Magic Mountain Again!!!

So my friend Jessica messaged me last night around 8pm and asked if I wanted to go to Magic Mountain tomorrow to celebrate her birthday. I had tentative plans with my buddy Robert so I contacted him and we arranged to hang out on Sunday freeing me up for Saturday.

Besides seeing Jessica again.. a plus was that Courtney and Jesse were going as well... yay!!! So I met up with those three at 10am and the place was packed. I was especially looking forward to hanging out with my pseudo-son Jesse.

We got into the park and Jessica mentioned she wanted to do Colossus, when we got to the ride there was no line... we walked right on.  Afterward we walked onto Scream and then back again to Colossus for a second time.

We then stopped for a drink and we all got the refillable souvenir cups. Afterwards we headed over to Green Lantern's light as the line, which is normally at least an hour or more was barely 10 minutes.

Next it was time for Goliath, which we all love. The line for this was a bit longer.. about an hour but we got Courtney to ride it this time around as she didn't ride it last time. She loved it...

After Goliath we grabbed some pizza for lunch and then Jesse and I went on the new Lex Luther ride. You sit on the outside of the Superman ride in a chair and you are taken up 400 feet and then free fall. The fall is actually not that bad.. it's the being strapped into a chair and carried up, up and more up until you are so high you can see all of Valencia. What makes it worse is it's very windy up there so the ride sways and then you just sit there not sure when the car will drop. Jesse and I loved it and I'll be doing it again on my next visit.

We went and did Batman next, which we waited like five minutes for the first car and our final ride of the day was The Riddler, once again we rode in the front. This line took about 30 minutes or so but from the crowds to get in and the fact that it was a Saturday the crowds and lines were not bad at all. Of course we didn't go on X or Tatsu which are very popular rides but we rode some awesome rides.

Jessica, Courtney and Jesse were only staying until 5pm as they had plans in the evening. So after The Riddler it was round 4:30 and we were all very tired and heat exhausted. So we called it a day a little ahead of schedule. It was another fun filled trip to Magic Mountain with some awesome people.. Happy Birthday Jessica!!!

Highlight for me was hanging with Jesse... we joked around while in line like last week. When we get together we act like siblings.. hitting each other and trying to cause the other to run into people. Sometimes I think I'm more of a kid then he is.

Jesse was wearing a button down long sleeve shirt and it was in the 90's so we tried to find him a tank top to wear but we couldn't find anything in his size. He kept pulling up his sleeves to try and relieve some of the heat and I kept offering to roll them up property so they wouldn't keep falling down. He kept denying my help, until finally I just did it anyways as he protested jokenly saying "Dad stop it.. Dad you're embarrassing me" Just then Jessica and Courtney came walking out of the bathroom and he said to them "He's more of a father to me then my real father". It really made my heart smile to hear that.

I don't know what it is about this kid but he has my heart, I want to take care of him, make sure he knows he is awesome and loved. I may treat him a bit younger then he is... I got to keep telling myself he is 13 and a young man.. he's not a little kid... but it's tough as my fatherly instinct take over.  For whatever the reason is he and I just get along and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Can't wait for another adventure to Six Flags Magic Mountain with Jessica, Courtney and Jesse.

Visting my Dad

When I visit family it's kind of like an all day thing. My family lives about 2 hours away from me. I normally get up, eat breakfast, check my emails, surf online and about 10am I take a shower and get ready to head out. I normally leave my house around 11/11:30 and get to brother's place around 1/1:30. I go out to lunch with my Dad and then visit the rest of the family, Brother, Sister-in-law, nephew and niece for about four or five hours then I head home for another two hour commute and by the time I'm home it's about 8pm and I eat some dinner, watch some TV and then go to bed.

Today I was visiting my Dad only. My brother and his family went to Vegas for a wedding. My dad was going to be by himself all day so I figured I'd go and hang out with him for a bit. I try and visit him as much as possible, my Dad has had two battles with cancer, several stokes and several heart attacks.. but he is still with us. I think his grand kids are keeping him alive, he loves them so much and vis verse. So I try and go down to visit every two to three weeks. It was a good visit.. we went out to my favorite Chinese restaurant Hong Kong for lunch. After lunch we headed back to my brothers place and hung out for a bit. He got a new Kindle Fire for Xmas last year and he loves it so I was showing him various options and apps he could use. Left his place around 4, got home around 6, ate some dinner and watched some TV before calling it night.

Superman & Defiance

First of all I want to wish my favorite superhero of all time Superman a very Happy 75th Birthday. I've loved him ever since my childhood watching the old B&W TV series with George Reeves, then the 1978 movie was released with Christopher Reeves, I was eight years old and couldn't get enough of the man of steel. I started collecting comic books, toys and anything else with the Superman logo. Star Wars and Superman were my two big loves as a kid. And after all these years I still love him and I can't wait for the next incarnation of the Man of Steel to be released in theaters this summer... the previews look amazing. Here's the latest trailer..

Today I planned to try and get some stuff done around the house. I'm still in the process of fixing up my house so I can get it on the market. There is just so much stuff to do that I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed the past few weeks so I end up doing nothing because I don't know where to start. Besides the fixing up of my house to get on the market, I have several podcasts that are due to be released this month, I'm in the middle of writing my first web-series, I'm preparing to start a new D&D campaign, I'm trying to expand my production company, I'm trying to keep up with the latest TV, I'm trying hang out as much as possible with friends and family.  And the most important thing, I need to find a job!!! 

But even with all that stuff to do it's a daily struggle to not just sit on my computer and play LOTRO or surf the net or watch TV all day. There are days I succeed on doing something and there are days when I don't. I hate the feeling at the end of the day when I realized that I didn't get a single thing done. I feel like since I'm out of work I should be getting all this stuff done... I mean once I have a job my time will be even less available. I don't know what it is.. not doing anything makes you even more lazy. I need to break to lazy cycle.

I did manage to get out to the garage today and started going through some boxes.. I realize that I have a ton of crap. I tried just throwing things away but it's tough especially when it's in good shape. I thought about trying to sell some stuff but that's just more work for me to do, I could give it away to friends who need it or to the goodwill but it's hard for me to part with things that I may one day need.  The cleaning of the garage only lasted an hour before I got frustrated with my lack of throwing things away. Also with Anthony and Michele's stuff in my garage there is little room to really make piles and get organized. So I may wait until they leave in May to do the garage.

I turned to TV to relax, I been looking forward to watching Syfy's new TV series Defiance. So Anthony and I watched the 2 hour pilot episode. It's a complicated back story which they haven't explained yet but eight races of alien come to Earth to settle as their solar system was destroyed. They terraformed Earth and changed everything. It's about a small town called Defiance and it's people trying to survive and rebuild this new world.

This is a Syfy experiment as they released a MMO game and the TV series at the same time. Both are connected but also separate so you can do both, or one or the other. 

I enjoyed the pilot... I think they did a good job at developing the characters... the back story on the other hand .. not so much. I checked out Wiki and there is so much back story that was not conveyed in the pilot. I assume as the series goes will learn more but the pilot did it's job.. it made me excited to see the next episode. I look forward to seeing where this series goes.

Buffy, Buffy and More Buffy

After creating my D&D character (read previous blog), I jumped online and played a few hours of Lord of the Rings Online with my buddy Chris. They are giving double XP during it's 6th anniversary so I'm trying to level up as many of my characters as I can. Afterwards I headed into town...

This has become a kind of Wednesday thing... Buffy and Bros with my bestie Robert. Tonight we ordered some pizza and wings and sat down to watch more episodes of Season Five of Buffy. First up was "No Place Like Home"  Buffy Summers looks for a mystical source behind her mother's illness, but finds out more than she bargained for.

This is one of my favorite episodes of the entire Buffy universe. This is where we, the audience, as well as Buffy finds out about her sister Dawn. It's heart wrenching to watch as Buffy thinks Dawn is the cause of her mother's illness but then finds out that Dawn is an innocent sent to Buffy for protection. Some of the best interaction between Buffy and Dawn happens in this episode. This episode makes me cry every time and I couldn't wait to share it with Robert.

Next up was "Family" Tara’s family, the Maclays, make a surprise visit to Sunnydale, and she does not seem eager to see them. She casts a spell on her friends to prevent them from seeing demons, inadvertently putting them in danger when Glory sends a group of Lei-Ach Demons after Buffy at the same time.

Another favorite episode of mine as I'm a huge Tara fan and this goes into Tara's back story a bit and explains why she is the way she is. This is also the turning point to when Tara official becomes part of the Scooby clan.. I love how the gang stands up for her.. it's pretty fantastic.

Our third episode of the evening was "Fool for Love" After a common vampire nearly kills her with her own stake, Buffy, in an attempt to learn and prevent similar mistakes, turns to Spike to learn how other Slayers met their end.

This is why I love season five so much... another fantastic episode.. this time we get Spike back story, which I knew Robert would like since Spike is one of his favorites. It was great seeing other slayers and a once love lorn kind hearted version of Spike. We also find out where he got the name William the Bloody (and it's not what you think).

Our final episode of the evening was "Shadow" Joyce has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Buffy is worried about her mother's diagnosis and Dawn's ability to handle the bad news. Glory visits Giles new magic shop and purchases two items that are essential to summoning an evil snake. Riley also feels left out of Buffy's world, and permits a vampire named Sandy to bite him.

Of the four episodes we watched tonight this was my least favorite, though I still enjoyed it.. but compared the other three.. this was more of a filler episode to progresses the storyline along,. which it did nicely. I love Glory, she's my favorite Big Bad so it was fun watching her in this episode. It wasn't the strongest way to end the night but it sure was a good night of Buffy episodes...can't wait for more.

My D&D Character - Dashel Greenbottle

My buddy Dallas is starting up a new campaign for a Pathfinder D&D game.. Now I haven't played D&D since fifth grade, though I did do a lot of RPG kind of writing in my 20's. Today I spent a few hours coming up with back story for my new D&D character. I have chosen to play a Wizard Halfling. If you know me at all, you know I'm a Hobbit lover.

First of all I found this drawing of a Wizard Halfling online, I couldn't find who drew it but I altered it a bit as halflings in this world don't have pointed ears so I had to round them in photoshop.

So this is what my character looks like.

Here's his backstory.. let me know what you think.

His name is Dashel Greenbottle (25)

Mother: Jillian Greenbottle (Brushgather)
Father : Milo Greenbottle

Brother: Wellby Greenbottle (23)
Sister: Portia Greenbottle (20)
Sister: Cora Greenbottle (18)
Brother: Cade Greenbottle (15)
Brother: Garret Greenbottle (14)
Sister: Lavinia Greenbottle (12)
Brother: Samuel Greenbottle (10)

Jillian and Milo were born and raised in the small farming community known as The Downs just outside Galanor. Both the Greenbottle's and Brushgather's were prominent halfling families in their little community. Jillian and Milo were the eldest of the family and at a very young age were betrothed to each other. Fortunately the pairing worked out and they fell in love.

Dashel (or Dash for short) was their first born, his raven color hair and grayish black eyes made him a source of gossip around the community. But his mother and father doted on him and tried to protect him from prying eyes but they soon realized that their child would never be treated properly if they stayed in The Downs.

When Dash was two years old and Jillian was pregnant with their second child. Milo packed up his family and moved to Elendrinoin. Elendrinion was a vast city and they hoped that Dash would be able to blend in better and not be ridiculed for his unusual look.

Their life in Elendrinoin flourished, Milo worked in the fields while Jillian became a seamstress. Soon after the move Wellby was born followed Portia, Cora, Cade, Garret, Lavinia and finally the baby Samuel. None of their other children had any abnormalities and were perfect little halflings.

Though his family didn't treat Dash any different, he knew deep down that he wasn't like his siblings and the lead to him secluding himself from the family and the public.

Dash found solace in the Wizarding school. Dash got his love of reading and studying from his parents, they were always reading or telling him stories from their history. Celumin Sinestra (School of the Left Hand Path, in the common tongue) had the largest library in Elendrinoin and Dash spent many, many hours their as a kid reading and learning as much as he could.

An Elf named Silvhanan noticed this young odd looking halfling hanging around the library and kind of took him under his wing and began to teach him about magic, Dash was 7 years old when this began. Over the next few years Silvhanan was impressed at how Dash took to magic.  He told the young halfling that he should officially enroll in school and travel down the path to become a magic wielder. 

Dash was trilled with the prospect of becoming a wizard but knew it wasn't going to be an easy path. Halfling weren't normally known for wielding magic but then again Dash was not your average halfling. When Dash told his family his plans they were a bit hesitant, but told him that he had their love and support.

At the age of 10 Dash became a fulltime student. He studied day and night. He sacrificed having a childhood, friends and rarely saw his family. His entire life revolved around magic. When he was 12 he preformed a spell on himself trying to change his hair and eye color. He was tired of all the stares and comments behind his back, he just wanted to be normal. Unfortunately the spell didn't go as planned and turned his hair bright white and eyes to a piercing emerald green. He decided right then and there to accept the way he looked. He would no longer try to perform magic on himself again.

Besides Silvhanan, Dash had one other friend, an Elf named Trix, he didn't know much about Trix's past all he knew is that Trix was always in the library when he would visit and that he knew were everything was. So whenever Dash needed to find a book all he had to do was find Trix.

As the years passed by Dash excelled in his studies but became more and more of a recluse from society. He rarely visited his family and when he did it was only for a short amount of time.

Dash completed his studies and is now only the third halfling to ever be given the title of Wizard at Celumin Sinestra.

Hanging with my Bestie.. Kind of

Spent the morning cleaning up around the house, checking emails, looking at job listings, watching a bit of recorded TV.

The bulk of my day was spent with my bestie Chris. No he's not out here visiting, he's still in Montana and I'm still in California but we did watch a few shows together and then played some LOTRO.

We first started with the latest Doctor Who episode "Cold War". I was annoyed at the beginning of this episode.and I couldn't really tell you why.. but it kind of tainted the episode for me. It did get better as it went but still I haven't really been wow'd by the past few episodes. I really want to learn more about the new companion and why the Doctor keeps running into re-incarnated version of her.

The next thing we watched was the latest Once Upon a Time episode, well come to find out that it wasn't an episode but a very cool and very detailed recap of season one and what has happen so far on season two. After watching it I realized how well the over all story has been put together. This show is so amazing and is by far one of my favorite TV series in quite some time. I can't wait for the remaining three episodes of this season.

Afterwards we jumped on Lord of the Rings Online. They are celebrating their 6th anniversary so there are fireworks and festivals happening in game so Chris and I joined in. It was fun running around setting off fireworks and collecting invitations. In Dwarf land they had this fun "beer" fights where you would take mallets and knock other characters around the room. We played for about five or six hours before calling it a night we were both getting hungry and had to get some dinner.

Spent the remaining few hours watching some TV.

A Visit From Lydia

Today I finally finished my next MASH podcast which I started last week. Took a few hours but I think it turned out pretty good. This one will be released on May 1st.

The big plan for today was hanging out with my friend Lydia who is visiting from Switzerland. She arrived around 11 and we sat around and chatted for an hour or so before heading out for some lunch. I was going to introduce her to Outback Steakhouse, but forgot that the one out in Palmdale is only open during dinner hours so we went next door to El Torito (which happen to be her first time as well). Had a really good talk with her about where we were in our lives. I got to talk to her about wanting to be a father as she is a mother of two.

Afterwards we went back to my place and watched some of my screeners. First was ParaNorman, which neither of us had seen. I liked the animation as it was all stop animation but the story was just okay. It's not a movie I need to watch over and over. But out second movie is one of my favorites from last year.. Cloud Atlas. I've seen this movie four or fives times already and I love it more each time I watched it. Lydia had never seen it but her daughter loved it and told her she had to see it.

Now it's always tough watching this movie with friends as it's not a very easy movie to follow and it's hard to judge if the person is liking it or not. I was a bit worried that Lydia might not understand some of the speech of the future future scenes as English isn't her first language and when I saw it for the first time I had hard time understanding what they were saying and English is my first language.

But when the movie ended, I turned to her and asked what she thought.. and she loved it and couldn't wait to watch it again. This made me happy. This movie unfortunately bombed at the theater and I'm hoping it finds new life on DVD/Bluray... btw it comes out on May 14th.. so be sure to buy it.

It was around 7:30pm now and time for dinner. Lydia mentioned earlier when we were trying to figure out where to go for lunch that she had never done In-n-Out Burger.. so guess where we went for dinner. I don't eat In-n-Out that often, it was so hyped up to me that when I finally had for the first time in my 20's it was just an eh kind of experience. But tonight I realized that the burgers do have their own unique taste, same with the fries. I think both Lydia and I agreed.. they are pretty good but not the best burgers in the world.

It was around 8:30pm and we said out goodbyes in the parking lot of In-n-Out. It's always great getting to hangout with her and sharing a bunch of firsts with her (El Torito, ParaNorman, Cloud Atlas and In-n-Out). I can't wait to see her again at SDCC in July.

MASH 4077 Podcast Episode 52

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

Show Notes

Kenny Mittleider from Knights of the Guild, Alien Nation: The Newcomers Podcast & Confessions of a Fanboy Podcast, Simon Meddings from Waffle On Podcast, & Al Kessel from Tales from the Mouse House, Fast Forward & Just Because Podcast discuss one of the most successful and longest running television series in history.. M*A*S*H

Today we cover Season 3, Episode #4 - Iron Guts Kelly
52nd Episode Overall
Directed by Don Weis
Written by Larry Gelbart & Sid Dorfman
Production code B304
Original air date October 1, 1974

Set during the Korean War in the 1950’s

Plot Summary: Infamous Lieutenant General "Iron Guts" Kelly is visiting the 4077th, but dies of a heart attack while having a tryst with Hot Lips. The general's aide decides to fake a more memorable and honorable death in the heat of battle.

Hope you enjoy it, Kenny

Fatherhood

I mentioned in my previous blog post that I got to meet a young man named Jesse, he's 13 years old and we hit it off instantly. I've always felt that I got along with kids and young people but I've never bonded with someone so quickly. I've been a "Big Brother" of America and I never bonded with my "little brothers" like I did with Jesse.

As many of you know, if you read my blog posts, that I have kind of given up on being a father myself and to enjoy being an uncle (which I love). But this kid stirred up emotions and feelings that I have pushed deep down for many years.. I want to be a Dad, I was born to be a Dad, I need to be a Dad. Spending time with Jesse and our interaction made me realize what I am missing in my life. It's not a partner, it's a child of my own. I need someone to love and care for. To pass on my experiences and knowledge and help mold them into a great human being.

I'm not going into great details as it's Jesse's personal information but we got to talking about family and he doesn't have the best family life or support system. After only a few hours of hanging out I told him that I'd like to be his big brother and be that stability that he lacks in his life. Towards the end of the day he mentioned that he wanted to come live with me and there was talk of adoption. I have to be honest if it was that easy I would have done it right then and there.  Jesse is a great young man and I'd be very proud to call him my son. But of course life isn't that easy, so for now we exchanged numbers and plan on hanging out from time to time. I just want him to know that he is loved and appreciated, and what an incredible person he is. I will give him as much love and support that is needed... who know what the futures holds.

But he did open my eyes to adopting, I've always wanted a biological child but I knew being gay would make things more difficult. I've always been open to adoption. What Jesse did was open my eyes to adopting a child/teenager and not a baby. Not only that but the fact that I can be a single parent. I don't have to wait for a partner I have it in me to be both parents.

For many years now I have wanted to adopt older kids, 16 and 17 year old's because when they hit 18 they are kicked out of the system. Those that don't have a home have a very bleak future. I want to adopt those older kids so they have a place to call home, a place they can always return to. Everyone deserves to have that feeling of belonging and to be loved.

So I have determined that I'm going to take the next year to really get my life in order, to find a stable job (even if it's not in the entertainment industry), to sell this house and to reorganize and maybe even sell some of my "things" (yes I'm talking about my toy collection). I've been heading down this road at a much slower rate but meeting Jesse has sparked that love of being a dad, it's motivated me to move things along at a faster pace. I know it's going to be tough but I really want this.. I think this is the next stage of my life... FATHERHOOD

Magic Mountain

Little did I know that my life would be changed by the end of this day.. but that's for my next blog. This one is all about my visit to Magic Mountain.

Got up at 8am, took a shower as Robert put in his eyes and brush his braces for 20 minutes :) .We headed out to get some breakfast at Denny's. We were both really hungry so Denny's breakfast really hit the spot. We made our way to Magic Mountain. I had planned a meet up at 10am but we got there a few minutes afterwards. The others who were joining us were already there in the line to get their season pass. I came earlier in the week and took care of that and I'm so happy I did as it was packed and the line was super long. Luckily for us our friends were early and were almost to the front.

Joining me today for our Magic Mountain adventure was of course my bestie Robert (who came with me), Rupert, Aaron and Jessica. Jessica brought one of her good friends Courtney and her godson Jesse (13 year old kid).

We got into the park around 11 and I lead everyone to the first ride of the day.. Tatsu. It's one of my favorites and only a few of us had ridden it before. It took some persuading but we got Courtney on and because of a fastpass we weren't able to all be in the same car as planned.

Once we got off everyone really loved the ride, I'm so happy we rode it first as the line now was down the walkway. We waited maybe 20 minutes or so.. it looked like at least an hour or more now. We took a bathroom break and on our way over Rupert realized that he has lost his wallet. It must had fallen out while on the ride. He went back to see if anyone found it but we figured it was too soon. We all felt horrible as this wasn't how we wanted to start our little adventure today.

Our next stop was Apocalypse, again it was an hour wait. The park was filling up fast. While in line Robert started messing with me, mostly tickling me, as I'm extremely ticklish. To my surprise Jesse got in on it and started playing around with Robert and I. Jesse and I instantly bonded (more on that later).

After Apocalypse we were starving so we headed
to the food court. Jesse, Robert and I got buffalo wings while Aaron, Rupert, Jessica & Courtney got burgers. It was packed and the service was slow.. I think it took about an hour to get food for everyone.

Lunch was over and it was almost 3pm, we did another bathroom break as Rupert parted ways and headed to the lost and found to file a report about his wallet. Robert and Jesse wanted to climb the rock wall. We talked them into letting our stomach settle as we wait in line for Riddler's Revenge. That line probably took about an hour, we split up into 2 groups.. Jesse, Aaron and myself and Robert, Courtney and Jessica..  We got on one car apart from each other.. it was a lot of fun. Lots of shenanigans while in line.

As promised Robert and Jesse went to do the Rock Wall. Now that Aaron's stomach was settled he decided to join them. They asked for me to join and looking back I should have but I didn't want to embarrass myself out there so I declined. The three guys climbed for a good half hour or so. Jesse made it to the top of the level 3 wall while Aaron made it halfway up the level 4 wall and Robert made it just a bit pass the half way point on level 5 wall. Good times were had.

By the time we were done Rupert joined back up. We headed to Goliath next as most folks wanted to do that one and we were running out of time. The wait was just over an hour but once again there were lots of line shenanigans. One great thing about MM lines are the videos that they play. All day long we kept hearing the same commercials and there was this on Snickers and Sharks commercial that kept Robert laughing and another M&M "Sexy and your know it" one had all of us dancing every time we heard it... it was a pretty great group.

Once we were done with Goliath it was around 6:45pm and Jessica, Jesse and Courtney called it a night but before they left we all kept talking about fudge all day so we stopped by a fudge shop and picked up six pieces of fudge to share. We said out final goodbyes around 7:15pm. It was sad to see them go but I knew it wasn't going to be the last time we saw them.

For our final ride Robert, Rupert, Aaron and I did Green Lantern's Light. Again this is a newer roller coaster, it's cool because it's a vertical roller coaster. I was the only one who had ridden prior so that is always fun experiencing the ride with a bunch of first timers. 

They all loved the ride and it was a great way to end our day at Magic Mountain. The parked closed at 8pm but we could have gone on for a few more hours. We said our goodbyes to Aaron and Rupert. Robert and I stopped by Islands on the way back to my place to pick up some dinner.

I so enjoyed our one on one talks, that's one of many things I love about Robert, our ability to talk completely open and honest about anything... got home around 10pm and crashed on the bed and watched TV for an hour before calling it night.