Fixing Up The House Continues...

So I continued the painting of the house, after taking a week or so off.. I'm really trying to get all the trim done so I can go out and rent a paint sprayer and do the main body of the house. Today I worked on the trim of the 3 car garage. It's still a slow process as I have to tape off everything, go up and down ladders and deal with the hot weather.. at least its only in the 90's and not the sweltering 100's like it has been the past few weeks.

When it did cool down a bit around 6pm I moved on to the back deck and tried to strip away more of the blue paint that was left over after the sanding. I'm thinking that I'll just go rent the large deck sander again and give it another pass and try and get rid of more of the paint as doing it be hand it going to take me forever.

I can no longer sit around and do nothing.. I have to get this house up on the market and sold. Life will be a bit easier once I have this house out from under me.

Awesome Commercials: Giving, Scarecrow & Star Wars

So I came across several videos "commercials" today through various articles and I had to share them with you.

First one had me in tears, it's a commercial for some Asian communication company and is only three minutes long but man does it tell a compelling story in those three minutes.When I first watched this it has only 50,000 views.. as I write this blog only a few days later it now has 7 million views.

The second one is a commercial that so beautifully shot with such a poignant message. You really don't have a clue what this is for until the very end and you find out it's an ad for Chipotle and it's new App Game called Scarecrow. The cow's sad eyes gets me every time.

The third video is a commercial for Star Wars The Old Republic which is a Star Wars MMO (massively multiplayer online game) that I hope to play one day. Star Wars commercials in general are always amazing but this one really struck a cord with me because it's set in modern day. As if the Jedi and Sith existed in our time, right now.. it felt so real and I loved it... hope you do to.

Random Geek Question: Time Travel

So I posted another Random Geek Question on Facebook and Twitter... I asked, If you could time travel, would you go to the past, future or an alternate dimension? I got a few responses, one was "Past just to visit favorite parts of my childhood." Another friend said "Mesozoic Era... Gotta see me some live dinosaurs." I got several "Future, for various reasons" and I got one person who chose alternate dimension with the response "alternative time line. Probably at age 10 to see how an accident I had would have been if worse."

Some good answers and I thank the handful of friends who responded. It's funny with these questions I can get 30 to 40 responses and sometimes I only get 4 or 5. Not sure what makes a question more popular then others.. I guess it could be when I post it and when folks see it online. Oh well I think they are fun and I'll continue to post more Random Geek Questions.

If you would like to answer this one please leave your response in the comments below... Thanks.

Lord of the Rings Animated Spoof

Several of my friends America, Dove and Eric along with some of their friends made this awesome and very funny spoof video "The Ownership of the Ring".. it combines Lord of the Rings, The People's Court & The Ring. It's pretty awesome so check it out..

"Get Fit" Week 6

So the struggle continues, it's now my sixth week and I feel like I haven't accomplish anything. I think with the breaking of my elliptical it put me back to square one. I was determined to get in several good cardio workouts everyday and I was doing it.. I lost like 7 pounds in the first week alone, but after it broke I have struggled to not gain weight. I've tried various other "cardio" workouts but I don't stick with them as they hurt my knees and ankles. With the elliptical it was all low impact on my joints so I could do it for longer periods of time with no issues. Even though I can't afford it I'm thinking of buying a new elliptical that way I can get back on track to losing this weight.

Of course I know that working out is only part of the equation, eating right is the other part. And I'm doing better. I'm slowly... very slowly changing my eating habits. I knew it wasn't going to be over night. I knew it would take me months and months to change. This isn't some short term thing it's a life changing event and it's going to take time. 

I wasn't able to lose last weeks gain of two pounds but I did manage to lose one of them, I'm currently at 204 lbs

It's a struggle everyday and I want to thank all those who encourage me, with your guys support I'm sure I can lose these unwanted pounds and keep them off.

A Day At Disneyland

So I needed a break from the world today and since I already have a season pass I decided to head to Disneyland. Joining me was my buddy Brett. Since I crashed at Robert's last night it only took me about an hour to get there. I got to the park a little after nine and met up with Brett at the shuttle area. We had planned to go to DCA (Disney California Adventure) but it didn't open until 10am and it was 9:30 when we got through security. So instead we decided to go to Disneyland first and luckily we did as the park closed at 5pm because they are preparing to Halloween the place up as tomorrow is the first day of the Halloween season at Disneyland.

First up was of course Star Tours, no matter who I go to Disneyland with we always seems to agree to go on Star Tours first. After Star Tours we headed over to Space Mountain but as we expected it was closed (for the Halloween refit) so we headed over to Buzz Lightyears Astro Blasters. After that we grabbed a Corn dog for a late breakfast. We then rode Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones Ride, Tea Cups and Finding Nemo Submarines. While in line at the Nemo Subs one of the cast members saw me in my Mike Wazowski hat and as most folks do he made a comment, we banter back and forth for a minute and then he said I deserved this and handed me a button "Honorary Citizen of the Disneyland". Come to find out that they don't hand these out to often.. so that was cool. After the Subs we went over to Autotopia before getting on the train and heading to the front of the park.

It was time to head over to California Adventures. First ride we did was my favorite at that park Tower of Terror, then we rode Radiator Springs Racers. We did the single rider line but as luck would have it we got in the same car. After racers we did Toy Story Midway Mania, it's another favorite of mine and it's normally over an hour wait but I think we waited like 20 minutes or so. After Midway we had some Mexican food which was just okay and kind of made me not feel so well. We sat around the Pier area for a bit to let me stomach rest. An hour later I was ready to go but wanted to take it easy so we jumped on The Little Mermaid ride then did Goofy Sky School. Next was Symphony Swings, then the Ferris Wheel and by this time Screaming was open so we got in line for that. Again lines weren't to bad all day.

We then went on Soaring over California, this is not a ride I do that often so that was fun. We then did Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, which Brett had never done... it's actually a really fun ride. We then debated on doing Luigi's Flying Tires. This was the longest line we stood in the entire day and I haven't really enjoyed the ride since they removed the beach balls but with Brett's help we really got our tire moving and it actually turned out to be a lot of fun. And for our final ride of the day was Monster's Inc ride. Again the line was long for this one but we figured since Disneyland was now closed, everyone was coming over to DCA.

It was now 7pm and we were tired.. we rode 20 rides in a matter of 9 1/2 hours... not a bad day. It was great just hanging with Brett enjoying the magic that is Disney. 

I got home around 9pm and instead of picking up some fast food dinner (which was my plan) I actually made me a sandwich for dinner and went to bed around 10pm.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

In between episodes of Babylon 5 Robert asked me if I knew my Myers Briggs code. I had never heard of Myers Briggs up to a few weeks ago when my group of friends started talking about it. I told him I didn't know what this was so I looked it up HERE. Now before anyone goes all crazy on me I know that this isn't the really long test for Myers Briggs, this was just a quick shorten way of finding out what "code" you are. So I read everything and picked which one best represented me as I am today and my Myers Briggs code is INFJ (Introverted, iNtuition, Feeling, Judging). So I looked up what INFJ type indicator meant and read this.. and I have to say it's about 95% correct.

The Protector

As an INFJ, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you take things in primarily via intuition. Your secondary mode is external, where you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit with your personal value system.

INFJs are gentle, caring, complex and highly intuitive individuals. Artistic and creative, they live in a world of hidden meanings and possibilities. Only one percent of the population has an INFJ Personality Type, making it the most rare of all the types.

INFJs place great importance on havings things orderly and systematic in their outer world. They put a lot of energy into identifying the best system for getting things done, and constantly define and re-define the priorities in their lives. On the other hand, INFJs operate within themselves on an intuitive basis which is entirely spontaneous. They know things intuitively, without being able to pinpoint why, and without detailed knowledge of the subject at hand. They are usually right, and they usually know it. Consequently, INFJs put a tremendous amount of faith into their instincts and intuitions. This is something of a conflict between the inner and outer worlds, and may result in the INFJ not being as organized as other Judging types tend to be. Or we may see some signs of disarray in an otherwise orderly tendency, such as a consistently messy desk.

INFJs have uncanny insight into people and situations. They get "feelings" about things and intuitively understand them. As an extreme example, some INFJs report experiences of a psychic nature, such as getting strong feelings about there being a problem with a loved one, and discovering later that they were in a car accident. This is the sort of thing that other types may scorn and scoff at, and the INFJ themself does not really understand their intuition at a level which can be verbalized. Consequently, most INFJs are protective of their inner selves, sharing only what they choose to share when they choose to share it. They are deep, complex individuals, who are quite private and typically difficult to understand. INFJs hold back part of themselves, and can be secretive.

But the INFJ is as genuinely warm as they are complex. INFJs hold a special place in the heart of people who they are close to, who are able to see their special gifts and depth of caring. INFJs are concerned for people's feelings, and try to be gentle to avoid hurting anyone. They are very sensitive to conflict, and cannot tolerate it very well. Situations which are charged with conflict may drive the normally peaceful INFJ into a state of agitation or charged anger. They may tend to internalize conflict into their bodies, and experience health problems when under a lot of stress.

Because the INFJ has such strong intuitive capabilities, they trust their own instincts above all else. This may result in an INFJ stubborness and tendency to ignore other people's opinions. They believe that they're right. On the other hand, INFJ is a perfectionist who doubts that they are living up to their full potential. INFJs are rarely at complete peace with themselves - there's always something else they should be doing to improve themselves and the world around them. They believe in constant growth, and don't often take time to revel in their accomplishments. They have strong value systems, and need to live their lives in accordance with what they feel is right. In deference to the Feeling aspect of their personalities, INFJs are in some ways gentle and easy going. Conversely, they have very high expectations of themselves, and frequently of their families. They don't believe in compromising their ideals.

INFJ is a natural nurturer; patient, devoted and protective. They make loving parents and usually have strong bonds with their offspring. They have high expectations of their children, and push them to be the best that they can be. This can sometimes manifest itself in the INFJ being hard-nosed and stubborn. But generally, children of an INFJ get devoted and sincere parental guidance, combined with deep caring.

In the workplace, the INFJ usually shows up in areas where they can be creative and somewhat independent. They have a natural affinity for art, and many excel in the sciences, where they make use of their intuition. INFJs can also be found in service-oriented professions. They are not good at dealing with minutia or very detailed tasks. The INFJ will either avoid such things, or else go to the other extreme and become enveloped in the details to the extent that they can no longer see the big picture. An INFJ who has gone the route of becoming meticulous about details may be highly critical of other individuals who are not.

The INFJ individual is gifted in ways that other types are not. Life is not necessarily easy for the INFJ, but they are capable of great depth of feeling and personal achievement.

Presents & Babylon 5

Today is Wednesday so that meant I was going over to Roberts for TV night.. but before that I stopped by my mailbox to pick up mail and noticed that I had a rather large package from Amazon. Of course my first thought was "it must be my first birthday gift" as my birthday is coming up (Sept 23rd) and I always have an updated birthday wish list on Amazon.

So I opened the package in the car and was delighted to see Three's Company DVD season 1 staring back at me. I notice that the box was pretty big for just one DVD season so I pulled out another and another and another until I had all eight seasons of Three's Company. My buddy from Canada Ken Todd sent me all eight seasons of this fantastic classic TV series. I was so excited. I can't wait now to sit down and do a marathon of this series and laugh my ass off. Thanks Ken for the awesome birthday gift. 

I then headed to Roberts for TV night. We are continuing out Babylon 5 first time viewing. Tonight we started with S2 Ep3 "The Geometry of Shadows" Vir fixes Londo's hair as Londo and Refa scheme. Techno-Mages arrive on the station which is sign of foreboding. The command staff learns that the Green Drazi and Purple Drazi have a global brawl every 5 years to determine the Drazi leadership for the next 5 years. When Ivanova attempts to resolve the conflict, she learns that the distinction between the two colors of Drazi is totally random. Right before the brawl, the Drazi draw a colored sash out of a barrel and join that colored faction. One sash of each color has a leader pendant tied to it; whoever draws that pendant becomes the leader of that color of Drazi.

This was an enjoyable episode. Again as I have mentioned before I'm not really liking where Londo's character is going.. he's defiantly turning to the darkside.  The Drazi stuff was fun..kind of showed you how stupid people can be when they do or believe in something for no reason, just because they were were taught or grew up that way. These aliens grab a green or purple scarf from a barrel and then all of the sudden they are mortal enemies and fight until one group wins and then the do it again five years later. These is no reason for the fighting, there are no differences.. it's just what they do. Oh and by the way I really love the term Techno-Mages

Next was S2 Ep4 "A Distant Star" Capt. Maynard, an old war buddy of Captain Sheridan's. Maynard's arrival prompts Sheridan to realign his priorities --- and then disaster strikes. On other fronts, Delenn runs afoul of the Mumbari hierarchy, while Dr. Franklin tries to administer nutritional advice to some unwilling patients. The episode concludes with a desperate rescue mission, launched from hyperspace.

Again a story that as pretty much a filler episode like the one before.. there was a bit of story about the Shadow and the forthcoming war. We get to see a different side of Sheridan, and for some reason the doctor is going crazy with diets for the crew, if anything it leads to some very funny scenes.

Third episode of the night was S2 Ep5 "The Long Dark" A cryonic exploration vessel from a hundred years ago approaches Babylon 5, bringing with it a deadly creature and a human from the past. A lunatic named Amis (Dwight Schultz) begins making grand assertions of doom; when Garibaldi investigates his past, he discovers that Amis was a decorated combat veteran. Garibaldi takes an interest in Amis, and asks him to explain his story. Amis explains that when his unit was attacking a remote enemy base, they came across a ghostlike alien that began feeding on his men.

This was probably my least favorite of this crop of episodes... though I do enjoy a crazy Dwight Schultz. The relationship between the Doctor and the surviving woman of that ship was very forced. She literally found out that her husband had died an hour before making a play for the doctor. Of course later in the episode she justifies it as they're marriage was rocky to begin with.  Which really didn't make sense since he did go with her on this deep space mission. The episode was fine.. nothing great and no talk of the Shadow war.

And the final episode of the evening was S2 Ep 6 "A Spider in the Web" A friend of Talia comes to Babylon 5 to negotiate a deal to help Mars become more self-sufficient, when a man calling out "Free Mars!" electrocutes him. The mystery deepens as we find out more about this assassin.

This is what I was waiting for.. this was my favorite episode of the night and a great way to end the evening. There wasn't much talk of the Shadow war but it did delve deeper into the corruption of the government on Earth. Lot's of good stuff happened in this episode. Also the continuation of this "Free Mars" storyline that's been going on in my background for most of this series.

So over all not to many "OMG" that was amazing episodes tonight but still all were very entertaining and I can't wait to continue.  And of course the best part of the evening was spending time with my best bud Robert.. after the crappy morning I had it was nice to relax, watch some great TV with my best friend. I did wind up crashing at Robert's tonight as I'm heading over to Disneyland tomorrow and he's place is an hour closer then mine.

Rough Morning & R.G.Q.: Favorite Alien

Today didn't start off so great. Been having issues with my unemployment insurance lately. Besides getting close to running out, a few days ago I got a call saying I missed a mandatory meeting and to call them back to reschedule. Well I called back and the phone just rang and rang and rang.. this was on Friday. So I figured half day or something and I would call back on Monday. So on Monday I got up first thing and called them. The person who I needed to talk to must have been on the other line as I got her answering machine so I left all my info and waited all day for a return call.. it never happened. On Tuesday I got a letter informing me of my suspension of insurance. I now have to fill out this form and explain why I missed the meeting and if they deem my answer valid then they will reschedule the appointment and continue with my unemployment insurance until it runs out. The reason I missed the meeting was that I never received the letter informing me of this "important" mandatory meeting. I don't know if they deem that as acceptable or not. So I may no longer get my unemployment insurance.. which sucks. I sent in the form so now I just have to wait and see.

But this news and me checking my bank account balance and my ever growing credit card balance I started to have a panic attack. Not a little mini one that I have time to time.. this was a full blown mental breakdown freak out. I spent the next few hours pacing the house, racking my brain over what I can sell and what I can do next. I'm not finding any viable post supervisors or co-coordinator jobs out there. Do I say screw it and take a job at a movie house or department store? Would I make enough to cover all my debt.. no. I'm totally at a loss.

Luckily for me it only lasted about three hours as I was finally able to gathered my senses and take control of my surroundings and managed to pull out of the attack... still stressed out of my mind (and I think that's causing me to have an ulcer, that's another story) but I'm going to take this one day at a time.. it's all I can do.

After this morning the rest of the day was pretty good and the night was even better. I posted another Random Geek Question on Facebook and Twitter: Who or What is your favorite Alien and Why. Folks liked this one I got about 30 or so responses. Lots of aliens from Star Trek, like Spoke, Q and Klingons. But I also got several of the alien from Farscape. Several folks said The Doctor from Doctor Who. And I even had one person say Alf and Mork (two of my favorites). It was a good mix of alien races and specific aliens. Thanks to everyone who participated and if you want to add your favorite alien to the list please leave that in the comment section below.

Alien Nation & My Gimpy Life Podcasts

I released two podcast episodes today.. one was for my Alien Nation The Newcomers Podcast and my second was for My Gimpy Life Podcast. Check out the info and links below.

Alien Nation The Newcomers Podcast Episode 20

Download from itunes http://bit.ly/itunesAlienNation Listen on Stitcher Radio http://app.stitcher.com/browse/feed/32281/episodes or Listen/ Get Direct Download http://Aliennationpodcast.com 

Show Notes

Kenny and special co-host Doug review and discuss a short lived but very socially aware TV series from the late 80's early 90's ALIEN NATION. Each podcast we will review a single episode in sequential order starting with the Pilot. Will give you our thoughts on the episode as well as some fun behind the scenes information.

Today we cover Season 1, Episode 20 - Gimme, Gimme

Directed by David Carson
Written by Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider
Original air date April 9th 1990

Plot Summary: After George invests his money into a new revolutionary fabric, Nu-Knit, one of the creators is murdered. Matt and George investigate this crime and discover some disturbing information about the new company. George also discovers that the company has a connection with another member of his family. Matt sells Albert one of his scratch off lottery tickets and Albert wins the big prize. Albert shares his wealth with Matt and Matt learns sometimes it is better when your dreams do not come true.

My Gimpy Life Podcast Episode 12

I got to sit down with creator and star of My Gimpy Life Teal Sherer and discuss the upcoming season, returning cast members and over all story structure.

Download from itunes http://ow.ly/lFKrg Listen on Stitcher Radio http://ow.ly/lFKe8 or Listen/ Get Direct Download http://mygimpylifepodcast.com/

Podcasts, Finances & R.G.Q: Favorite Sidekick

First thing I did this morning was finish my edit of the next Alien Nation Podcast. I think it turned out to be a pretty good episode. Of course the chemistry between my brother and I is different from Doug and I but Doug sounded like a natural podcaster.  We might be doing a joint project very soon.

I continued with podcasting work as I prepared notes for our upcoming MASH 4077 Podcast recording. We record six episodes four or five times a year, but I have to prepare all the show notes. It's just a matter of scouring the interwebs looking for the best behind the scenes info per episode. Sometimes it's fairly easy to find four or five things for an episode, other times it's next to impossible and I barely find one noteworthy BTS. It normally takes me a good two hours to gather all the info for the notes. After I'm done I share them with my co-hosts Meds and Al. Meds then goes through the guest stars and writes down a little background information on each one. Lot's of prep work for this show but in the end it sounds great and folks seems to really be enjoying it and that makes all the work worth it.

After that I moved onto Geekyfanboy Productions. I have this accounting excel spreadsheet that keeps track of all my spending as well as donations that I receive. I have been slacking as of late and haven't been adding expenses or donations so I spent a good two hours going over it and making sure it was all up to date.

I've been podcasting for over 4 and a half years now and have spent over $10,000 on podcasting alone. As I've always said Podcasting is an expensive hobby. But with that said I have also been fortunate enough to have some amazing listeners and friends who have donated to the podcasts over the years to offset my expenses. I would probably still do the podcast even if I didn't get donations but they help... alot. I recently got hit with three of my podbean services (podcast provider) coming up for a renewal as well as two of my URL's needing renewal for a total over $400.... ouch!!  When you're broke and out of work it's tough justifying paying for those things and not eating but luckily I put the call out a few days ago and I've received donations to cover half of that cost so far... so thanks guys.

I posted another Random Geek Question on Twitter and Facebook: Who's your favorite Sidekick and why. I guess it was either to hard of a question or folks did not like it as I only got a handful of responses. First was Willow from Buffy, I also got Gabrielle from Xena, Arthur from The Tick, Archie Goodwin (Nero Wolfe's), and Moist from Dr. Horrible. And my friend Michael said Kick Ass as Hit Girl is really the star.

I think my favorite sidekick would be Willow, she grew so much over the Buffy series and really become such a huge part of the Scooby gang. Who is your favorite sidekick? Leave it in the comments below.

Star Trek & Random Geek Question: Favorite Heroine

Highlights of today.. I started editing the next Alien Nation Podcast. I really wanted to get it all done but I struggled with laziness. I think in the end laziness won out but I did manage to get about half of the editing done. I'll have to finished up tomorrow as it's due to be released the next day.

Today is Star Trek's 47th Anniversary. 47 years ago today this new science fiction program premiered on NBC and would forever change the geek culture. It only lasted 3 years but it would go on to spawn five more TV series (Animated, TNG, DS9, VOY & ENT) and 10 movies. It has now been rebooted and their have been two more movies with another on the horizon. Star Trek is a pop culture phenomenon and is showing no signs of slowing down or going away. Happy 47th Anniversary Star Trek... here's to 47 more years.

I asked another Random Geek Question on Facebook and Twitter.. Who is your favorite kick ass geek heroine and why? I got a great number of responses. As expected Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Ripley from the Alien movies were on the top of the list, but I did get a wide range of other names like River Tam and Zoe from Firefly, Gabriella from Xena, Wonder Woman and Starbuck from the new BSG. I got several Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series, got an Aeryn Sun from Farscape. Someone said all the women from Once Upon a Time and Willow from Buffy. I even got a few comic book characters like Kitty Pryde and Rogue from The X-Men.

As you can see there are quite a few kick ass heroine's out there. When I asked the question, the ladies that I thought of were of course Buffy but also Leeloo from Fifth Element and River Tam. Who is your favorite kick ass heroine?? Let me know in the comments below.

I spent four hours tonight on You Tube... I went to watch one thing and saw a link to another and then another and the next thing I knew it was midnight and I sat there watching videos for four hours.. talk about a time sucker.