Hayley's Birthday Party

Spent the day running around doing various things but in the evening it was Hayley's Mermaid/Pirate Birthday celebration. I've been so busy that I really didn't have any time to put together a costume. So I quickly ran around my house and tried to find "pirate" looking things. Luckily I had my short (Hobbit) pants that would work. I also had my Hobbit shirt that could pass as a pirate shirt. And when I got to Will's (where the party was taking place) to help set up I found a hat, sword and waist scarf. In the end my outfit looked pretty good.

The party got started at 8pm and I got my drink on. Whenever my buddy Will has a party at his place I will drink as I only live a block away and can stumble home if needed, otherwise I never drink and drive. So I started with several Fireball Whiskey shots, then I filled up a very large mug was half apple cider and half fireball whiskey (must have been about ten shots in there). It was gone within an hour and I was feeling good. I'm a happy drunk and very sociable.. so opposite the me in real life.

I was drunk by 9pm but remember 90% of the evening. I think I chatted with everyone, introduced myself to the people I didn't know but for the life me I can't remember any of their names. I had a great night but around midnight I was extremely tired and remember sitting on the couch and starting to nod off. I said my goodbyes to everyone and the birthday girl. My buddy Rupert actually walked me home (though I was okay to walk home but I appreciate his concern). Once I was home I quickly undressed and took a tumble into bed around 1am.

I had to be up at 8am for my 9am NerdStrong gym class but at this time I don't know I'm gonna be up for it.. but I'll wake up tomorrow morning and see how I feel.... yeah woke up at 6am still drunk so I cancelled gym and went back to bed.

More Screeners & Surprise it's Chris

I got a plethora of new screeners today. Truth, Son of Saul, Youth and By the Sea.. the only one I had even heard of was By and the Sea with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and I really had no interest in watching it. A bit more investigating and Truth, Son of Saul and Youth all sounded pretty good. Most of the screeners that I have received thus far have really been unknown to me. I don't know if that says something about the movie coming out or my taste in movies.

During the evening my buddy Chris arrived from Montana and was staying with his girlfriend Hayley out in Hollywood. I got a text while I was driving home from work asking if I wanted to come join them for some pizza and hang out. I was exhausted as work as really crazy but it was Chris and I couldn't miss an opportunity to hang out with my best bud so I stopped by my house for a few minutes to grab some screeners and then headed into Hollywood. I've only been to Hayley's place once before when I dropped her off after Wondercon so I had an idea of where she lived but when my Waves took me into the Los Feliz hills I as a bit confused.. needless to say it miss directed me but luckily it was close by.

As always it's was great seeing him. He was visiting for Hayley's birthday which we are celebrating tomorrow with a Mermaid/Pirate Party. Chris knows me so well that when he heard what the girls (Hayley and her roommate) ordered for pizza he called to ask if I wanted something from Subway.. and he was right.. they ordered some crazy pumpkin and spinach pizza, which didn't sound to appealing to me. So I got a meatball sub instead. We got to hang out for a few hours before calling it an night. I'll get to see him again tomorrow at the party but it was great getting to hang out with him whenever I can.

NerdStrong Gym - My Week

This week I went to the gym Saturday (CON), Sunday (TEAM), Tuesday (DEX), Wednesday (CON), Wednesday (Pilates) and Thursday (STR)

It was nice getting back to my full workout week after the Thanksgiving holiday.

For Saturday's CON class it was usually small with only a handful of us there to battle the big bad boss. Guess people were away for the holiday weekend still. Even with the smaller group we still manged to kill the big bad and get a pretty great workout.

Sunday's workout was all about 7's. Furious Seven to be exact. After the crazy warm up we did 7 Rounds of Barbell work with 7 Deadlifts, 7 Hang Cleans, 7 Front Squats, 7 Push Press, 7 Back Squats, 7 Barbell Push Ups and 7 Weighted Sit Ups.

Not a favorite of mine as I'm not a big fan of barbell work and this was nothing but. Regardless it was a great workout and by the end of the workout my shoulder were like jello.. gonna feel this tomorrow.

Monday is a day of rest..

Tuesday's DEX workout was crazy as most DEX days are. We do so many different kind of workouts you can't help but get an overall amazing workouts. Today's DEX we did Running, Air Squats, Reverse Lunges, Kettlebell Swimgs, Couch Stretches, Pull Up Negatives, Hollow Holds, Step Ups, Burpees, Kettlebell Shrugs, Sit Ups and another run... a very diverse workout.

Wednesday's CON day was crazy. Honestly it was so horrible that I put it out of my mind. I used the hashtag #WeSurvived in my tweet about the workout.. that should give you a clue how bad it was.  

Thursday is STG day, as I've mentioned in past blogs.. this is my least favorite day but I know it's neccessary for a complete workout. We did overhead squats for the first time and they were hard. I'm great at back squats and okay at front squats so I figured I'd be okay at overhead squats but man was I wrong. They were a killer and it's gonna take alot more practice before I consider myself okay at them. 

Overall another amazing gym week... I'm 10 months and still loving it. Most days I get up at 6am and the first thought in my head is.. oh good it's a gym day, but I do say.. oh good it's not a gym day on my days off as well :)

DC TV... So Good!!!

Legends of Tomorrow released a new poster for their upcoming season. I have to say that I have been really impressed with DC TV. They currently have Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Gotham and iZombie with the addition of Legends of Tomorrow.

I came late to Arrow, after season two but quickly fell in love with it and binge watched those two seasons over a months time. With The Flash I started with the premiere two years ago and have loved every minute of it since. I think it's probably my favorite of the current DC shows. The Arrow/Flash Crossover have been amazing.. this last one was incredible.

The latest DCTV show that I'm watching is Supergirl, though it's only been a handful of episodes I've really been enjoying the development of the characters and unfolding of the story and can't wait to see where all goes.

I watched season one of Gotham and enjoyed it for the most part but when season two started I Tivo'd them and soon has six on my Tivo and no real interest to watch so I deleted them. I may try and catch up over the summer but from what I'm hearing season two has been really dark and not that great. As for iZombie it looked good and something I would watch but with so much other TV to watch I never got around to watching it. Like with Gotham it's on my list to watch over the summer (during the TV lull).

DC TV have several other shows in development with Legends of Tomorrow premiering in January.. now this is a series I'm really looking forward to.. big Brandon Routh fan

Real Hobbit Holes & Batman v Superman Trailer

So I came across this article about "real" Hobbit Holes... well it's a do-it-yourself prefabricated modular micro-house but when it's all said and done they very much look like Hobbit Holes. They are from a company called Green Magic Homes.

Here's how they explain their homes; Green Magic Homes is a prefabricated modular building system, with structural elements in FRP (Fiber Reinforced Polymer), which contains pieces carefully designed to generate multiple possibilities of spaces, access, lighting, ventilation and connection. The modules that make up the geometry are optimized in its measures to be sent in containers around the world.

Check out their video.

I honestly would consider buying one of these. I can see me buying a plot of land somewhere in a forest with a bunch of friends (or solo) and building a community of these house and living happily ever after in my Hobbit Hole. Of course I would have to do some major downsizing but as I get older I realize that I don't need all the things I have and would love to live a much simpler life. Will it ever happen.. who knows but I hope so. And if I do ever buy a house again I can see me going this route. For more info and pictures check out their website. http://greenmagichomes.com/main.php

A few days ago WB released a scene from the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Well today they released a full on trailer and it's AMAZING. Unlike the Star Wars trailers they show quite a but and reveal a few spoilers for the movie. Some fans are very upset saying things like "Well now I've seen the entire movie" or "why did they show us so much". For me it just got me even more pumped for the movie... can't wait for next summer.

WWofHP & A New Sewing Machine

Universal announced that they will have a bit announcement on Dec. 8th about The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Hollywood. I love that they announce that they will be announcing.. it's like a teaser trailer for a teaser trailer. I assume they are going to be announcing the opening The Wizarding World here in Hollywood. We know it's in Spring but haven't gotten a specific date.. guess we will have to wait a few more day before getting official word.. I can't wait!!!

Today I got my sewing machine, I've wanted a sewing machine for years now, ever since I started cosplaying I liked the idea that I would make my own costumes. Of course I haven't been on a sewing machine since 1989 and my first year of collage but I'm willing to learn. I got this great "black Friday" deal on this machine from Amazon.. only paid $70 and I couldn't pass it up. Now I just need to take some lessons or watch a few you tube videos. I'll start simple, I have a handful of very geeky fabric that I would like to make pillows our of so that is where I plan to start. Hopefully within time I'll be creating awesome cosplay outfits.. here's hoping.

New MASH 4077 Podcast

Geekyfanboy Productions released a new episode of the MASH 4077 Podcast. This is episode 117, covering S5 Ep 20 "Hepatitis"

Father Mulcahy comes down with infectious hepatitis, and Hawkeye has to give the whole camp antibiotics, whilst dealing with a psychosomatic back pain. Meanwhile, B.J. has to perform a very difficult operation.

You can Download from itunes tinyurl.com/MASH4077itunes , listen on Stitcher Radio ow.ly/iZJIz or listen and get direct download from our main website MASH4077Podcast.com

Supergirl Full Season, Rebels S3 & Batman V Superman Clip

Today CBS ordered the back 9 episodes for Supergirl giving it a full season. This is great news as I'm really enjoying Supergirl. It's so different from the other DC's shows Arrow, Gotham and The Flash. There is a lot more humor in Supergirl. I think each episode builds upon the other in regards to story and Supergirls growth. I like that she is flawed and just learning how to control her powers. She's not a great hand to hand fighter but we see episodes where her step sister is trainer her how to fight better. They are having "bad guys of the week" but also laying ground work for an ongoing threat. Not a fan of the Jimmy/Kara/Wyn love triangle but they seems to be pulling back from that for the time being having Jimmy's girlfriend (Lois Lane's sister) come back into the picture. They have only aired a few episode so far but I'm really looking forward to seeing where they take this series.

More good TV news.. Disney XD picked up Star Wars Rebels for a season 3. They are only eight or so episodes into season 2 and it really is a no brainer to renew the series, especially since they work on a season one year in advance. I'm sure we have at least a few more seasons of Rebels to enjoy in the coming years. I was a HUGE Clone Wars fan and was very sad that it was unceremoniously cancelled (causality of Disney purchase), they they quickly announced a new series called Rebels would be released. The first season was good but I was such of fan of Clone Wars and these two series are very different so it took me a while to warm up to the series but the end of season one and the first half of season two (that has aired) has been amazing. I'm really enjoying the stories and the character arcs.. I think it helps that they brought on my favorite character from The Clone Wars (Ahsoka Tano). She's not a regular character but pops in from time to time. Can't wait to see where they take season 2, still have alot of episodes left to air.

The last thing I wanted to share with you guys is a "sneak peek" at the new Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. They scene is tense and extremely difficult to understand out of context of the movie. But with that said I'm still very excited for this movie and I can't wait until next summer for it's release.

Do You Want To Build A Snowman

Spent my day making Christmas presents for my friends. I've been making these Snowman for over 12 years now.. I actually received one back in 2002 and loved it so much that I reversed engineered it to figure out how it was made. I improved upon it over the years so each years edition is slightly different. What I like is that no snowman is alike so my friends are getting something unique and one of a kind, plus it's hand made and from the heart.. so that's good too. Over the years I think I've made a few hundred of these snowmen and I'm sure I'll be make more of them in the future.

They are easy to make.. you just need a few supplies, White socks, rubber bands, orange felt (for the carrot nose), brown pipecleaners (for the arms, this is new to this edition, I use to use real twigs but they would break often). Googly eyes, Something for the smile (I used very tiny buttons and also black sequences that looked like coal). Various ribbon for the scarf and hate band and then fluff ball or something similar for the buttons down the front. And the most important part rice (uncooked). The only tool you really need is a hot glue gun and glue.

You start by filling up the sock with the uncooked rice. For a 9-11 size sock I use about 1 1/2 cups of rice and then you put a rubber band around and to tighten it off (that's the lower part of the body), then add another cup of rice and rubber band that off to create the center part of the body. Then add 2/3's cup of rice for the top part aka head of the snowman.

So now you have the three separate sections, you should have about four to five inches of sock still, that's for the top hat. Once you have your three sections you will hot glue them together. It's important that you make sure your snowman looks well shaped and proportionate before gluing.

Next you hot glue the eyes on, then cut carrot shaped noses from the orange felt and glue them on. Add three to four buttons for the mouth. Next you'll place three fluff ball down the front of the snowman. Then you'll wrap a piece of ribbon around the neck of the snowman and glue it into place. Take a pipe cleaner and cut it in half, form the hands of the snowman and then hot glue them under the ribbon scarf.

The final part of the snowman is to create his/her top hat. You do this by flipping the remaining part of the sock inside out and forming it into a hat shape. You flip the end of the sock up to create the brim. Once you have your hat created you glue it down. The final thing you have to do is measure a piece of ribbon around the brim of the hat, cut it and hot glue it down.

That's it.. you now can create a snowman of your very own... Merry Christmas