Molly's 3rd Birthday Party

Today I went and visited family. We were celebrating my niece Molly's 3rd birthday today. Her actual birthday is in December but the first part had to be cancelled because poor little Molly was sick, and then we had the holidays which pushed it back even more.

I was getting there early as I always do so I could help my sister-in-law Lora set up. My brother wasn't feeling well so I helped him out with a few errands before heading over to their place. Once there I helped set up, blowing up balloons, decorating and things.

Lora goes all out for these parties, besides the bouncer/slide, there was a pinata, themed candy (it was a Doc McStuffins party) and she also got "stuff your own animal". This is where each kids picks an animal and then stuffs it with cotton. This sounds like a fun activity for the kids but it wound up being the adults who did all the stuffing as it was a very tiring activity. Soon it was just the adults in the room stuff animals while the kids went off to play. I actually stuffed two of them, one for a neighbor kid and the other for my niece Molly.

It was a fun party, Molly got cranky when another little girl wanted to play with her and her new toys but other then that meltdown all went very smoothly.

Looking, PGA Awards, Gay Marriage & Voyager Turns 20

So I finally finished editing up a Harry Potter podcasts that I co-hosted with my buddy Rico for his Treks in Sci Fi podcast. If you had read my blog earlier this week you'd have read that I was having issues with Rico's audio, well I manage to fix it a bit but I pretty much just had to get over it. It was as good as it was going to get and I needed to get the podcast done as it's due to be released in two days. I'm very happy with the podcast, it was a blast talking Potter. Can't wait until we do the next movie Chamber of Secrets.

I watched season 2 episode 1 of HBO's Looking. I really enjoyed season one of Looking and was looking forward to starting season two but I wasn't thrilled with this first episode. One thing I liked about season one of Looking was lack of drugs and alcohol. They were good stories that happen to be about gay characters. This first episode had all three main characters doing drugs, drinking alcohol and having random sex.. these things are sterotypes of the gay lifestyle and for the most represent a small portion of the gay community. I'm hoping they get back to the good stories with episode two.

I voted for the Producer's Guild of America (PGA) Awards today. That's always fun choosing my favorite TV and Movies of last year.

The US Supreme Court made a HUGE announcement. They are going to listen to arguments on a recent 6th Circuit decision to uphold the ban on gay marriage in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. This could be what we have all be waiting for. The Supreme Court could make a Federal ruling on gay marriage which would mean it would supersede all State rulings. Now if it goes our way gay marriage will be legal in all of the United States, if it goes against us then it could be back to fighting state by state for marriage equality. I'm cautiously optimistic.

And one last thing.. Happy 20th Anniversary to one of my favorite Star Trek, Star Trek: Voyager. It premiered 20 years ago today. I remember watching that first episode and falling in love with this new Captain, crew and especially the ship. I've seen every episode of this series multiple times. We finally got a female Captain and she kicked ass. I was said when Kes left but was so happy with the addition of Seven of Nine, who turned out to be one of my favorite characters. I think it's time to do a rewatch of this amazing tv series.

You Tube Comments

Why do I read You tube comments and for that matter why do I ready any comments on hot topic articles. Most of the time I end up being disgusted with the human race and so sick to my stomach. I just don't understand how human being (and I use that term loosely) can be so hateful. We're not born to hate, it's something that is taught to us. I guess I'm lucky as I've never felt the urge to tear down someone just because I disagree with them or to make me feel better with my choices. I just can't grasp that concept.

I'd like to say that it's getting better but I can't. It's been around for as long as humans have roamed this Earth. I think it feels more prevalent now, because of social media and the internet. It's easy to comment anonymously. I can guarantee you that 95% of the trolls/haters out there wouldn't say what they say to the person's face. Will it ever change.. I hope so but I'm not holding my breath. All I can do is be a good example for my niece and nephew and teach them how to treat their fellow human beings.

It's All About Podcasts

Spent a good part of today trying to "fix" the audio for an upcoming Harry Potter podcast that I co-hosted with my buddy Rico. I made the mistake of not informing Rico on how I usually record podcasts so he wasn't ready and didn't really prep his microphone properly so his audio is over modulated. It's usable but me being me, it needs to be as perfect as possible. So I spent a good three to four hours trying to fix it but in the end got frustrated as I couldn't really change anything so I gave up and figured I'd come back to you at a later date. It's due to be released in five days.

Speaking of podcasts I put out a request for audio bumpers for my podcasts. Here is what I asked for:

To my fellow podcasters.. I'm looking for "bumpers" for my podcasts. Please record the following with no effects, no music, no processing (feel free to adlib) "Hey, this is (your name) with (your podcast). And you're listening to (MASH 4077 Podcast) (Alien Nation The Newcomers Podcast) (The Geek Roundtable). And when you're done enjoying this podcast check out mine at (your website), Email them to GeekyfanboyProductions@gmail.com ... Thanks

I haven't gotten any yet but if you have a podcast, videocast, blog or any other project that you want to promote please do a recording and email it to me.

Screeners, Spring Cleaning and Loving Agent Carter

So I thought the screening season was over but low and behold I got a another screener in the mail today. This time it's The Book of Life. It's an animated movie and to be honest it didn't peak my interest but now that I have it on DVD I'll give it a watch.

Spent most of the day "spring cleaning". I'm really trying to decrease my clutter, not only do I have alot of old receipts and bills but I have boxes of things that I haven't even looked at in over a year. I have a hard time getting rid of things so I know this will be a struggle, especially when it comes to my collections as I'm planning on thinning out my collection as well (hopefully a by a third). I did pretty good today as I got about half of my guest closet emptied, that doesn't mean it's gone, it's just thrown about my living room and guest room as I go through box after box and see what can be tossed, donated or sold.

During the evening my buddy Erik and I watched the latest Agent Carter. Man I love this series, I can't praise it enough. Tonight's episode had a OMG moment. Both Erik and I were shocked at what happen. ::Spoilers:: I mean I think the agent that was killed was a pig but I didn't want him to die, especially that way. :: End Spoilers:: Carter and Jarvis's chemistry continues to be my favorite part of the show. We get a bit more info about Jarvis which was very interesting. These was a nice moment between Peggy and Angie at the end. This like Scorpion is one series that I just can't wait to see every week. I'll be sad when it goes as it's only eight episodes long. And unfortunately it's not doing great in the ratings but you never know what will happen.. all I can do is hope for the best.

Goodbye Adam, Scorpion Renewed & TV Watch

Today I got to have lunch with my buddy Adam. He's heading up north at the end of the week for his job. And when I say up north I mean Seattle so we're not going to be seeing each other on a regular bases. Adam has been setting up "get togethers" to say goodbye to friends but I haven't been able to make any of them so I asked if he wanted to do lunch and he said yes. I actually like this better then a group thing as I get to have some one on one time to hang. We went to Islands for some burgers and come to find out that Adam had never been there before. It was a nice visit. He'll be missed but he'll be back down for the Star Wars con in April and hopefully will get to see him at San Diego Comic Con.

One of my favorite new TV series this Scorpion was picked up for a second season. This made my day. I knew it was doing well in the ratings but you never know what the network is going to do. So not only do we get the last half of this season but will be getting an whole new season in the fall... can't wait!!

I watched a few shows that I had recorded yesterday.. the first one was "My Husband is Not Gay" It was a TLC special and has caused an uproar in the gay community. I watch alot of these TLC specials and this one intrigued me. This special was about Morman men who live in Utah, are married to women but are attracted to men. I watched it and I have to say it wasn't horrible. As a gay man I wasn't offended by it. If anything I felt bad for these guys as they are obviously gay but not accepting it because of their religion. They don't call themselves gay, instead they call it SSA (Same Sex Attraction) and these four guys that we meet in the episode are part of an SSA group. Some of the men were gayer then some and you know that some of them cheat on their wife with men. I don't support what these guys are doing but I do understand why they are doing it. I didn't come out until I was 27/28. I considered getting married, having kids and living my ideal life. But I decided not to do that as I knew that in the end I would only hurt my wife and kids when I finally couldn't take it anymore and came out as gay in my 40's or 50's. If this was a TV series I think I'd give it a watch. 

Next I watched two more episodes of Galavant. I think the novelty is starting to ware off. I enjoyed the episodes but not as much as I did with the first two episodes. Best part of tonight's episode was the recap of what happen in the previous episodes. I'm still enjoying it and I'll continue to watch but I hope the next two episodes brings back some of the whimsy from the first two.

And the final thing I watched was a new episode of Star Wars Rebels. It finally returned after the holidays and I'm happy it did. I've enjoyed this series and this latest episode was one of my favorites. I'm still debating which Star Wars cartoon I like better.. Clone Wars or Rebels. Right now it's Clone Wars but I think that's because there are six seasons of Clone Wars and so far there have only been nine episodes of Rebels. They are two very different series but both have their good and bad things. But for now I'm just happy to be able to watch new Star Wars on a weekly bases.

Podcasts, Websites and Golden Globes

I spent a good chunk of today editing some upcoming MASH 4077 Podcasts. One great thing about this podcast is that we normally record six episodes every few months. My goal every time is to edit all of them at once and then I don't have to worry about editing episodes for a few months (since we release two a month) but in reality I'm normally editing days before an episode is due to be released. But this time I managed to edit the upcoming episode for Jan 15th, also Feb 1st and got about half of Feb 15th's episode done. Thing is now just because those are done I need to force myself to continue to edit additional MASH casts and try and get the rest of the episodes that we already recorded in the can as well.

I also spent a good amount of time working on my new website. I have a website at Geekyfanboy.com but I've never been happy with it, but since I'm not a web master it takes me a while to figure out how things work and normally I get frustrated or bored and give up. Well I really want to get a page set up for my production company Geekyfanboy Productions so I started working on a new page before going back and trying to revamp my entire website. Of course it would be so much easier to just pay someone to do this but seeing that I have no money I have to do this all myself and it may take a while but I'm determined to get it done this time around.

The Golden Globes were on tonight and I was actually excited to watch them. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were hosting again and they did a pretty good job, I loved most of their jokes but the North Korean Foreign press person (aka Margaret Cho) joke went on way to long, but other then that it was fun. I loved that a lot of first timers won. I hate seeing the same person win year after year after year. Some of my favorite wins were Joanne Froggatt from Downton Abbey, Eddie Redmayne from The Theory of Everything and Gina Rodriquez from Jane the Virgin. Here's a list of all the winners.

Best Picture, Comedy: The Grand Budapest Hotel, Best Picture, Drama: Boyhood, Best TV Comedy: Transparent, Best TV Drama: The Affair, Best Miniseries: Fargo, Best Actress, Motion Picture Drama: Julianne Moore, Still Alice, Best Actor, Motion Picture Drama: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything, Best Actress, Motion Picture Comedy: Amy Adams, Big Eyes, Best Actor, Motion Picture Comedy: Michael Keaton, Birdman, Best Supporting Actor, Motion Picture: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash, Best Supporting Actress, Motion Picture: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood, Best Actor, TV Comedy: Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent, Best Actress, TV Comedy: Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin, Best Actor, TV Drama: Kevin Spacey, House of Cards, Best Actress, TV Drama: Ruth Wilson, The Affair, Best Actor, Miniseries: Billy Bob Thornton, Fargo, Best Actress, Miniseries: Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honourable Woman, Best Supporting Actress, Miniseries: Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey, Best Supporting Actor, Miniseries: Matt Bomer, The Normal Heart, Best Screenplay: Birdman, Best Director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood, Best Foreign Language Film: Leviathan, Best Animated Film: How to Train Your Dragon 2, Best Original Score: The Theory of Everything, Best Original Song: John Legend and Common's "Glory," Selma