A Wedding

Today I attended the wedding of two of my friends Dave and Kevin. I've known Dave for almost 15 years and I remember when he first started dating Kevin. They moved to Florida over 8 years ago and I have kept in contact via Facebook and email but I haven't seen these guys since then.

Since marriage isn't possible in Florida and their families live here in California they decided to have their wedding at the Burbank Marriot. Luckily for me that's only a 15 minute drive. Once I was there I ran into some old friends Chad, Arthur, Gary and Richie. It was great seeing these guys. We use to hang out on a more regular bases but it's been years since I've seen them and I really miss them.

What was great and different about Dave and Kevin's wedding is that they were having the wedding ceremony in the middle of the dance floor in the reception room. We didn't have to go to two different places. We just took our seats at our assigned table (Chad, Richie, Gary, along with two women and a young girl sat at our table) and the ceremony began.

I was doing well until Dave went to give his vows and he was having a hard time talking because he was crying.. I lost it after that... it was a very emotional moment. Of course Kevin was crying after that and he had to give his vows next. It was a very sweet and simple ceremony.

Family and friends gave speeches, lots of laughs. After that they started to serve dinner. I had the chicken which was very tasty. They did the traditional mom and son first dance. Then the party began. The DJ was very funny but I wasn't a fan of his choice of music as there was to much hip hop for my taste. The younger kids loved it so I guess that's good but he would occasionally play some awesome 80's tunes and the dance floor would be packed. They cut the cake about midway through the dancing.

It was a fun night full of dancing, eating and good friends. Congratulations to Dave and Kevin on tying the knot. You guys are fantastic couple.. I wish you two all the best in your future endeavors. Thank you for inviting me to your special day.

Helping Others

Back in my mid 20's to 30's I did quite a bit of volunteering. I use to volunteer for APLA (AIDS Project Los Angeles), Babies with AIDS and Big Brothers of America. I was with APLA for six years, Babies with AIDS about a year and Big Brothers of America for a year.

Recently I've been thinking about getting back into volunteering. I have a big heart and so much love to share. I think it will be good for me to get back out there and help where I can. I'm leaning towards working with special needs children. Something in my heart tells me this is where I need to be.

I also want to get back into the "Big Brother" program. I only did it for a year back in 2006 and had two "little" brothers. My first "little" moved away six months into the program and my second "little" had such bad anxiety/separation issues that we felt it was best if he was pulled from the program. It was hard on me as I lost two "littles" within a year. When I started the program I figured I'd be with one kid until adulthood (of course that was stupid of me to think that, but I did) so I decided to take a break from the program and unfortunately life got in the way and I never went back. But I think it's time to try again.

Random Geek Question and Lucy

So I asked Twitter and Facebook another Random Geek Question. This time it was "What is your favorite Joss Whedon project?"

Here is what I got from Twitter:

@piratescribe  Firefly. Hands down :)

@Ruvio  Dr. Horrible. I mean drama, romance, musical, soliloquy's, NPH, Felicia Day and Nathan Fillion Fuggedubaahhdit

@Josh_TolkienFan dammit! So difficult to choose!!! Gun to my head—I’ll say Firefly.

From Facebook:

Erik Nelson I gotta go with Buffy, even with newer great stuff.

Matthew Luchsinger Angel season 5.

Lorelai K. Perrin Buffy (the movie), Buffy, especially Once More With Feeling, Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, Firefly/Serenity, Smile Time...honestly everything that man has ever touched is my favorite (trying not to sound like a crazy fan girl...I just really appreciate his art.)

Amy Chickenlips McGee Teplow Buffy forever.

Ginger Potter Buffy, Firefly, Toy Story

Michael Roach Dr. Horrible, then Buffy

Marsia Powers 1. Buffy (Angele is a part of Buffy-verse IMO) 2. Avengers/SHIELD 3. Dr Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog 4. Cabin in the Woods tied with Much Ado 

Jennifer Luchsinger EVERYTHING

Alissa Sheleng Firefly/Serenity, Avengers, Dr. Horrible, and SHIELD.

Sebastiaan Van Dijk Buffy, Firefly, Dr. Horrible. Hon. Mention for Twister and Titan A.E.

Aaron Trahan Firefly/Serenity, Angel, Buffy and Agents of Shield. But with more Agents of Shield it will move up.

Hannah Brown Buffy. But I like everything else too.

So it looks like Buffy and Firefly are the top choices. For me it's a tough call but I think I would have to go with Firefly. Buffy was fantastic but there are seven seasons and episodes were hit and misses.. With Firefly it was only 14 episodes and in my opinion all 14 are must see episodes.

Recently I was watching something about summer movies and saw a clip of Scarlett Johansson in New York were she waves her hands and time stops. I thought to myself.. what the heck is that from. Then I saw something about her new movie Lucy so I checked out the trailer and OMG how did I not know about this. I mean the trailer was released back in April when I was in England but still. This movie looks AMAZING and I can't wait to check it out. If you haven't seen the trailer.. check it out below.

The Hollywood Sci-Fi Museum Project

I just heard about this Kickstarter program and it only has 60 hours left and still need over $25,000 to hit their goal. It's called the Hollywood Science Fiction Museum. Here is a brief description of their project from this Kickstarter page - New Starship Foundation, the nonprofit behind the Enterprise-D Bridge Restoration, with board members including the greatest talents in science fiction, presents THE HOLLYWOOD SCIENCE FICTION MUSEUM. This will be the first museum in the world to exclusively show the history of sci-fi films, TV, art and literature through props, sets and costumes, as well as show advancements in space travel and teach Real Science through Science Fiction. It will be an interactive museum with fully immersive environments and touch screens that will incorporate old and new footage from actors, filmmakers and NASA astronauts and scientists, and will present both the fact and fiction of sci-fi. This will eventually teach Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) based education in a fun new way to all ages. The museum will include exhibits from: Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, 2001, Alien, Metropolis, Thunderbirds, Firefly, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate, Blake's 7, Ghostbusters, Farscape, The Time Machine, Godzilla, X-Men, Avengers, Superman, Planet of the Apes, Back to the Future, Day the Earth Stood Still, V, Batman, Six Million Dollar Man, Bionic Woman, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, as well as Fantasy like Lord of the Rings, Labyrinth, Legend, Munsters, Herbie the Love Bug, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Dark Crystal, Game of Thrones, Anime like Akira and Speed Racer, and anything else we can fit within our walls.

This Kickstarter is to acquire the funds to develop our 2015 Hollywood Sci Fi Museum, which will be smaller than the future museum, but still significant and unique. They want to show that something like this in Hollywood could work. If all goes as planned, the permanent one will be built and open by 2018.

You can go to their website HollywoodSciFi.org for pictures and footage of what they have planned. It's a very ambitious project but if it turns out like they plan it's going to be one of the most amazing places for sci fi and fantasy fans.

(Edit... since I'm late on blogging the Kickstarter is down to 3 hours but I'm happy to say they reached their goal.) You can see there Kickstarter page HERE. I'm happy that I donated and will be a small part this is amazing project.

You can check out a video explaining the project.

Babylon 5 S4 Comes To An End

Tonight my buddy Robert and I finished off Season Four of Babylon 5. We only had two episodes to watch tonight so we started with Ep21 "Rising Star".

Here's a brief synopsis: Marcus reaches Babylon 5 and uses the Alien Healing Device to save Ivanova's life and dies in the process. Delenn launches the Interstellar Alliance; Sheridan is forced to resign from EarthForce to receive amnesty for himself and the rest of his staff. The Alliance is announced in a press conference at Earthgov's headquarters in Geneva, with a dramatic flyover by the entire White Star fleet. In later negotiations with Earth concerning its membership in the Interstellar Alliance, it is revealed that Sheridan has been elected as its first President.

Susan Ivanova is offered the command of a Warlock class destroyer. Garibaldi wins back his girlfriend Lise Hampton-Edgars. Delenn and Sheridan get married on a White Star and return to Babylon 5. G'Kar uses his artificial eye to view the proceedings in Sheridan and Delenn's bedroom.

This episode was pretty much what I had expected. It was a "wrap up" episode. Susan is devastated that Marcus sacrificed himself for her and that she never reciprocated his love. It also looks like she is leaving Babylon 5 as she got her own command.

Sheridan is "forced" to resign from Earth Force but then what was a surprise to me was the forming of the new Alien Alliance and them naming Sheridan as President.. I did not see that coming. I love that Delenn and Sheridan finally got married and are now official a couple.

I wasn't a fan of Garibaldi getting back together with his Ex.. was never a fan of hers in the first place.  I really liked the comradery of G'Kar and Londo, reminded me of their relationship in the first season.

And now the final episode of season four of Babylon 4, Ep22 "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars".

Here's a brief synopsis: This episode takes place after the events of the rest of the series. It shows the long-term effect of the Interstellar Alliance from the point of view of one hundred, five hundred, one thousand, and one million years after the founding of the Alliance.

I couldn't figure out what this last episode was going to be because the second to last episode did a great job at wrapping up everything. I know when they went into making the final episode they thought that the series was going to be cancelled but before the episode aired then were picked up for one more season by TNT so the original "final" episode was pulled and saved for the end of season five and this new one was produced and replaced as the final episode of season four.

It's an interesting look at how history remembers events. I think my favorite of the four time periods was when we visited 1000 years later with the monks. The Earth is devastated and slowly rebuilding itself. And at the end of this segment you find out that the main monk is a Ranger.. that was awesome. And then 1 million years later we see the destruction of the Earth as it's sun goes nova and we see Human evolve into energy and live in encounter suits almost identical to the Vorlons... another cool moment.

Season four was AMAZING.. I know alot of people say it was their favorite and I can agree, though I really did enjoy season three. I don't know what's coming next for season five. I do know that when they thought season four was going to be the end they took season five and combined it with season four and finished off the five year story that he wanted to tell. So season five should be interesting. After season five we have five or six TV movies to watch as well. Lots more B5 to enjoy.

Muppet Babies, Gummi Bears & X-Men

Today I worked on going through more of the toy bins and trying to figure out where I'm going to put all this stuff. I know I'll be selling about a 1/3 of my collection and I'm cool with that but there are still some things that I'd like to keep and display.

My buddy John came by to visit and check out my new place. We got to talking about animated/cartoons that we love, he's a HUGE Looney Tunes fan. It got me thinking about Muppet Babies and Gummi Bears from the late 80's and X-Men The Animated Series that aired on Fox Kids back in the early 90's.

Those are three of my all time favorite animated series. So I decided to see if they were on DVD. I had checked in the past but haven't looked in a while and sure enough neither Muppet Babies nor X-Men were on DVD. There are some episodes of Muppet Babies on VHS but that's it. It does look like they released Vol 1 (seasons 1-3) of Gummi Bears on DVD back in 2006,. but never released Vol 2 with (seasons 4-6).

So I turned to the internets to see if I could "find" them in other formats and sure enough I found all three entire series in digital form, which I downloaded. X-Men looks and sounds good. The Muppet Babies looks okay but the audio isn't the best and Gummi Bears audio and video are pretty bad. Of course I'd rather have them all on officially released DVD/Blu-ray but until that time comes I'll just enjoy the versions that I have.

Visiting E3

Today I went to E3, this was my first time going to this exhibition. I work in the entertainment industry but have never worked in gaming or with games (though I did work on a game show). My buddy Will had a friend with Disney Interactive who was able to get me a pass this year and it was much appreciated.

If you don't know what E3 is here is a brief description: E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) is an annual trade show for the video game industry presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). The event takes place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA.

I took the subway to the LA convention center, once there I went to three different badge pick up places as I kept being sent to another one as they kept saying I was "Media" and that I could only get it at a certain place. Finally the third place walked me back to the second place and got me my pass.

I joined my buddy Robert (who attends E3 yearly, since he works in the Gaming industry). We started in the south building and while walking through the lobby there is this huge display for the new game called Destiny. But I was more interested in the posters for a new Gauntlet. I love this game and even have an arcade version of it. I had no idea that they were revamping it and releasing an updated version. So as soon as Robert and I met up we headed to the WB section to check it out.  OMG it's AWESOME!!! It should be out in the fall and available on STEAM. Watch the trailer below and you'll agree at how awesome it's going to be.

After that we walked around the floor and checked out the upcoming stuff from Disney Interactive, Capcom, EA, Bethesda, Sega and a ton more. I'm not a huge gamer so alot of the stuff I wasn't really interested in but it was cool non-the-less. We visited the indie section and the Video Game History Museum before heading out to lunch.

Once lunch was over to went to the West Hall Exhibits where the big 3 were at. We first did Ninendo, Robert played a few games. We then walked over to Sony and then Microsoft. While at Microsoft we demo'd a game called Project Spark. It's not only an awesome game but it's a world builder. So you can build the game environment before you play the game. Check out this cool video

Robert also played the new Alien game before we headed back to the South Exhibit to play the demo of Gauntlet. I wanted to play the Wizard but Robert took that character leaving me with Elf. Though I sucked at Elf it was still alot of fun and I can't wait to get this game and play with friends.

I left around 5:30pm and headed home. E3 runs three days but I think I was able to check out everything and try what I wanted to try in just the one day. It was alot of fun and I enjoyed myself at E3. It would be fun to make this a yearly thing.

Podcasting Issues & Release

Spent the morning/afternoon emailing Podbean back and forth trying to figure out why I couldn't create a new podcast for my Alien Nation cast. After a few hours it was determined that the issue was my computer and not their website. Now I have to figure out what the deal is and why my computer won't work with podbean.

I was able to upload the podcast I just needed to find a way to post it, so I used my iPad. It wasn't the easiest thing to do but I managed to type out some show notes and attach an audio file to them. It is now available on itunes and other podcast catching apps and devices. It's not a pretty post but it's up and folks can listen, which is the most important part of a podcast.

Alien Nation The Newcomers Podcast Episode 24

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 the first of five TV movies: Dark Horizon pt. 1

Directed by Kenneth Johnson
Written by Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider
Original air date October 25th 1994

Plot Summary: George and Matt continue to investigate the virus killing newcomers, which takes a very personal turn for them. A scout from the newcomers' home world is sent to Earth to determine the condition of their slaves. He decides not only will they take their slaves back, but he begins planning to enslave the human population as well. While the Francisco's face medical and spiritual challenges. Matt makes a decision regarding his personal life and chooses between Lorraine and Cathy.

Star Wars, Gunman and Podcasts

EA announced Star Wars Battlefront 3 and released this "behind the scenes" video today. Now I've never played Battlefront 1 or 2 but I've seen people play them and they look amazing. But what was strange is when I started to watch this video, tears started welling up in my eyes. It made me realize how much Star Wars has effected my life. I mean I knew I loved it and it's what made me the geek I am today but just hearing the main theme song and the narrator talk about their love of Star Wars tugged on the heartstrings. Here's the video that was released.

This afternoon... just a few blocks away ended a high speed chase, the man got out of his car with his rifle/gun and ran down the street. It sounded like a warzone outside as there were helicopters swirling above and sirens in the streets. They informed all of us to stay inside, about a half hour into it the guy barricaded himself into a house and begun a four and a half hour stand off. Luckily for me I have a freeway (170) in between me and the gunman so I wasn't really worried but there are several school in the area and they were on lock down. It was tense for a while but fortunately they shot in some tear gas and the man came out and surrender. Of course it took another four hours to clear the area, they closed down the freeway and it was crazy for a while. I was happy that I didn't have to go anywhere and could hold up in my apartment. But even happier that no one was hurt or killed.

Spent the evening editing the next Alien Nation Podcast. It's due to be released tonight at midnight and of course I wanted until the last second to edit it. I spent about four hours uploading and editing the cast. I got it done just before midnight and went to upload and build the web page for it but ran into some issues.

Podbean, my host sever was having issues. It wasn't allowing me to post a new episodes. I tried for about an half hour before giving up. I figured I can try tomorrow, as long as I can get the podcast posted on the 10th I'll stay on schedule.

68th Tony Awards

Was up early, couldn't sleep so I decided to watch the Tony's from last night. Now I haven't been a big fan of the Tony's and really only started watching last year due to Neil Patrick Harris hosting. But what I found is that, for me, the best part of the Tony's are the scenes from current plays we get to see. Alot of these Broadway/Off Broadway shows will never make it to the west coast and I haven't been to New York in over 15 years. So these scenes that are performed allow me to get a little taste of the theater. Hugh Jackman was great as host, I still enjoy Neil Patrick Harris hosting skills better but Jackman was fun. I especially enjoyed the opening and him hopping the entire time. The fact that it was a four minute, no cuts scene. I love that he acknowledged the camera who did it all walking backwards.

Alot of great plays this year and performances like Aladdin and Les Miserables but two really stood out me. The first one I knew I'd love just because Neil Patrick Harris is staring in it and that's Hedwig and the Angry Inch (btw Neil won for best performance and the show won for best revival musical). Also if you noticed their performance was the only one to get a standing ovation. Here's the Tony performance.

The second performance was actually my favorite of the night and I had never even heard of the play (btw it won best musical for the night) A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. It sounds like it's a very dark comedy but I just loved this performance and if the rest of the play is like this.. it's full of win. Check out the Tony performance below.

Just Another Ordinary Day

Nothing special to blog about, I did stuff around the house.. blogged a bit and watched the last 9 episodes of Freaks and Geeks. You can see my blog review for that HERE.

I even looked up some geeky things that happen today but there really wasn't anything that I wanted to share with you all.

Guess it's just a lazy Sunday.