it's just a small part of who I am and honestly I rarely think about it. But there are times when I feel like I'm "bad" at it. I know that sounds stupid because what does being gay really mean. Of course you have your stereotypical ideals of what a "gay" person should sound and act like but there are all types of gay people out there, from feminine acting who are easily pegged as gay, to those who you would never give a second thought about questioning their sexuality. I feel, and I've been told that I'm on the straighter side of things. The majority of people I meet say they had no idea I was gay until I told them and for some they forget I'm gay until I say something that reminds them. Is it sad that those kinds of comments make me happy. I'm not ashamed of being gay but I also don't want to be identified as being gay without someone getting to know me first.

Do I act straighter because the majority of my friends that I hang out with are straight? I don't think so as I don't feel I act gayer when I hang out with the few gay friends that I do have. I simply am who I am. Do I prefer straight friends over gay friends.. absolutely not and with that said I will admit that being with my gay friends can be a bit more comforting at times. Being around like minded people is nice, that's why I love hanging out with my geek/nerd community so much.

I guess the issue lies in my own head, what my ideal of being gay is. In the end it doesn't matter how one acts as long as you are being true to yourself and you are happy with who you are... and I am!!

Rock Creature, Guardians 2 Pix & My New Passport Photo

I came across this video and thought it was pretty cute so I went to find it on youtube and found out that what I saw was just part of this animated short. I don't know why I love this so much but I do. I mean the animation is fantastic and there is no dialogue but the look on this poor rock creatures face when the people start attacking him for him saving them is priceless. Here's the full version of it.. it's really short only a few minutes long.

Marvel released the first photo of the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. The characters are only in silhouette but omg the tiny Groot on Drax's shoulder is priceless. I can't wait to see this sequel.

And the final thing I wanted to share was my horrible passport photo. I'm renewing my passport so I had to take a new photo. I went to a local Fedex place to get the photo and as I was smiling the guy said they don't allow smiling in photos anymore for passports. So I did what I thought was a neutral face but instead I look upset.

I actually looked up to see if it was true that you couldn't smile and it is. But they said you can do a half smile. If it wasn't so expensive I'd re-do them but I figured I won't be using my passport much so I won't have to look at the picture. I debated on posting the picture to my blog but figured if I was going to talk about it I might as well post it too.. so here's Kenny looking miserable.

Not sure when I'll be using my new passport, but I hope to take a trip overseas very soon. I wouldn't mind visiting the UK and Ireland again but I think my next big adventure is visiting New Zealand and Hobbiton. Talk about beautiful from what I have seen New Zealand is magnificent.

Hamilton Grammy Performance & Potter Cake

A few months ago I knew nothing about this play called Hamilton, then suddenly it was everywhere and everyone was talking about it. We even did a workout to the soundtrack at NerdStrong Gym. Tonight on the Grammy's the entire cast preformed one of the songs from the play and it was spectacular. I kind of understand all the hype and why it's sold out in New York.  I had planned to post the video of the performance but it looks like they have been taken down from You Tube. Needless to say I was impressed and really enjoyed the performance and music.

The other thing I wanted to share was this AMAZING Harry Potter cake.  This is a grooms cake for Football player Mike Evans, Wide Receiver for the Tampa Bay Bucs. I don't know who made this but it looks like something the Cake Boss would make.

New MASH Podcast, Star Wars 8 & An Awesome GIF

Geekyfanboy Productions released a new episode of the MASH 4077 Podcast. This is episode 122, covering Season 5, Episode 25 - Margret's Marriage

Increasing pressure from Frank forces Hot Lips to set a date for her wedding. Donald Penobscot arrives in camp for the ceremony (and the before wedding festivities) and winds up in a body cast - until Margaret finds the two jokers responsible. The ceremony takes place and the newlyweds leave for Tokyo and their honeymoon.

You can Download from itunes tinyurl.com/MASH4077itunes , listen on Stitcher Radio ow.ly/iZJIz or listen and get direct download from our main website MASH4077Podcast.com

They released a short video announcing the start of filming of epsisode 8 of Star Wars. It's nothing special but it's so AWESOME!!!

I came across this GIF I couldn't stop watching it.. it's very mesmerizing.. I love it. You can check out a larger version HERE.

Filipino Brunch, Deadpool & Surprising A Friend

Today after working out Leo took the group to a Filipino brunch place. They had lots of interesting foods for breakfast but it was extremely tasty. One of the more interesting things were the ube pancakes, there was a mango and coconut one and another flavor. They were all good but I think my favorite was the coconut.. but they looked pretty in all their crazy colors.

During the evening I headed out to Arclight Sherman Oaks with friends to watch Deadpool. I really didn't know much about Deadpool as I'm not a huge fan of that character but my buddy Brett is and I've learned stuff through hanging out with him. So I expected this movie to be fun and entertaining and it didn't disappoint. It was this action movie with tons of laughs and a bit of craziness. Advertising has been saying this isn't a movie for kids that why it has it's R rating and though I agree with the R rating it wasn't as violent or bloody as I expected. But there are some extremely gruesome shots of heads getting blown off but still I expected worse. I loved the way it was cut together, we started towards the middle of the movie and then work backwards before getting caught up and then moving forward. I like that they had a few of the X-Men in this movie but also jokes as to why there's weren't more. Overall I really enjoyed the movie and this will be a definite buy when it comes out on blu-ray.

Afterwards we were to go out to dinner but since it's Valentine's Day our original plan fell though when we found out there was a two hour wait. So instead we went to my place where I ordered some pizza and we hung out. But the main reason for us to hang out was to surprise our friend Brett. He recently had a major theft when his storage unit was broken into and they took everything. His TV, computer, collectibles and anything else that had some value. So his friends pooled their money together and we gave him $1000 dollars. We know that his insurance will take care of the lost items but this will give him a bit of extra help.

I have to say our group of friends are amazing, this is the same group that pooled their money together to get my 3 months of NerdStrong Gym because they knew I really wanted to attend but couldn't afford it. Of course Brett was taken back and had no idea that we've been collecting money since his theft. I actually videoed the entire thing and posted it for those who contributed but wasn't able to make it to my place for the giving of the gift.  It was a pretty great way to end the night.

Thanks to Olivia, Will, Robert, Tamar, Aaron, Jes, Jennifer & Matthew Luchsinger, Erik, Anthony, Kenny, Matthew & Melissa Kuhns, Rupert, Hayley, Elea, David, Steve, Chris, Jen, Becca, Josh, & Dallas for contributing.

The Shannara Chronicles Ep 7 - My Thoughts

Tonight I watched a brand new episode of The Shannara Chronicles. S1 Ep7 "Breakline" After Wil, Eretria, and Amberle fall off the cliff, they get separated. After awakening next to the Reaper's corpse and prying the Elfstones out of his bloody left palm, Wil is attacked by a male elf from Owen Moor named Perk, whose left ear was stolen by Elf Hunters who cut off and sell the ears to gnomes. He wants to rescue his female partner Genewen who was captured by them. The man who cut off his ear, Cormac, is left behind to guard the camp as their female leader Zora pursues the princess. Eretria and Amberle are subsequently chased by the same group into an old hall that sunk underground during the great war. Meanwhile, in Arborlon, the Changeling, in the guise of King Eventine, sends his sons Ander and Arion on a seemingly futile mission to kill the Dagda Mor.

Allanon is healed by his former master Bremen and returns to Earth. While underground Amberle picks up three blue dice: an eight-sided die and a pair of percentile dice. They also notice a map which resembles Eretria's vision and she tells Eretria it is Safehold. She and Eretria fight off some off the Elf Hunters but are captured by Zora. Wil arrives, dangling from Genewen, who turns out to be a flying Roc mounted by Perk, who is a Wing Rider. On the way out Zora shoots Eretria and she falls. More of the Elf Hunters arrive, preventing them from going back for her. The princes arrive to face the Dagda Mor, discovering an imprisoned Bandon. Arion attacks the evil Druid with the sword, but the Dagda Mor is prepared and kills him. Allanon arrives on the scene just in time to save Ander and free Bandon. Eretria is shown hauled off alongside a golf bag full of clubs and a white plastic lawn chair. Ander kills the Changeling with Allanon's collapsible sword, becoming King of the Elves.

This was probably my favorite episode to date.. I felt the story move along, we finally got some direction on where to find Safehold. We were introduced to new characters Perk and Genewen. Allanon is healed and got to help the Elf Princes since their father (who is a Changeling) sent them on a one way mission to their death. And in fact we lose the eldest son Arion leaving the youngest Ander to survive with the help of Allanon. They return and Ander has to kill his father (Changeling) and he is now the King of the Elves. I continue to like Eretria more and more. When I first met her in episode one I was not a fan but she has really fleshed out as a character and has become one of my favorites. There are only a few more episode left for this season and I can't wait to see where the story goes.

The Scots Festival and Highland Games in Long Beach

Today I went to the Scots Festival & International Highland Games XXIII down at the Queen Mary in Long Beach. I've been wanting to do the a Scot's Festival for many years so when I heard one was doing to be near me I got a group of friends together and we went down. Joining me for the festival was Liz, Leo and Cait.

Scots Festival honors nearly fifty Scottish clans & vendors throughout the weekend with professional and amateur competitions in piping, drumming, massed bands, darts, Highland dancing, and Highland athletics. The Scottish Highland Games, a pre-cursor to today’s Olympic Games, were designed to test the strength, skill and technique of ancient warriors by face offs.

I enjoyed the music and foods but I really wanted to see the Highland Games and they didn't disappoint.

Caber Toss - In Gaelic, caber simply means pole, and the objective of the caber toss isn’t about distance, but style and accuracy. The athlete rests the caber against their shoulder while clasping their arms around it. Then they try to lift if off the ground while keeping it perfectly balanced. Once the caber is lifted the athlete begins to run, building momentum, before tossing the caber. Caber toss is judged with the aid of an imaginary clock face on the ground, with the thrower facing the 12 o’clock position. Points are deducted according to the number of degrees that the caber is off from the perfect 12 o’clock mark.

Throwing the Weight (for height & distance) - Throwing the weight is divided into two separate categories: throwing for distance (with a 28-pound weight) and throwing for height (with a 56-pound weight). Throwing for distance involves the thrower to grasp the weight in one hand, spin around three times and toss. Tossing for height involves a high jump-style bar, which is raised after each successful attempt. Strength, speed and coordination are key to successfully competing in throwing the weight.

Putting the Shot - Derived from the “stone of strength,” which saw clansmen compete in tossing stones for distance, putting the shot is an excellent test of strength. With weights weighing anywhere from 16-to-22-pounds, athletes would lift the stone in one hand in front of their shoulders, run to gain momentum and release.

The Hammer Throw - Originating in the granite mining quarries in Scotland, workers would compete by tossing actual sledgehammers. Although athletes no longer toss hammers, today they use an iron sphere attached to a chain, the goal of the competition remains the same – toss the hammer as far as you can! In the event, the thrower stands with his back to the mark, swings the hammer around his head to gain momentum and then releases it over his shoulder.

Sheaf Toss -Similar to the weight toss, the sheaf toss consists of competitors using a pitchfork to hurl a burlap bag stuffed with straw over a horizontal bar. Each competitor has three chances to toss the sheaf cleanly over the bar without touching it and the bar is raised after each round.

Both men and women participate in the games. I wanted to see as much of the games as I could but you had to pick and choose which ones you were going to watch as they had several competitions going on at the same time. So while the women were doing the Hammer Throw the men would Toss the weight for height and though everyone was in the middle grassy area you could really only watch one event at a time. I tried to watch a bit of each event (mostly men, as I couldn't resist a guy in a Kilt). I think my favorite was the Caber toss.. this is the most recognized Highland game and loads of fun to watch, though a few of those cabers fell back towards the crowd and gave us a bit of a scare.

Another favorite was the Toss the Weight for Height. It's crazy that these guys would throw a 50+ pound weight over their head and try and go over a bar and then stand perfectly still has the weight dropped back down missing their head by inches.. so crazy, but fun to watch. But overall it was a great time. Next time I'll get there early enough and rent one of those tents on the side of the field so you can just lounge around and watch the games while drinking and eating.

All the Scottish shops were great, I was tempted once again to buy a Kilt as they had authentic ones that were really nice and pricey. I had to do alot of self control and now buy everything I saw as there were so many awesome "fantasy" type items. I did buy a nice blue and silver ring and a really nice silver tree charm for a necklace. I couldn't find the kind of necklace I liked but I have an awesome tree charm.

Towards the end of our visit we sampled some Scotch Eggs and Welsh Cakes. I actually had Scotch Eggs in England when I visited there a few years ago but this was the first time having Welsh Cakes and I have to say they are extremely tasty. We watch a bit of sheep herding and did a maze at the end of our visit.

I had a great time and I hope to make this an annual thing.  You could never go wrong with guys in Kilts throwing big sticks around :)