Saturday, March 26, 2016

Wondercon Day 1

After an early workout I headed out to Wondercon. I actually met up with friends Jes, Dallas, Hayley, Kimi, Derek, Naomi and Lauren at the North Hollywood Red Line to take the metro/subway to the convention center. This year the con was happening at the Los Angeles Convention Center instead of the usual Anaheim Convention Center so the subway was a viable option.

It was a interesting experience taking the subway, though I opted not to cosplay today, friends Hayley, Kimi, Jes and Dallas did so I got to see reactions from various people on the subway... it was pretty great. With exception to the creepy old guy taking video of Kimi in her Wonder Women costume, he was trying to be sneaky but I spotted him and had Kimi move to an inside seat. Other then that the expeience was fine, it's a great way to get to the convention center and saves a ton of money on parking (currently $40).

Once we were there we found out way to the badge area. At first the line looked super long but it actually took about fifteen minutes to get through it and it was pretty painless.

First thing we did was head to the food trucks to grab some lunch. That in itself is an experience. We ran into a few friends while we were there also my brother showed up to grab his badge from Jes (Thanks Jes for getting my brother a badge).

Once we were feed we hit the sales floor and for the next four hours we walked around, checked out booths and took a lot of pictures of amazing cosplayers. I have to admit seeing all these people dressed up really made me miss cosplaying. So I have decided that I will Frodo it up tomorrow. I spent most of my time with my friend Lauren. Other friends would come and go but Lauren and I were together then entire time.

Around 5pm my buddy Eric Campbell was on a panel about webseries so a few of us headed over to give it a watch. When the panel was over the con floor was closed and we all were tired so the few that were left made out way back to the subway and made our way home.

It was a good con day. Nothing to crazy, just lots of walking and enjoying the company of my friends and the amazing cosplayers.

Friday, March 25, 2016

Cosplaying Delays

So Wondercon is this weekend.. it actually started today and I'm missing out due to work. But I'm seeing tweets and facebook posts from friends who are there.. this is kind of a double edge sword.. part of me enjoys reading what's happening with friends there but the other part of me really wants to be there.

Speaking of Wondercon I won't be premiering any new cosplay as I had planned. My Twi-Lek Jedi is far from being finished and my Samwise Hobbit Alt isn't finished yet either. I'm bummed that I wasn't able to pull things together before the con but life has been a bit hectic with work and my social life. But my new goal is to have both of these cosplays done by San Diego Comic Con which is at the end of July, but I'm not going to wait to until the last minute. I hope to have everything done by the end of May. That seems doable. As for cosplaying this weekend I may pull out my Hobbit (Frodo) cosplay but my Hobbit feet are about to fall apart. They were meant for one con and over the past six years I've gone to about 15 cons so they are far pass their expatriation date. But with some super glue I might be able to wear them one last time. I'll see how I feel when it comes to this weekend.

I can't wait for WonderCon!!

NerdStrong Gym - My Weekly Recap

Only got in four days of workouts this week but there was a good reason why I didn't get my full five.

Instead of Saturdays CON workout I did the Warrior Dash with some fellow NerdStrongers,  you can check out my blog post if you want to read more about that awesome experience.

Sunday's TEAM workout was all about Peewee's Playhouse. This was a fun one, not the workout it self because it was tough like all the others, we started with 22x Burpees and then a 25 minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) of 10x Headcutters, 1 Minute Chair Pose, 25x Kettlebell Swings, 100x Jumping Jacks, 25x Wallball Sit Ups and a 230 Meter Run. To finish off the workout we did a TABATA Hollow Hold. What made this workout fun was the secret word of the day "Up". Everytime one of the coaches said "Up" we all screamed.. we screamed alot as the word "Up" comes up a lot during a workout.

Tuesday's DEX workout started with a pretty long warm up, 2 rounds of 7x Scap Pulls, 7x Scap Push Ups, Door Stretch, J-Hook Calf Stretch, then 2 rounds of 10x Bridges and 10x Slow Frog. For the main workout it was a ladder for Push Ups and Pulls Ups. We started with 10x Push Ups and worked our way down to 1 while we started with 1 Pull Up and work our way up to 10 Pull Ups. Push Ups are a piece of cake but pull ups are something completely different. At my best I can do two pull ups in a row, so instead I scaled down to Lat Rows instead. As a finisher we did 4 rounds of :45 seconds of work, :30 seconds of rest Jump Rope, Kettlebell Swings and Burpees. It was a good one.. I enjoy doing ladders.

Wednesday's CON workout was a former Boss Monster, we had a nice warm up and then did 100 Jumping Jacks, 920 Meter Run (4 times around the parking lot), 80x Squats, 70x V-Ups, 60 second Plank, 50x Alt Steel Club Pullovers, 460 Meter Run (2 times around the parking lot), 20x Hanging Knee Raises, 20x  Turkish Get Ups and finally 10x Burpees. Of course we have a 35 minute time cap so you just slowly chip away at the list hoping to reach the end before time runs out. I honestly can't remember if I finished this or not.. all I know when I was done I was exhausted. Everybody was exhausted.. these kinds of chipper workouts are tough.

Thursday's STG workout started with a pretty hefty warm up, 2 laps around the parking lot, then 10x Banded Good Mornings, 10x Banded Pass Thrus, 10x Air Squats, 10x Banded Squats and 10x addition Air Squats. We then did 2 minutes of Pigeon Stretching and then Banded Hamstring Stretch before finishing up with 10x Straight Leg to Ground Hang and then 10x Bent Knee to Chest Hang.

That was a workout in itself but the actual main workout was 10 Rounds of 10x Sandbag Cleans, 10x Reverse Lunge with Sandbag, 20x 1-Handed Steel Club Swing and then 60 seconds of rest. About round 5 your are dying but somehow  you push yourself five more rounds. And if that wasn't enough for a finisher we did a :15 second Leg Raise Holds TABATA. 

Overall another great week of working out at NerdStrong Gym.

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Introvert or Extrovert

I've always considered myself an introvert, but recently I found out that shyness is not a trait of being introverted and that's how I determined what I was.

The term extrovert tends to be manifested in outgoing, talkative, energetic behavior, whereas introvert is manifested in more reserved and solitary behavior. But a big factor is how you replenish your energy. Introverts like to recharge by being alone while extroverts get their recharge by being with others.

Introverts prefer solitary to social activities, but do not necessarily fear social encounters like shy people do. So with this statement I'd be a shy extrovert, if that's even possible. But more accurately I'm a combination of both.. and sure enough there is a word for that.. ambivert. An ambivert is moderately comfortable with groups and social interaction, but also relishes time alone, away from a crowd. That's describes me perfectly. It's strange thinking yourself one way for over 40 years but come to find out that you really aren't that after all... you're just shy.

Negativity Shifts to Wonder Woman

And the hate/negativity continues.. DC released one still image from the upcoming Wonder Woman movie and the internet has gone crazy. People are calling for a boycott of the movie, saying how it's ruined now. These comments are so ridiculous and stupid. Now I get it, you don't like the costume and that's fine but saying that the movie is ruined or that you will not see it because of one still image is just asinine. I know it's only a small portion of people but they tend to speak the loudest and get noticed.

Please don't say that people have the right to their opinion, I completely agree with you on that. And they have to the right to complain "loudly" online but it doesn't mean I have to like it.  It continues to boggle my mind on how someone can "hate" something after seeing one still image. But as the saying goes.. haters gonna hate.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Stop the Negativity and Hate

Today when I got on Facebook I was bombarded by so much negativity and hate about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Critic reviews came out today and needless to say they weren't so kind. What upset me most wasn't the negative reviews (as I don't really care what critic's think) it was the fact that so many people jumped on the "I hate this movie" bandwagon when they hadn't even seen it yet. I can accept negative comments after you see something and you honestly didn't like it. But to complain about it before you've even seen it is just stupid.

These weren't just "I told you so" kind of comments these were vicious and mean comments towards Zack Snyder, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams and Ben Affleck and this is based solely on trailers and the critic negative reviews. Such hatred is just idiotic and a waste of energy in my opinion.

Of course you ask why do I care, it's doesn't effect me and believe me I try and not let all the negativity get to me but seeing post after post in friends timelines takes it toll. I actually unfriended and stopped following a few people for their horrible bashing. Again everyone has a right to their opinion but please wait until you actually see the movie to complain about it.. Thanks.

And since I'm on the I hate "hate" thing.. You know you can promote and cheer on your presidential candidate without tearing down their opponent. I'd respect your argument so much more... just saying. I'm not talking about Democrats vs Republicans.. I'm now seeing Sanders supports bashing Hillary and vice versa.

I'm just so tired of all this hate and negativity... Between the negative comments about movies and the hateful bashing of presidential candidates I considered taking a break from Facebook. If I didn't have this blog or my podcasts I think I would but this is really the only way to promote those things. So I'll just do my best to ignore and even unfriend/unfollow people who hate or post negativity on a regular bases.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

The Real O'Neals & An Emotional Ending to Shield

I'm continuing to enjoy ABC's new comedy The Real O'Neals. This weeks episode was particularly fantastic. Eileen decides it's time to get a fresh start in her life by applying for her first job since her kids were born. Meanwhile, Pat realizes he might not be ready for the single life just yet, even though his patrol partner, Archie, thinks otherwise. And as Kenny wonders who he will date next, Jimmy takes it upon himself to help him explore the newfound world of online dating.

Kenny's brother Jimmy is quickly becoming my favorite character on this series. I love his relationship with his younger brother. He accepts Kenny for who he is and even tries to help him become a better gay man. I don't know how realistic this character is but it's still pretty fantastic.

And on a quite different note tonight's Agents of Shield had me in tears.. and when I say tears I mean heart hurting and uncontrollable tears. This was S3 Ep13 "Parting Shots" After tracking Malick to Russia , Bobbi and Hunter become involved in an assassination plot; the team is changed forever as they race to save lives in the balance.

This episode is a major Bobby and Hunter episode and as it unfolds you realize what's happening and know what the end results is going to be. If you follow Shield news you know those two characters were going to do a spin off pilot so I figured they were going to leave the show and of course we knew they weren't going to die. The part that killed me was their goodbye scene. Between the incredible acting and the music I was a blubbering mess and watching it on repeat viewings I cry everytime.. it's so well done. In fact it's such an amazing scene that ABC posted it on youtube.. be sure to grab some tissues before you start watching... oh man just thinking about it is killing me.

Accepting Compliments

This morning coach Andrew complimented me on my appearance, he said I was looking thinner. My first thought was, no way.. he's must be joking with me (Coach Andrew is a jokester). He said it in front of the class he was teaching so of course others joined in with some woohoo's and such.

I was embarrassed as i don't like to draw attention to myself, especially my physical appearance but what was worse was that I couldn't just accept his compliment. When I realized he was being serious I came up with excuses.. maybe it's the lighting, or that I'm sucking my gut in just right or this shirt makes me look thinner. I never once thought.. yeah I am looking thinner... thanks for noticing.. and that makes me sad.

I'm so programmed to not accept compliments, Up until this past year I haven't really received compliments about my appearance. So it's unusual for me when I get them. I don't see myself as losing weight.. I only see the weight I still have to lose. I know I will never be skinny or thin as I have a stocky built but I wish I could see what others see in me. Instead of questioning their motives I'd like to agree with them and just simply say Thank you.

Monday, March 21, 2016

Live Video Gaming

A while back I posted about this cool idea of a live video game. You control the person in real time while playing the game. The first version was a zombie survival video where unsuspecting chat roulette folks were thrust into this world.  It's a fun video to watch.. but now it looks as though a video game company asked these people do the same thing with one of their video games "Hitman". The following video is the result... it's pretty fantastic.

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Family Fun & Short Film "The Present"

Today I got to spend some time with my family (Dad, Brother, Sister-in-law, niece and nephew), I try and see them every two to three weeks. This time around my nephew's school was having a fair and Lora has to work one of the booths so I said I would watch the kiddos and walk them around the fair. It was alot of fun. There were a ton of little booth with kids games. Each game the kids play they would get stickers and then at the end they could turn in their stickers for prizes. They also had a large blow up slid which my niece and nephew has to go down over and over again. I think we spent half our tickets on that slide but they had a great time.

It was a nice family visit, didn't get to spend as much time with my Dad as I usually do but it was still a good visit.

I want to share this cute video with you guys.. at first I couldn't figure out why this kid was being so mean towards this three legged dog but of course at the end it's revealed and then the feels start happening.