Podcasts, Hobbits and Fires.. Oh My!!!

Today was a very productive day. Woke up at 7am and finished up my next MASH 4077 Podcast Episode 12.. Once I was done with that I started prepping notes for tomorrow when Jenni comes over to record our next two episodes of Knights of the Guild episode 34 & 35. As well as dealing with some Knights of the Guild business, ie contests, donations, shipping out pictures/tshirts. You wouldn't think having a podcast would be so much work.. but man it is.. and I am currently running 3 podcasts.... crazy.

I finished all that stuff around 1pm and took a break and went out to lunch with Harry. While we were out we hit a local Goodwill as I was still in need of some pants for my Hobbit costume for SDCC. I had planned to hit several shops but luck would have it the very first one I went to had exactly what I was looking for... yay!!!

Sign to our little town :(

On our way home we noticed smoke and it looked like it was coming from direction of our house.  As we got closer to home we found out it was actually at the exit to our house off the 14 freeway.. about five minutes away from us. When you look at it from our front porch it looked like it was just over the ridge and in the sense it was. Luckily they knocked it down within an hour and all was well.

Once we got home from our lunch I did a bit of cleaning (kitchen and dining room) and then went and watched some TV with Harry. While watching TV I took the belt loops off of my new Hobbit pants as I'll be sewing buttons on the front and back for the suspenders.

After an hour of TV Harry and I went through all our clothes and separated his from mine as he'll be leaving in less then four and a half weeks and will be shipping his stuff back to Austria early August.

When we were done with that we watched a few more hours of TV (we have a lot of stuff on our DVR). Then we had some dinner. After dinner we finished separating our clothes and I jumped on the computer to work on more podcast stuff.. this time MASH 4077 Podcast episodes 13 - 18. Both of my co-host sent me their audio and along with mine I had to import it into the Avid and get it ready for editing. I decided to string out Episode 13 and work on it a bit as I was exporting and copying my hundreds of files for The Guild Season Five CompanionCasts.

I got about a third into Episode 13 when all my KOTG files were ready to go. I stuck the files on a flash drive and imported them into Avid and prepped my CompanionCast project. I organized all the clips into episodes 501 - 512 and made notes of which actors I still need to get comments on. I should start working on my first CompanionCast sometime this week.

It's almost midnight and I hope to get to bed soon. All in all it was a very productive day.. and tomorrow will be the same... Night

The Battle of Hogwarts

This looks really well done for a fan film. I love the idea behind it and I can't wait for it to be released online. Check out some videos below.

http://www.facebook.com/battleofhogwarts

A documentary chronicling the lives and stories of those who survived the fateful battle 20 years ago.

Final Shuttle Launch

It's been 30 years since the Shuttle Missions began and I remember watching the very first launch at school and imagining one day that I would be on the shuttle shooting off to the stars. Well that dream never came true but I've watch many more shuttle missions including the one that will always stay with me for the rest of my life. I remember like it was yesterday, sitting there in my History class in 9th grade watching the shuttle streak into the sky like it did so many other times but then tragedy struck and my heart dropped as I watched debris falling out of the sky.

Ever since then I've watched every space shuttle launch with a bit of caution. But the worse seemed over until one morning when I heard that Columbia disintegrated on re-entry and once again was devastated and heart broken.

The NASA Space Shuttle program has been a huge success with 135 flights and only 2 accidents. But now after 30 years they are retiring the Shuttle program. Today was the launch of the final space shuttle, Atlantis. I watched it live one last time as they soared into the unknown for one final mission. It was bitter sweet, on one hand they were using 30 year old technology but on the other hand this is the only space travel that I really know. I cried as Atlantis shot into the sky. I was live tweeting with many other viewers and we were sharing this experience virtually.. it was pretty awesome.

I don't know what NASA has planned for the future but it will take us to infinity and beyond.

It's a Girl!!!

I found out a few months ago that I was going to be an uncle for a second time. My brother Michael & sister-in-law Lora made me a proud uncle by having a beautiful little boy Kenobi. Well today we found out that their second child is going to be a girl. Girls are very rare in our family and we were honestly expecting a boy. I know my Mom went crazy when she found out it was a girl. My mom always wanted a daughter and she is finally getting her wish in the form of a grand daughter.

I know my brother told me that if it was a girl that he was going to name her Sky Walker, now I love the name Sky but am not a fan of Walker for a middle name. He was half joking and half serious but his wife actually liked the name. But also they like the name Molly Lee Ann, Lee is my brother's middle name and Ann is my sister-in-laws middle name. As much of a Star Wars fan that I am and I love having a nephew named Kenobi I am pushing for Molly Lee Ann over Sky Walker.

But then again I'm just hoping for a beautiful healthy little girl.. regardless of what her name is. :) She due on December 24th.

Harry Potter London World Premiere

This morning at 8am my time, or 4pm London time they held the world premiere for the final installment of the Harry Potter movie series; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2. I've watched the past few premieres as it's always fun to see the stars really appreciate their fans by trying to sign 1000's of autographs as they walk the red carpet. The past few HP premieres have been big events with hosts who chat with the cast here and there but they went all out this year being that it's the final premiere of a Harry Potter movie. Besides all the coverage of the actors arriving and crazy fans spending several nights in the cold rainy weather, they were broadcasting the event in 3D on British TV, also they were showing it all over the world in movie theaters and all over the internet.

At the very end they had Dan (Harry), Rupert (Ron), Emma (Hermioine), David Heyman (Producer), David Barron (Producer), David Yates (Director of last four movies) and the one and only J.K. Rowling (Author) on stage to address the thousands of fans there and the millions upon millions watching live.

First up was a WB executive who thanked everyone but was your typical WB executive. Then the 3 David's spoke and were very gracious to the crew, cast and fans. Then Dan spoke and thanked Jo for creating Harry Potter and said that whatever he does from here on out will be because of her and her wonderful character.  After Dan was Emma and when she spoke that's when the tears started flowing. Not only was she crying but Jo was crying.. even Dan and Rupert had red eyes. I lost it then. I was at work and trying not to just break down but it was tough not just balling like a baby.  Emma finished her speech and Rupert was up next and he's not the best at speeches but he said his part and ended his speech by telling Dan and Emma how much he loved them. And finally it was Jo's turn. She was already crying from the previous 3 speeches but pulled it together to give a  beautiful speech to her fans, to the crew and especially the cast when she thanked the actors for "the amazing things they did for my favorite characters." and she by far had the best line of the evening in regards to all this ending, "Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home."... it was a fantastic way to end what has been a magical 10 years.

And of course it's not over.. the books are done and the movies are about to be  over but Potter will live on with the recently announced Pottermore, the theme park and in the hearts of every fan out there.

I'm sad to see the movies end, as I have loved every single one of them, but I will always have the books to re-read and re-visit that magical world whenever I want. I going to see the final Harry Potter movie on opening night Friday at 8:30pm with some great Harry Potter fans and I'm really looking forward to it.

You can watch some video of the event HERE

Dinner with Teal

Today I had the pleasure of having dinner with a good friend of mine Teal Sherer. Teal and I met on the set of Season 3 of The Guild and it was instant friendship. It's funny how things like that work out. From the moment we met it was as if we had been friends forever. She is truly one of the nicest people I know and I love spending time with her. So I have decided to try and have dinner at least twice a month,  I mean we chat via email and such because we are both so busy but it's nice to actually just hang out and catch up on each others lives. Tonight we had dinner at El Torito Grill in the Sherman Oak Galleria.
It was good food and great company.

Love ya Teal!!!

KOTG Companion Casts

Today I worked on my upcoming Knights of the Guild Companion Casts. If you don't know what these are they started last season while working on The Guild. I would do behind the scene interviews with the cast and crew as they would finish filming. Then when an episode would air, a companion cast would follow the next day and take listeners behind the scenes for that specific episode. Well we are doing those again for season five which is approaching fast and I have lots of prep work to do. These podcasts come out once a week as the episodes come out and are a lot of work to edit together as there are many sources.

So today I spent the entire day, while working, exporting a few hundred audio files and placing them into episode folders. This is just a first step in a long process but I'm looking forward to making these as I know listeners really enjoy the companion casts.

4th of July

Happy 4th of July to all my American friends.

This fourth I went and visited family. Had lunch with my Dad, who doing well. he's had his second chemo and it's not knocking him on his butt as much as the 1st treatment did and the tumors continue to shirk, so he's in good spirits, which makes me happy.

Got so spend time with my brother, sister-in-law and nephew Kenobi. And they actually left Kenobi with me for an hour or so while they went shopping. At first he panicked when he realized that they had gone but a few minutes later he came back to me and we started to play. He's now two years old and just a bundle of energy. It was none stop activity and by the time his parents got back I as exhausted. I don't how they do that 24 hours a day. But I loved my one on one time with my little guy.

After that drove home and hung out with Harry. No fireworks this year and the BBQ happened a few days prior. It was a good day.

Confessions of a Fanboy Interviews

After everyone left from the Indy Marathon I had to start preparing for several interviews with Fanboys and Fangirl's for my new podcast Confessions of a Fanboy. I had lined up five interviews for today over the next five hours.

I still am not 100% sure of the style of the show. Figured I'd so a few interviews and see how it goes and then decide which direction I want to take the podcast. My friend interview was with my podcast idol Kevin Bachelder. I'm glad he was first so I could try different things and he also made suggestions. We chatted for about a half hour and for the most part things kind of flowed. I did find myself bouncing around a bit as things would pop into my head after the fact.. so I think I need to actually write down my general questions. My next interview was with my buddy from England Russ and again the interview went great but did bounce around. Charles Piner was next and we had a great time chatting. And finally my first Fangirl Rachael... it was interesting to hear a girl perspective on all things geeky. And once again my final interview for the day was another fangirl Jax and we had fun talking Harry Potter.

So 5 great interviews.. some only 15 minutes others a half hour. Still not sure how I'm going to edit these up or how I will release them.. but I'll figure something out in the next few weeks. I hope to release the first episode by July 15th. I'll keep you guys posted and if anyone is interested in confessing their geekiness to me on an upcoming podcast please drop me a line at ConfessionsofaFanboy@gmail.com

Indiana Jones Marathon / BBQ / Sleepover

FRIDAY: Prepping for this event started last night when I went to Stater Bros to pick up some food for today's BBQ and breakfast for Sunday morning as I know several folks plan on spending the night. After getting home I continued to clean up the house but soon was tired and went to bed knowing I was going to get up in the early AM to finish cleaning and prepare for the marathon.

SATURDAY: I got up at 7am this morning and started to clean. Folks were coming until 12pm but with some coming from long distances I figured some would show up early so I wanted to get everything done. I finished cleaning around 9:30am (well almost finished as I had to clean the bedroom and master bathroom but Harry was still sleeping so it had to wait). I then moved on to my next project, surround sound. I have been wanting to set up my surround sound system since we moved in two years ago but just never got around to it.. but I figured this was going to be a big event and we want to have it sound great so I got all the equipment out of the garage, cleaned it off and hooked it up. I finished around 10:15am and moments after my buddy Chris showed up (he drove from just north of Santa Barbara). I tested the surround sound and it worked so everything was ready to go.

About 15 minutes after my buddy Chris arrived Harry woke up and I was able to get into the bedroom/ master bathroom and clean. But as I was cleaning the bathroom more people showed up as it was getting closer to Noon. So I was greeting people while running back and trying to finish cleaning the master bathroom. Finally after greeting Leo, Anne, Jen, Aaron, Ron and Shenah I was finally able to finish my bathroom and I was done with the cleaning.

Now it's noon and the party is in full swing.. Chris, Leo, Anne, Jen, Aaron, Ron and Shenah were already here and within the next hour Megan, Jared, Troy, Andrew and Michele arrive and I was starting to worry that I wouldn't have enough room in my TV room for everyone to sit. I had already moved another couch in there and tons of pillows for those sitting on the floor but I think we were going to max out all the floor space as well. While we waited for others to arrive we played some Wii.

So around 1pm we started to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark and I started the BBQ. I would go back and fourth between watching and cooking. Food was done about 1 hour into the movie so we paused it so everyone could grab some lunch. Also just a side note all of my guest brought some great chips, cookies and drinks.. we were well stocked. So everyone grabbed some food and then went back into the TV room to continue our viewing of Raiders. About an hour into the movie my buddy Luis arrived and grabbed some food and joined in the movie watching

Once that was over Michele had to leave for work and we started Temple of Doom. This is my favorite of the Indy movies so I really wanted to see this one. Two hours later the movie ended and Jared, Andrew and Megan departed the marathon.

We then started The Last Crusade and about a half hour into it Leslie showed up and joined in the fun and I headed out to pick up some Pizza which is just five minutes away from the house but took me almost and hour to get so I pretty much missed the second half of The Last Crusade. And by the time I got back the movie was over and folks were just hanging out.

So we had some pizza, chatted, did some shots and went out back to do some stargazing, as it gets really dark out here and you can see hundreds of stars. After an hour I asked if folks were ready for The Crystal Skull and folks were up for it so we headed back into the TV room and watched the final installment of the Indiana Jones series. Those left to watch the final movie were Chris, Leo, Luis, Leslie, Anne, Jen, Aaron, Troy, Ron, Shenah, Harry and myself.

After the final movie we all went outside as it was even darker and stargazed for a bit before coming back in and doing more shots and just hanging out. Some started up the Wii, others snacked and chatted. Around 3am Ron and Shenah decided to head home but Chris, Leo, Luis, Leslie, Anne, Jen, Aaron, and Troy decided to stay the night and crash at my place. And they were all still going strong, unfortunately I was not and was ready for bed... so I made sure everyone had pillows and sheets and knew where they were sleeping before hitting my own bed. Told them all I would get up the next morning and make everyone breakfast.

SUNDAY: Well I got up around 10am and headed outside to see everyone up (excluding Troy who seemed to have gone home at 4am), they were watching Family Guy Star Wars. Found out that they all went to bed around 4am and woke up at 8am and have been waiting for me to get up to feed them :)

So with the help of Jen we made bacon, sausage, scrabbled eggs, hash browns, toast and OJ for everyone. While this was happening they started to watch Galaxy Quest so we all ate our breakfast and watched Galaxy Quest. About half way through the movie Leslie decided to head home and once the movie was over the rest decided to pack up and head home ending a 23 hour party.

When ever you host a party you rarely get to truly enjoy it. I missed some of Raiders, got to see Temple of Doom, missed alot of Crusade but did watch all of Crystal Skull but all in all I had a great time. I love hosting parties and don't do it that often. Got to socialize with some new and old friends. This group of friends are fairly new, I meet most of them from Season Five of the Guild but it's a great group of guys and gals... and I hope our friendships continue to grow.  Most came from long distance to be here, north of Santa Barbara to south of San Diego and that means a lot to me. I've talked to a few of them and they seemed to really enjoy themselves and can't wait for the next marathon which I will be in September/October and will be either Lord of the Rings or Star Wars (Original trilogy). I'll keep everyone posted.

A special thanks to Chris, Leo, Anne, Jen, Aaron, Troy, Luis, Andrew, Jared, Michele, Megan, Leslie, Ron, Shenah and of course Harry for making last nights marathon / BBQ / sleep over a huge success.

You can see more pictures from the Marathon/BBQ/Sleepover HERE