My Gimpy Life Shoot: Day 5 (Final Day)

Today is the final day of principal photography. They still have a few pick up shots but they are using a skeleton crew (which does not include me). So today is my last day on set of My Gimpy Life season two.

We shot in Hollywood once again. Today was alot of waiting in the holding area with a handful of extras, including friends Aaron T, Aaron M, Dallas, Heather, Diane and Jessica. I got a few crew member interviews and also some of the special new cast members. Also Marissa Cuevas  returns as Teal's friend and is awesome as always.

I was excited for today as several of "special" new cast members were well known celebrates. First up was Mindy Sterling, she has over 140 credits to her name, but she's best known for Frau in Austin Powers movies.. she was super sweet, and gave a very good interview.

The next one was Mitch Silpa who has over 40 credits to his title, including Bridesmaid & Desperate Housewives. He too was great, very nice and gave me a great interview.

But my favorite celeb today was Geri Jewell, who played Geri in The Facts of Life. I was super excited to meet her since I'm a HUGE Facts of Life fan. I have to say she's still as funny and charming as ever. I got a great interview out of her about disabled actors in Hollywood and if it's gotten any better over her 30+ career in the industry.

I'm sad that the shoot is over but I can't wait to see how they put this season together... lot's of good stuff is coming your way. It was great seeing Teal and the gang of My Gimpy Life. I got some great interviews both with crew and cast and I can't wait to put these podcasts together and get them out for all to listen.

A special thanks to Teal for allowing me to be part of your Gimpy Life family. 

My Gimpy Life Shoot: Day 4

Today is our fourth day on set of My Gimpy Life Season Two. I picked up buddy Russell on my way to set. Today we spent the entire day in the Hollywood area at Gabe's house (he's the writer). Main cast was there today, Teal, Daryl (Brian), Teale and Brent as well as some special cast members (which it looks like they are keeping those guys as a surprise at the moment). There were several extras, friends Anne and Nicki as well as a new guy Sean. And I was also an extra for today. I can't give you the details but it's going to be pretty awesome and I can't wait to see the final product.

I got to interview Teale, Daryl and Brent as well as some crew members. These companioncasts are going to be chuck full of awesome behind the scenes information.

Tomorrow is our final day of shooting (though they are doing pick up shoots with a skeleton crew on Monday).

"Get Fit" Week 10

I knew this was going to be a rough week since I would be on set of My Gimpy Life. I am up at 7am and not in bed until midnight. No workouts and lots of tasty craft service. I was sure I was going to gain this week but I'm a extremely happy and surprised to say that I maintained. Weight myself this morning and I came in at 200lbs. That's a gain/loss of 0lbs from last week. It sucks that I can't seem to get below 200 but I am extremely happy that I didn't gain any weight. Let's hope with my next weight in I'll finally be below 200lbs.

Gravity - My Review

So I left the My Gimpy Life shoot at 5pm and had to be Universal Citywalk by 6pm to meet up with some friends. I got to our meeting location around 6:15 and was joined by Doug and Jes. Robert and Cait were running late so the three of us decided on a place to eat. We headed over to Tony Roma's as they have great food (but expensive) but we don't eat it that often. By the time we sat down and got our drinks Robert and Cait joined us. It was a nice dinner and by the time we were done our friend Dallas joined us.

After dinner we headed over to the theater to watch Gravity in IMAX 3D. And this was a true IMAX theater as there are only a few in the Los Angeles area. One great thing about this IMAX theater is that you can purchase assigned seating so there is no waiting in line to get a decent seat. We arrived at the theater around 8pm, as our movie was to start at 8:15pm. We made our way to our seats, which was middle, middle of the theater. Robert, Cait, Dallas and Myself sat together then we had two strangers sitting next to us and then Jes and Doug (who purchased there tickets a few days later then I did).

If you've been living under a rock and have no idea what Gravity is.. here is a brief synopsis: Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone - tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness.

I've seen a few clips from this movie and heard some rave reviews but I really didn't know much about it, which I was very happy about.

My Review: The movie starts with this beautiful 16 minute continuous shot, it's pretty breath taking. About 10 minutes in the disaster strikes and all hell brakes loose. The story is a simple one.. survival. The acting is incredible, I mean I'm a huge Sandra Bullock fan and she really shined in this movie. But the real star of this film is the cinematography, which is truly amazing. This movie runs one hour and 31 minutes and there isn't a single moment to stop and take a breath.

Before I saw this movie I heard some folks say how can they do 90 minutes of someone floating in space but they pull it off.. not only do they pull it off but they go above and beyond. This movie feels like it just flies by.

I spent the first 20 minutes of this film with my hand over my mouth, I was just in awe. I didn't realized until the credits start to role how tense my body was. Soon as those credits started to roll I would feel this release of energy and I could breath again. This was one of the most intense and I mean constantly intense movies that I have ever seen.

This was truly a movie going experience and I'm so glad I got to see it in true IMAX 3D.  I give Gravity a solid A and I hope to see it win or at least be nominated for some Academy Awards.

My Gimpy Life Shoot: Day 3

Day three of the shoot was out in Pasadena at someone's house. It was on this beautiful tree lined street. The house was old but incredible looking. It was a good day for me as I got to interview alot of the crew for my "behind the scenes" crew edition podcast.

No extras today.. it was all about Teal and Brent... also Daryl Crittenden returns as Brian, who I loved in season one and Daryl is just a cool guy so it was nice getting to hang out with him as well. 

I only stayed until 5pm as I had dinner and movie plans later in the evening. 

But overall it was another successful shoot day. Lot's of fun things are happening.

Alien Nation: The Newcomers Podcast Ep 21

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

Brothers Kenny and Michael Mittleider 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 21 - The Touch
Directed by Harry Longstreet
Written by Steven Long Mitchell & Craig Van Sickle
Original air date April 30th 1990

Plot Summary: Cathy is reunited with a young boy she knew on the ship, but something terrible has happened to him. Cathy convinces George and Matt to look into this matter and what they find is terrifying. George and Susan begin looking for daycare for Vessna

More Babylon 5

After the Gimpy Life shoot I headed over to my buddy Robert's place for our weekly TV night. We continue our first time viewing of Babylon 5. Tonight we watched Season 2, episodes 14, 15 & 16.

First up S2 Ep14 "There All The Honor Lies"Sheridan kills a Minbari warrior in self-defense, but a Minbari witness to the incident claims it was not justified.

This was an okay episode. I didn't like how Delenn turned so quickly on Sheridan. But the overall out came was well done. There was a bit of humor in this episode with the Babylon 5 merchandise and Ivanova dealing with it and Londo insisting that they stop selling dolls in his likeness.The viewers knew it was a set up from the beginning, but for some reason Sheridan didn't see it and it was frustrating but then Garibaldi steps in and says exactly what the viewers are thinking that this was a set up... now they just have to prove it. I really enjoyed Lennier steppping up in this episode.

Next was S2 Ep15 "And Now For A Word" ISN films a segment on Babylon 5, right in the midst of an deadly conflict between the Narn Regime and the Centauri Republic.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this episode when it started as a news report but it turned out to be one of the better ones this season. It just goes to show you that the Centauri's are ruthless bullies. 

And our final episode of the evening was S2 Ep16 "In The Shadow of Z'Ha' Dum" Is John Sheridan above the law? His heart overrides his head when he illegally detains a visitor - Morden - who may know if Sheridan's wife, Anna, presumed dead on an ill-fated scientific exploration is still alive.

I had a hard time with Sheridan in this episode but WOW what an episode, they spilled a ton of information in this episode that I'm sure will be played out over the next few seasons.  We find out about the "first ones" and that Kosh and his race the Vorlons are the last of them. They are in for a huge battle. This episode definitely left me wanting more.. can't wait to continue this series.

It was a long but AWESOME day...

My Gimpy Life Shoot: Day 2

It's day two of My Gimpy Life season two shoot. Today we are in Hollywood at a local theater. I was super excited for today's shoot as I was going to see two of my favorite people from last season's shoot, Teale Sperling & Steven Dengler. 

I'm so happy that Teale is returning for another season. She's still as sweet and kind as she was in season one.. well the actor not the character :)

Steven returns as a co-executive producer this season and has a cameo role like he did last season. I always love my conversations with Steven. He is one of the most interesting people I know. 

I look forward to sharing both of their interviews with you guys.

To my surprise I got to meet, for the first time, Stephanie Thorpe. I've been a huge fan of hers for several years. I have been to several of her panels at cons and have always wanted to meet her in person and today was the day. She's as sweet and kind as I expected. I was fortunate enough to interview her as well for the companioncast and she has some awesome things on the horizon.

Like yesterday today was such a smooth shoot day. Everything went as planned and if it didn't we weren't aware of it. Line producer Allison is amazing and runs such a smooth ship. 

I got to see a few friends today who were extras, got to meet and interview a new cast member who was hilarious. 

The day just flew by and before I knew it, day two of My Gimpy Life season two shoot was over.

Random Geek Question: Cosplay

I posted another Random Geek Question on Facebook and Twitter... If you were to Cosplay, who would you cosplay as and why?

This wasn't a popular question as I only got a handful of responses. From Facebook my friend Olivia who is a huge cosplayer said that her dream cosplay would be Ariel from Little Mermaid but she would want to do a "real" tail, which means she wouldn't be able to walk.

On Twitter @TheMightyJerd tweeted -  Never cosplayed, but if I did, the only 2 I would attempt are: Daredevil (favorite superhero) or George Asakura from G-Force.

@thatonetechguy tweeted anything tron as I love the art style, also because I have to wear glasses I would say Gordon freeman from half-life.

My best bud @TheRobZone tweeted - Isaac Clarke, from Dead Space. Because his outfit in the first game is fantastic.

My friend @dougluberts answered with a non-answer - Too many possibilities! Too many wizards to cosplay! Not to mention Sith Lords, Disney characters, and other stuffs!

As for me well you all know I cosplay as a Hobbit (Frodo/Bilbo) but I'm working on a Samwise cosplay and a Dwarf (not sure which one yet). I have also cosplayed as a Hogwarts student and a member of Starfleet.

Thanks to those who answered this question.

What would you cosplay as?? Leave you comments below.

Episode 3 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Got home from today's My Gimpy Life shoot and had a few hours to kill before bed time so I worked out on my elliptical while watching episode 3 of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

This series continues to excited and impress me. I love the characters more and more each week. I think this is my most anticipated show on right now.. taking the place of Once Upon a Time, which I still love. Here's a quick synopsis of this weeks episode.

S.H.I.E.L.D. searches for one of its assets, Dr. Franklin Hall, who was kidnapped by his former research partner Ian Quinn. He wants to use Hall to take control over the planet's gravity. Skye attempts to infiltrate Quinn's mansion so that Coulson's S.H.I.E.L.D. team can rescue Hall.

This was a heavy Skye episode. She's not my favorite character but an interesting one. We still don't know where her allegiance lye. At the end of last weeks episode it looked like she is still working for Rising Tide and has successfully infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. But tonight's episode you were suppose to believe her loyalties were being questioned again but I knew all along she was going to side with S.H.I.E.L.D. She's seems to be a very conflicted character.

It was awesome seeing Coulson in the field. His issues with his gun (it was brought up twice) really get's you thinking that this isn't the "real" Coulson, something is just off about him. I'm glad agent May is getting back into the field as she can really kick some ass. I can't wait for them to reveal more of her character.

And just like last week.. I loved the last scene of tonight's episode. Did Agent Coulson inadvertently create the next super villain? Only time will tell. I can't wait for episode 4 next week.

My Gimpy Life Shoot: Day 1

Today is the first shoot day of My Gimpy Life Season Two. I've been with My Gimpy Life since the beginning. When Teal first came up with the idea for this webseries she asked me if I wanted to be part of it and I of course said yes. I offered my services as a podcaster and said I would love to do a CompanionCast for the webseries. This is similar to my popular Knights of the Guild, which is a CompanionCast for the webseries The Guild.

So were back for season two and I planned to be on set everyday doing interviews with cast and crew members. We're shooting four episodes in five days. Day one we were in Pasadena at a local coffee house. Teal was there of course as well as returning cast member Brent (who plays her roommate). We also were joined by several new cast members, Russell and Carlos.

Carlos was hilarious and a pleasure to interview for the podcast. Russell who is also one of the co-executive producers of this season was fantastic. We interviewed for a good 30 minutes, this is his first "significant" acting role and he nailed it.

Sometimes you meet people and you just have this feeling that you were meant to be friends, Russell and I just clicked.

It was a great shoot, we had this incredible craft service person Michelle who made us feel like we were on this high budget production. Even with one incident that could have shut down the shoot for the weekend, everyone remained calm, resolved the issue and moved on. I have to say this was one of  the smoothest shoots I've ever been on.  I'm looking forward to day two.

Ups & Downs of Home Ownership

So today the winds have finally died down and I planned to use my new paint sprayer and move one step closer to finishing my house painting. I first read all the user guides as this was the first time I was ever using a paint sprayer and I wanted to make sure I as doing it correctly. It all seemed simple enough so I did as directed and filled up the cup with paint and headed out to the garage. I decided to start with the back of the garage just in case this didn't go so well and I'm very thankful that I did.

As I was spraying the paint, it came out in like specks. Some places it was super thick and some it didn't cover at all. I figured I'll just have to do several passes to cover everything. But after several passes it looked like I was texturing the wall. I actually had to take a paint roller and go over the entire thing to smooth it out, and remove the excess paint. As I'm doing this I'm thinking to myself that this was a waste of time. I'm now doing double the work to get this painted and I fill like I waste a ton of paint.

About thirty minutes into the job the paint sprayer got clogged and that was the end of my painting day. It took me about an hour or so to pull everything apart and clean it out. I spent more time cleaning the sprayer then actually using it to paint. It could be that I got a "cheap" sprayer (it was $100), as there were a range of prices from $69 to $350. But this experience didn't turn out like I was hoping and so I'm going to go back to just hand painting my house, which of course means it's going to take me even longer :(

But even though the painting was a disaster I did manage to fix my irrigation system and it cost me very little money. I had called the company who installed it and the customer service person told me what she thought the problem was but after I got off the phone I checked what she had mentioned and it looked fine so I dug deeper into the website and read a bit more and then went out to the device and played around with it. I found this secret compartment that contained a 9 volt battery so I replaced it and viola it's working again. Months ago when it stopped working I figured it was just the battery but when I checked the device it had a power source and plugged into the wall so I figured that's where it was getting it's power but for some reason they battery was an intricate part of the system.

I was mad at myself for not deviling deeper into the problem months ago.. could have saved myself 3 months of watering my property by hand everyday. But I'm just happy that's one problem that I don't have to deal with again.

I also filled in a hole on the top of my roof. I noticed it a few weeks ago when I was up there painting. It looks like a bird (assuming my menacing wood pecker) made a hole right through the roof shingle. So I purchased a patching kit and some cocking asphalt to fill it up. This was probably the easiest of the house problem to fix. Took me about ten minutes and it was sealed and good to go.

I have set my goal for getting my house up on the market. I don't care if it's completely done or not it's going up come November 1st. I hope to at least have the outside of the house painting done. The deck and the minor inside stuff I can do in time but I need to sell this house ASAP.

Podcasting Team

Today I recorded six new episodes of my MASH 4077 Podcast. Unfortunately one of the co-hosts (Al) wasn't able to make it so it was just two of us (Meds and I) for four of the episodes. I did manage to get a third person (Don) to help us out on a few. He is a listener and fan of the podcast. He made a donation to the podcast which gave him the opportunity to co-host with us.  As always it's alot of fun, but with two hosts and not three we did manage to get through these podcasts alot quicker.

But Al was missed, he's the humor of the show, his back and forth banter with Meds is priceless. I'm not saying that the shows we recorded without him are going to be bad or not funny but he does bring alot of that to the show. You realized that the three of us make the prefect team.. maybe that's why our MASH podcast is getting more and more popular as time goes on.