Random Geek Question: Fav. LOTR Character

I asked another Random Geek Question today on Twitter and Facebook. Who's your favorite character from Lord of the Ring/Hobbit, book and movies? Are they same? Different?

I don't know if I just posted this at a bad time (the weekend) or folks don't like Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit. I'm thinking it was the timing but I only got three responses.

Carysabel74 tweeted... Team Gimli here. Lady Eowyn, Samwise, Merry and Pippin. Same in book and movie.

hjkuzcotopia tweeted...  Aragorn and Arwen.

jkeats tweeted... don't know if he's my favorite but I liked movie Aragorn better than book Aragorn. He felt more fleshed out as a character

And I just noticed that it didn't post to my Facebook page so that too might explain why not many people answered. Maybe I'll re-post this question during the week and see if I can get more responses. 

Anyways... For me it's Samwise, loved him in the book and loved him in the movies. I identify with Sam the most, to me he is the true hero of the Lord of the Rings story.

Let me know who is your favorite below...

Podcasting With My Brother

Today my brother and I record more of our Alien Nation podcast. Last month my brother wasn't able to make it so my buddy Doug stepped in to help me out and was great but there is something about the chemistry I have with my brother.. it's pretty awesome. We recorded the next two episodes (Oct and Nov).

The episode that will be released on Nov 10th will be for the final episode of the TV series as Alien Nation only lasted one season. But the podcast won't be over, luckily we got 5 additional TV movies, the theatrical release (the film that started it all) and a handful of comic books (6 mini series) and novels (7). We plane on doing a podcast for each one of these things, so the series might be over but we are far from ending this podcast.

But we  did talk about it and we know this podcast will end at some point in the future, I'm thinking mid 2015, early 2016 and when this happens we are planning to do a podcast the awesome alien invasion series V. It's one of our favorite childhood TV mini series and series. It was also revived a few years ago and we got another few seasons out of it. There are also about 15 novels and a 19 issue comic book series. So there is at the very least 5 years worth of podcasts (if we do one a month). We might even start that one sooner then later and do both Alien Nation and V together... who knows.

Needless to say the podcasting team of Michael and Kenny is far from over.

Random Geek Question: Favorite Captain

So I posted another Random Geek Question on Facebook and Twitter. I asked if you're a Star Trek fan, Who is your favorite Captain.

I have to say I was a bit surprised by the results. I knew Janeway, Sisco and Archer wouldn't get many votes but I really thought Kirk and Picard would be neck and neck. Well they weren't, one of these guys ran away with it. And that person was Captain Jean Luc Picard, he by far was the favorite. I got about 23 replies on Twitter and 2 on Facebook and I would say 75% of you said Picard, with 24% for Kirk and less then 1% for Janeway, Archer, Sisco and even Captain Jellico (who has to be my least favorite Captain of all of Trek).

Most of those who voted for Kirk didn't say he was the best but that he was the first Captain that they saw on Trek and there was a sentimental connection to him.

For Picard I got comments like... 

@BittenUsagi -  Picard. He was the perfect mix of calm & collected and badass. And sexy. Rawr. Lol.

@Autumnbuck - Picard for his strength of character and fidelity to his personal code

@dougluberts  Picard. Kirk was too much of a '60s/Cold War-type leading man (like 007.) Picard's values and character are more modern.

As for my favorite that's tough as I'm a huge Janeway fan but I do love Picard and if push came to shove I would have to pick Picard but Janeway a very close second.

Who is your favorite Star Trek Captain and why.. leave you comments down below.

"Get Fit" Week 9

So it's been a tough week all around. I was getting two workouts a day on the elliptical of at least 20 to 25 minutes each. This week I barely did 15 minutes once a day and I have no excuse.. it's just me being lazy. I also didn't eat that well, with my birthday surprise party on Friday evening and hanging out with friends on Saturday I just made poor choices when eating out. I have eaten out four times this week (Taco Bell, El Pollo Loco, Islands and Green Peas) and I'm really trying to limit that to only once a week.

I really feel like a broke record, I know what I'm eating is bad, I have an internal conversation/argument with myself every time I'm about to eat something that I know I shouldn't, and it only stops me 50% of the time. I knew this was going to be tough so I try and not beat myself down about it but I'm nine weeks in and I was hoping to be under 200lbs by now.

I weighted myself this morning like I do every Friday morning and I came in at 200lbs. I didn't lose any weight but on a positive note I didn't gain any wait.. feels pretty much like a wasted week.

But I'm once again going to try and reign in my "bad" eating habits and try to do at least 30 to 45 minutes of cardio/elliptical a day.  Let's hope next Friday has better result then today.

Moving Abroad

The past few years I have been toying with the idea of moving abroad. I think most of the time it's just a wishful thinking kind of thing.. but today I really had the urge to move. The though of me living in England or Ireland felt right. I was born and raised in Southern California, I'm 43 years old and I have never lived anywhere else. Once I sell the house I will have nothing tying me down here. The only hard part would be leaving my friends (you know who you are) and family (especially my niece and nephew). But I wouldn't want to live abroad forever. I was thinking of moving for a year or so just to experience a different lifestyle.

I think this is the perfect time in my life to do something like this. I've been feeling lost as of late and need some direction in life and I think this is it. Of course I need to sell the house, find a job and save up some money beforehand, so it's not like I'm going to be moving tomorrow but if I can get my life back in order I think I'll really look into making this happen. I'm gonna do a lot of research before I pick up everything and move half way around the world.

I do plan to vacation in England/Ireland in 2014. I'm going for a month and I think that will give me enough time to really get to know the place and determine if I want to live there or not.

It may never happen, life's funny and you never know which way fate will twist it but don't be surprise if you see a blog post in the near future titled "I'm Moving to England".

IT Finale, S.H.I.E.L.D Ep 2 & Best Man Down Review

Forgot to blog about this a few days ago so I figured I'd throw it in today's blog. A couple of days ago they aired the final episode of The IT Crowd. The IT Crowd is a British sitcom set in the London offices of the fictional Reynholm Industries, the show revolves around the three staff members of its IT department: a geeky genius named Maurice Moss, the workshy Roy Trenneman, and Jen Barber, the department head/Relationship Manager, who knows nothing about IT.

The series ran from 2006 to 2010 (4 seasons/series containing 6 episodes each). It ended back in 2010 and we thought that was going to be it. Well a few months back we got word that after a 3 year absence they were going to do a special "final" episode and it finally airing on September 27th in the UK. I of course not being in the UK had to find "other" means of locating the special as they have not announced if it's going to ever air here in the US.

I acquired it a few days ago and couldn't wait to watch it. I've seen it twice now and I really enjoyed it. It was funny, sweet and had lots of nods to previous episodes (the internet) and even some familiar faces like Richmond. I didn't even mind the "boss" in this episode.. normally he's the weakest part of the story in my opinion. It was great seeing these guys again after a 3 year hiatus and they are still as awkward and crazy funny as ever.

I'm glad they had the oppurtunity to officially "finish" the show and finish it well. Moss turning off the light at the very end was very poignant and a fitting end to this series.

I also watched the second episode of Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. This has to be one of my most anticipated series along with Once Upon a Time. I loved the first episode and I couldn't wait for the second and I have to say they did not disappoint. Lot's of character building (the team is still trying to figure out how they all fit together). Lot's of action, which is always great and a lot of what I like to call "Joss" humor.

I really enjoy Coulson as a character and Simmons and Fits (still don't know if they are more like brother/sister or husband/wife relationship, but I'm leaning more towards brother and sister. But there is one character that I'm really enjoying and can't wait to hear more of her back story and that's Ming Na's character Melinda May. She is a major bad ass and we really don't know much about her, all we know is she is a hard core agent who asked to be taken out of the field for some reason which I'm sure will find out one day. She really reminds me of Black Widow who I really enjoyed in the movie.

As I'm doing this blog a few days later then the actual day of the blog I have already seen the ratings for the second episode and I have so say I'm disappointed. I mean the premiere episode did okay ratings but the second one dropped something like 20% which isn't good. I have heard people complain about the series but I really don't have a clue what they are complaining about. I love it and I hope it does better or at least holds up in the ratings so we can get a full season and hopefully many more afterwards.

During the evening instead of TV night with my best bud Robert we went out to dinner at Islands and then to a PGA pre-screening of a Justin Long's new movie called Best Man Down. Quick synopsis, A newlywed couple cancels their honeymoon and returns to the snowy Midwest to make the funeral arrangements for their best man, who died unexpectedly after their ceremony. What they find out is that they didn't really know who their friend was.

I have liked Justin Long ever since he did Galaxy Quest so when I read the description of this movie I thought it was going to be a light comedy. Well it was really a Dramady. There were some funny moments but it really was more of a drama. As you learn about this "best man" and the life he was leading you slowly put the piece of the puzzle together until the very end were it's all laid out for you and you get that... oh that's why he did this.. or now I understand why he did that. This movie had alot of sweet moments mixed in with some very tense and emotional moments. I only cried at the end when the mom said a line about her son (the one who died). That she was afraid that he would never find someone to love and that in return would never be loved.. Oh that just broke my heart and the tears started to flow.

It's not a crazy action packed movie, it's a nice simple story about love, compassion and surviving life. I give Best Man Down a nice solid B+

Hobbit Trailer & Playing Injustice: Gods Among Us

Peter Jackson released a new trailer for part 2 of the Hobbit series, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. I know this is a shocker but the more I see of this the more excited I am for it. This was a full trailer and jam packed with lots of goodies. My favorite comes towards the end when Smaug speaks. Besides seeing what Smaug looks like which we got in the last trailer everyone wanted to know what he would sound like and we got that in this trailer and it's perfect. Benedict Cumberbatch is going the voice of Smaug so we knew it would be good but oh man they nailed it (at least in my opinion, which all that matters on this blog). It's only a few months away, but until then check out the awesome trailer for The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug.

During the evening I went to hang out with my friends Jen and Will. Will made some very tasty chili for dinner and the three of us played my new Xbox game (that Will got me for my birthday) Injustice: Gods Among Us. If you don't know what this game is.. it's a fighting game based upon the fictional universe of DC Comics. We had a blast, it's only a two player game but the third player would play the winner of each round and none of us really dominated so we all got to play quite a bit. We played until about 12:30am but we could have played all night if these guys didn't have to work the next morning.

I just read the wiki page for this game and there is a really good storyline in it. So far we've only seen a little bit. What I like about this game is you could play the story that they have planned or you could just fight each other and have no ties to the story what so ever. I think for what we did the just fight was best as for the storyline it looks to be a single player game. I do plan to actually play out the storyline.

This is just a small portion of the plot.. you can read the rest HERE.

In an alternate reality, the Joker has tricked Superman into killing Lois Lane and their unborn son and destroying Metropolis with a nuclear explosion. In retaliation, Superman murders the Joker and quickly loses his moral compass. He establishes a new world order as the High Councilor. A war ensues between the forces of Superman's Regime and those allied with Batman's Insurgency. Five years into the war, the Insurgency discovers the Justice League's universe where the Joker's plan did not succeed and transports several of its super heroes (Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, and Green Lantern, with Batman and the Joker being caught up in the transfer by accident) to their world in order to help them defeat the Regime. Batman and the Joker are confronted by the Regime in a dystopian-like Metropolis, but Batman uses his gear to help them both escape and go their separate ways.

TV Reviews: Mom, Brooklyn Nine-Nine & We Are Men

Today I watched some more new TV series and I am going to give you my thoughts on them. First up was Mom, From hit-maker Chuck Lorre comes his next big comedy‐an irreverent and outrageous take on true family love‐and dysfunction. Newly sober single mom Christy struggles to raise two children in a world full of temptations and pitfalls. Testing her sobriety is her formerly estranged mother, now back in Christy's life and eager to share passive-aggressive insights into her daughter's many mistakes.

The reason I actually even wanted to watch this series was because of Allison Janney, who I loved from The West Wing. But it also stars Anna Faris who I find very funny. I've seen two episodes so far and it's funny, it's not "must see" funny but I laughed out loud several times during the show. It's not a role I could ever imagine Allison doing as I'm use to seeing her in the more serious drama roles but she is funny. If times gets restricted this series would probably fall to the waste side but for now I'll continue to watch and laugh at Mom.

Another new comedy that I watched is called Brooklyn Nine-Nine, this series is an ensemble comedy about what happens when a talented, but carefree, detective and his diverse group of colleagues get a new captain with a lot to prove.

It stars Adam Samberg who is hilarious in Saturday Night Live. I missed the pilot as I wasn't really that interested in this but I do watch Dads and this series airs after and my DVR captured a few minutes of the first episode and it caught my attention so I recorded the next episode and just watched it. It's funny but like with most comedies this TV season, it's not a "must see" TV for me. I'll continue to watch but if I need to drop any TV this year this would go first.

I also watched We Are Men, this series is about four single guys living in a short-term apartment complex who unexpectedly find camaraderie over their many missteps in love. Carter, the youngest and most recent addition to the group, moved in after being ditched at the altar mid-ceremony, and is now eager to re-enter the dating scene and get on with his life with some guidance from his "band of brothers": Frank Russo, a successful middle-aged clothing manufacturer and four-time divorcée who still fancies himself a ladies man; Gil Bartis, a small business owner who was caught having the world's worst affair; and Stuart Weber, a speedo-wearing OB/GYN who's hiding his assets until his second divorce is settled. Armed with a hot tub, pool-side barbeque and plenty of questionable advice, these losers in the marriage department take Carter under their wing to impart their own brand of wisdom about the opposite sex.

I wanted to watch this one because it stars Jerry O'Connell but I have to say I wasn't impressed with the pilot. I liked all the male bonding and all the bros stuff but I didn't think it was funny. As with most new series I'll give them three or four episodes before I decide to drop it or not.. but as of right now the jury is still out on We Are Men.

Geeky Tattoos

I've always liked tattoos and knew that I was going to get one, one of these days. My problem was that I couldn't pick what I wanted on my body for the rest of my life. In my 30's I decided I was going to combine four of my loves into one tattoo. That sounds good in theory but in practicality that wasn't a good idea as the tattoo would have to be huge to see all the details. So instead I opted for one tattoo each for my four loves, which are Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. So at age 40 I got my first tattoo and loved it. Subsequently every year after I have gotten another one. 40 was Harry Potter, 41 was Star Wars, 42 was Lord of the Rings and now that I'm 43 it's time for another one which will be Star Trek.

I thought that would be it, I'd have those four and call it quits but I haven't even gotten my fourth one yet and I'm planning a fifth, sixth, seventh and possibly eighth tattoo.

I'm a huge Firefly fan so I thought about getting a Firefly tattoo. I'm also a big Superman fan, always have been, so Superman is on my list and recently I saw a special on E.T. and it brought back such great memories when I was kid that I decided I want an E.T. tattoo as well.

My buddy Robert and I have been talking about getting a "matching" tattoo that represents our geeky friendship. We might go with something Firefly so that would take care of two tattoos for me in one go but I'm willing to get an eighth one if we decide to not go with a Firefly themed one.

Getting tattoos is like a drug, you become addicted to them. They are pieces of art that you carry around with you. They represent who you are as a person (at least they do for me). I don't know if I'll be getting all these planned tattoos or not, all I know is I love being a geek and seeing it represented on my body everyday is AWESOME!!!!

MASH 4077 Podcast Episode 63

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 & special guest listener co-host Ryan Patrick discuss one of the most successful and longest running television series in history.. M*A*S*H

Today we cover Season 3, Episode #15 - Bombed

63rd Episode Overall
Directed by Hy Averback
Written by Jim Fritzell & Everett Greenbaum
Production code B320
Original air date January 7, 1975

Set during the Korean War in the 1950’s

Plot Summary: While Radar tries to stop the camp from being shelled by their own artillery, Frank finds a wounded enemy soldier wired to explode, Margaret and Trapper get stuck in a supply shed and Henry and Father Mulcahy get blown up in the latrine.

Wonder Women & Doctor Who

Here's a mixed blog post today.. some geeky things, some personal things.

First up geeky.. if you haven't seen this yet my friend Rileah Vanderbilt is playing Wonder Woman in this short teaser concept trailer. Other friends America Young and Clare Grant are also in this short. Rainfall films wanted to prove that Wonder Woman can be done right for either TV or movie and I think they nailed it. I love the look of Wonder Woman, the style of that world. I like that they showed us her in "our" world and her homeworld. The effect were amazing and the fighting scenes were well made. Check it out for yourself.. you won't be disappointed.

 

I've been wanting to continue to paint the outside of my house but we've had gusty winds the past week and using a paint sprayer in a wind storm isn't smart but today I went out and painted by hand with a roller and brush. I only lasted a half hour before I had to come in and get out of the heat. I did go back out later in the evening for another hour or so to finish up what I started earlier. Still have lots to go but I'm hoping the winds die down so I can rent that paint sprayer. 

My best friend Chris texted me that he was about to get on his plane for his deployment overseas. It's going to rough not seeing him for six months. I mean it was hard enough when he was re-stationed to Montana but at least I was able to visit him and he could visit me. Him being overseas makes that impossible. Luckily he's not going into a combat area but still nowhere is truly safe over there. All we can do is keep happy thoughts and wish him well. Once he's settled in he'll be giving me his address so I can send him some care packages (which I'm really looking forward to). Hopefully six months will fly by and he'll be back with us in no time. 

I spent a good chunk of the day watching some Doctor Who specials. I've been recording them since the beginning of the year. Each one focus' on a certain Doctor. They started with the first doctor in January, second doctor in February and so on. I have recorded the first nine doctors so far. They haven't aired the 10th or 11th yet. Each one has interviews with Doctor Who actors and creators, some from the actual time period that's being covered. They created these in honor of Doctor Who's 50th anniversary.

I wasn't the biggest Doctor Who fan, I had seen episodes here and there from the Tom Baker (fourth doctor) era, but really didn't get into it until it was rebooted with the 9th doctor Christopher Eccleston. 

I really enjoyed this retrospectives. I learned alot about each doctor and their companions.They even had episodes from that doctor that aired after the special. I didn't watch the episodes as I hate watching things out of order but I hope to one day go back and start at the beginning of Who. 

Best Friends & Neverland

I finally got to talk (over the phone) to my best friend Chris. He's being deployed overseas and has been extremely busy getting ready. Since Chris and I met a few years ago we have talked/texted/Skyped/Messaged each other almost everyday but the past two weeks we've only "texted/messaged" a few times and I've been really missing him. But today we actually got on the phone and talked for over an hour and 15 minutes.. it was AWESOME.

Unfortunately he had gotten very sad news in the morning so we talked about that for a bit before talking about what's been going on in our lives the past few weeks. We don't know how things will be once he is overseas so this might be the last time I get to talk to him for six months (at least over the phone) so we made every minute count. It was great to hear his voice and catch up.

After talking to Chris I moved onto TV. Tonight Once Upon a Time season 3 was to premiere. But first they aired a really cool recap show called "Journey To Neverland"

After the recap I got to watch Ep 1 of Season 3, if you're a regular reader of my blog you know I love Once Upon A Time and I have been really looking forward to this. (SPOILERS) The episode started with Henry being born in the prison. I liked the lights flickering and going out at the moment of Henry's birthday (Magic). My heart broke when Emma refused to even look at baby Henry. We then go to Hook's ship with our main casts arriving in Neverland.

There were some fun moments in this episode like when Neal is talking to Mulan about "our world" and how there is a movie about her. Or Hook making a snide remark about Rumpelstiltskin changing clothes all the time. And Regina making a comment to Snow about fixing everything with “rainbow kisses and unicorn stickers”.

Once Rumple was back in Neverland you could see The Dark One reemerging. We find out that he has had dealings with Peter Pan before.

It was good to see the Enchanted Forrest and Aurora, Prince Phillip, Mulan and Robin Hood (played by a different actor then last season). I hope we get to see Storybrooke soon. 

Emma's got more spunk than ever and the take charge mentality suits her. She rally's the team together when things seem to be falling apart. She also had my favorite line in the episode "The way we succeed in getting Henry back, is just by being who we are, a Hero, a Villain, a Pirate. It doesn't matter which as we are going to need all these skills weather we can stomach them or not."

I enjoyed the mermaids, I like that they are "evil" or at least the attackers.

I liked Henry and the lost boy he was running with until the twist which I didn't see coming. The lost boy was actually Peter Pan. I like that he's very different from the original. He's the mastermind behind this entire plan. He wants Henry's heart as Henry is a true believer.

I was happy that they killed off Greg and Tamara. I never really liked these characters. Greg gets his "soul" ripped out by that black shadow thing and Tamara is shot by a arrow but you find out she doesn't die. Rumple find her and heals her only to rip her heart out and kill her.... so good.

I really enjoyed this episode and I can't wait for episode 2... so happy Once Upon A Time is back!!!