Once Upon A Time Season 3

So I finished watching Once Upon A Time season three 2 hour finale. Here are my thoughts on the second half of season three. I wasn't sure what they were going to do with this second half as the end of the first half really felt like the perfect end to the series. I was surprised that we picked up one year later and everyone is back in Storybrooke with no memory and Emma and Henry were happily living their lives in New York. Then everything changes with the arrival of Hook. At first it felt like a redo. I mean we spent two and a half seasons trying to break this curse, which they do. Only to be cursed again and start all over. But as the series continued it gave us bits and piece of information and finally towards the end we find out that it was Snow White and Charming who actually re-enacted the curse to get back to Emma and unfortunately the Wicked Witch found out and added the memory lose as part of the curse.

I also liked the way that they brought back Rumple. I mean I knew he wasn't going to be dead forever but I didn't expect Neal to die for him. That was a heartbreaking scene and brought me to tears. I enjoyed all the back stories of the characters and the missing year stories. I really thought this season really connected the dots well.. reminded me more of season one, which I loved.

They finally break the curse again and this time it's Regina who breaks its with her love for Henry. I have to say I really like what they have done with Regina, she's trying so hard to not be evil and finally succeeding... well that was until the season finale... boo!!

With two hours left of the season I thought when Emma and Hook went back time that, that was going to be the set up for the next season but I'm happy to say that it wasn't. They finished the entire story within those two episodes. And of course Emma saves a woman who Regina was going to kill and since she was suppose to die in the past they figure if they bring her to the future all will be well. Yeah it didn't quite work out that way and poor Regina is the one what get's burned as the woman they brought back was Maid Marion, Robin Hoods wife and Robin Hood and Regina were finally becoming a couple (as it was predicted that they were each other's true love). Well now that's over and Regina is pissed!!

The final scene of the season was a bottle opening up and blue liquid pouring out and forming into a women that we all know as she was part of one of the biggest movies last year, Frozen. We then see Else walking away from the camera and that's the end. The Ice Queen is in Storybrooke and Evil Regina looks to be coming back.

Over all I really enjoyed Season three. It was broken into two part, the Peter Pan quest in part one and the Wicked Witch in part two. Both were enjoyable but I think I enjoyed the Wicked Witch storyline batter then Pan.. other then the end.. the ending of Pan was amazing.

Can't wait for Season Four!!!

Paramount, Screening and Transformers 4

Started my day with breakfast with my buddy Dallas. I picked him up around 8:30 and we headed to Denny's. Afterwards we went into Hollywood and to the Paramount Studio lot for a PGA (Producer's Guild of America) screening of Transformers: Age of Extinction.

Paramount has one of the best screening rooms in town so when I read that the screening was going to be there I was super excited. We got to Paramount around 10am and drove up to the main gate. We gave them our ID's and they checked us off the list and explained where to park.

After parking we made our way to the theater. I love walking onto studio lots, it's awesome to think about all the film and TV history associated with the lot. So many amazing movies and TV shows have been filmed here at Paramount. As we were approaching the theater there were men building a Bumble Bee Transformer outside.

We got in line, fairly close to the front. We stood there for about 45 minutes and the line grew. We were finally let in and found out that the screening was in 3D and Paramount has those super high techy 3D glasses with little batteries in them. The last movie I saw in this theater was Tin Tin and it also was in 3D so I knew we were in for a treat.

We found some prime seats and chatted for about 20 minutes or so before they started the movie.

I have seen Transformers 1 & 2 but never got around to seeing 3. I wasn't sure if that would have any effect of me understanding 4. But I figured it was Transformers and that series is not known for it's amazing storytelling. I also knew that it was a new cast taking the reigns. And I'm happy to say you really don't have to see 2 or 3 to watch 4. They kept referring to a "great battle" in Chicago, which I assumed was from movie 3 but that's about it.

Here's my thoughts on the new Transformers... it's a Transformers movie and if you have seen 1, 2 or 3 then you know what to expect. It's all about the eye candy and this movie has plenty. I would say that there is more "story" then crazy action scenes, especially at the beginning. But towards the end it's nothing but action and fight scenes.

As with the second movie and I heard the third movie. This movie could have used some editing down. It runs about 2 hours and 50 minutes and at times it feels like it.

I enjoyed the ride, I liked Mark Walberg and Stanley Tucci's characters. The story was good and the action scenes were great. I remember watching the first movie and being so confused on who was fighting who but with this movie there aren't many Transformers left and the ones who are left look fairly different so the fight scenes were easier to follow.

If you enjoyed the other Transformers movies then you'll enjoy this one. I give Transformers: Age of Extinction a solid B.

When we got out of the movie the full size Bumble Bee was up and folks were taking pictures with him so Dallas and I joined in and grabbed a few shots of us with the giant Transformer. After the movie we headed over to Astro Burgers for lunch.

Vacation Blogging and OUAT

Spent half the day blogging about my vacation, I'm currently up to Day 14 of 34. So I'm not even half way there. These are taking alot longer to write then I had originally expected.
 
But it is a lot of fun remembering all the details of the trip and going through my thousands of pictures looking for just the right ones for the post. I hope to have is all blogged and done by the end of July. I figured if I can get a few day everyday it shouldn't take me that long.

Spent the other half of the day catching up on more Once Upon A Time. I watched five more episodes today. That leaves me just the 2 hour finale to watch. As I mentioned in a previous blog post I plan on doing a full review of season three once I finish watch the season, which I'm hoping to do tomorrow.

Other then those two things it was a pretty uneventful day.

Podcasts and Fairytales

I spent half of the day working on podcasts. First I finished editing my next MASH 4077 Podcast episode 82 which will be released July 1st. I think this is one of my favorite episodes. There are some podcast episodes that I think are good but something about them is just a bit off. This is not one of them... the conversation just flowed and the clips fit in perfectly for what we were talking about. Looking forward to releasing this one.

I also did the first edit pass on the next Alien Nation: The Newcomers Podcast. My brother and I have finished season one and are now going through the TV movies. We're splitting each TV movie into two podcasts and today I worked on part two of our Dark Horizon episode. Hopefully I'll finish it in the next few days as it's due to be released on July 10th.

Spent my evening watching Once Upon A Time. I have 10 episodes recorded on my Tivo from last season so today I watched three of them. It's still one of my favorite series on network TV. I'll do a full review of the season once I finish watching the remaining 7 episodes.

Beard, Matt, Mockingjay & B5

Well I took the plunge and finally shaved down my beard. I was trying to keep it until SDCC at the end of July but the beard got the better of me. I debated on going clean shaven (which I only tend to do during SDCC because I cosplay as a Hobbit) but I think I look better with a hint of a beard so I kept some. I had that beard for almost two months.. it's the longest I have ever grown it. I kind of liked it so it may make a re-appearance at some point.. but for now I'll stick with the shorter version.

I got to chat with my buddy Matt via Skype again. I always look forward to chatting with him. I met Matt through the Guild a few years ago and actually got to meet him in person in April when I was visiting England. He and I just hit off. We only hung out for a few days but from the moment I met him I had this feeling of protection, he felt like a little brother to me and I look forward to each and every Facebook messenger chat and Skype call.

The next Hunger Games movie Mockingjay Pt. 1 has started it's promotional bombardment, they release propaganda posters for each district and this very cool President Snow PSA.

Tonight was TV night with my buddy Robert. We're starting the final Season, Season Five of Babylon 5. We watched the first three episodes before calling it an night.

First up was S5 Ep1 "No Compromises" Captain Lochley arrives just as preparations are underway for Sheridan's swearing in ceremony as the President of the newly formed Interstellar Alliance. Telepaths arrive seeking a sanctuary while they search for a home world.

I'm not sure how I feel about the new commander of B5, I miss Ivanova. The jury is still on on the telepaths. I like Sheridan's thinking, having them on their side but will have to wait and see what happens. I know from a previous episode that there is a coming Telepath war. I really liked G'Kar in this episodes.. I mean he's fantastic in all of them but this one was particular fun.

Then we watched S5 Ep2 "The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari" During a heart attack, Londo experiences an epiphany and apologizes to G'Kar. Lennier leaves Delenn and Babylon 5.

Londo's redemption episode. I don't know if his character is redeemable as he has done so many bad things the past few years. But I'm glad to see him finally taking responsibly for his actions. I like that he finally said he was sorry to G'Kar.

I hate to see Lennier go but I understand why he had to do it. Delenn obviously loves him, just not in the same way that she loves Sheridan. He's a favorite of mine so I hope he comes back to visit from time to time.

And the final episode of the night S5 Ep3 "The Paragon of Animals" Military crises threaten the ongoing formation of the InterStellar Alliance, but Sheridan asserts its power. A small world plagued by raiders begs the alliance for help. Garibaldi tries forming an intelligence unit of telepaths.

Now I'm really not sure about those telepaths on B5. They pretty much hate all "mundans" non-telepathic people. I was happy to see Lyta back but sad to see the path she might be going down. I was surprised that the raiders wound up being a key member of the Alien Alliance. And once again G'Kar was fantastic with his enthusiasm towards the morality document. And I'm happy to see the Londo and G'Kar have their love/hate relationship back.

Overall a great start to season five, as I mentioned I think the big story this season will be the Telepath War but I don't know when it will start... so I'm just enjoying each episode as the come. 

A Typical Day!!

I always laugh when I get responses to my tweets, blog and Facebook posts saying "Oh you live the life I want to live" or "I wish I had your life". Yes I do some fun things from time to time but that's all you guys see/read about and is normally just a few days out of the month. I don't tweet, blog or Facebook about the other 28 days of the month when I am sitting at home, bored, lonely, frustrated, struggling to motivate myself to be productive. So I have decided to blog about my typical average day so you guys would understand that my life isn't all fun and games that my online persona would lead you to believe.

I wake up around 7am and will lie in bed playing a few games on my phone. I'm out a bed by 7:30 and on my computer checking emails, Facebook and Twitter. I then spend about a half hour going to the various "job" sites looking for a work. 99% of the time there is nothing and frustration sets in.

I then make breakfast and will normally watch TV while I'm eating. Now this is were things can vary. Depending on what's on TV/Tivo recordings I can sit there for a half hour (if I'm lucky) to four/five hours, until lunch time.

If I was lucky and managed to pull myself away from TV I tend to work on blogging (I always seem to be behind) and/or Podcasts. I currently only have two in production (MASH 4077 & Alien Nation). So that is 3 episodes of a month (2 MASH, 1 Alien Nation).

I'm currently blogging about my vacation, I've blogged 9 of the 34 days. Because I try and be as detailed as possible it takes me about an hour or so to do one blog. And by the time I'm done with one I take a break from the computer and usually watch some TV (hopefully don't get stuck watching hours of it).

When I edit podcasts those can take me four to six hours to edit and I normally go through stages with those so I do my initial edit pass, then add audio clips from the discussed episodes and finally a third pass to "sweeten" the audio (add blends and such to make it sound good). I do tend to take breaks between each pass.

I normally will eat lunch anywhere between noon to 2pm. Again I normally watch TV while eating so I do my best to not get sucked into another four to five hour stent.

After lunch I go back to podcasting/blogging until around 6pm when I eat dinner.

At 6:30/7pm I go across the street to the park to do my 45 minute to an hour workout/jog/walk.

I get back home around 7:30/8pm and relax on the couch or check emails and such before I Skype chat with my buddy Erik. Erik and I Skype chat nearly every night from 8:30pm to 10pm. We either watch TV together (something we recorded) or catch up on each others lives. It's something I look forward to everyday. Being able to interact with another human being is awesome and it's Erik so it's even more special.

By 10pm I'm tired but I will jump online and finish up a blog or continue editing a podcast until around 11pm

I'm normally in bed by 11pm and I watch an episode of the Simpsons on my ipad before falling asleep around 11:30pm

That's a typical day in the life of Kenny. Of course things may vary. I might not feel motivated all day and just be lazy and watch TV. Or I can be very motivated and productive and do five blog posts and edited a podcast in a day.

So that's what I do 28 days of the month, 336 days a year.

Disneyland & Middle Earth Cake

Today I went to Disneyland with my buddy Brett... his season pass expires this Thursday and he's not sure if or when he'll be able to renew it so he wanted to do one last hurrah. So we arrived around 10am and was there until around 5pm. The place was packed and it was so hot outside. We went to DCA (Disney California Adventure) first for a few hours before heading over to Disneyland. Both parks were crowded as I expected. Though the parks stayed open until 10pm/Midnight we were spent by 5pm and called it a night. Good times were had as usual. It's always nice to take a break from life and spend a day at the happiest place on Earth.

While at Disneyland my friend Josh posted a picture on Facebook that was posted by Thinkgeek. At first I thought it was actually books and though to myself.. wow those are some nice looking Middle Earth books.. I need to get me some, but then I read the title of the pictures and come to find out that it's a cake. An incredibly amazing looking Lord of the Rings / Hobbit cake. I don't know who made it or for what occasion, but they did an FANTASTIC job.

Regardless I don't think I could actually cut into that cake. I had a hard time cutting into my Borg Cube cakes that were made for my commitment ceremony back in 2008.

D&D Adventure Continues...

D&D Pathfinder: Here's what happen in today's session.

So a few days after the destruction of Melzarin’s mansion, the party found themselves invited to the heaviest lunch ever by Naheer Al-Zhameen, reportedly a representative of the Consortium of Gainful Arcanists who might have some word on Melzarin’s cane. The party dined and talked and, eventually, a formal invitation for Dash to join the Consortium was extended. Sensing that the initiation fee was perhaps a bit steep, Naheer offered instead for the party to look into Dark Delights – a nefarious black market of goods and entertainments for the Orthstaden evil elite – in exchange for waving the initiation fee and for the cane, if in fact it had been surrendered to the Consortium. The party agreed and also allowed Sireen, a companion of Naheer’s, to join them and act as his eyes and ears.

They went to a tavern called the Horny Goat near the Trades District to try to glean a little information about Yanick’s Meatworks - the supposed front for Dark Delights - and learned a little. Ginneon bought the bloody apron from a butcher who may or may not have eaten his firstborn child and sauntered up to the gates of Yanick’s to see if he could gain entrance as Neki the Butchomancer. It didn’t work but Ginneon did get an idea of what kind of crowd they were expecting for that night’s festivities and the rest of the party did get a look at the layout thanks for Phlig.

Inspiration struck and the party dressed up as decadent nobles with Ginneon providing most of the disguise duties. They hit Yanick’s and made it inside the gate with the help of something close to the password and a bribe and, soon enough, made it into Yanick’s abattoir.

A magical alarm made to ferret out any goody goods who might try to pass through the cold room gave the party away and a fight ensued. Butchers were properly butchered, ice mephits and golems were cut into shards, and two apprentices at the Meatworks barely survived. The party laid a charm on one of the kids and sent them off with the other to the castle while they descended into the depths.

Yeah, it was all pretty evil. Fresh corpses were for sale and faeries were deboned live and thrown on the grill. There was a fat guy selling forsaken children out of a crate. Powdered unicorn horn, an illicit auction, and captive Halfling fighting for their lives. It was out of control.

What will the party do next?

So ended the session, it was another fantastic game. We went nine rounds of fighting with the Butchers, guards, ice mephits and ice golem (which was by far the hardest thing to kill). We had several characters unconscious and near death several times. And now were in the middle of all this evil and Dash is about to lose control. The frying up of faeries was horrific, but when he saw his brethren being forced to fight to the death that push him over the edge... it's time for justice!!!

I want to thank our DM Dallas who amazes me every session with his imaginative story telling and adventures. Can't wait for the next one.