Our 1st Webseries Rehearsal

Today was our very first rehearsal for the new webseries that Chris and I have been writing for over a year. The title and synopsis has not been released yet, but will be very soon. I have been looking forward to this day for quite some time. We are going to rehearse the first five episodes of the series. We are planning a 10 episode first season (but that may change as we have only written the first six episodes and that has taken us over a year), so will see how things go.

As I mentioned Chris and I are writing it, but we are also acting in it as well. The three main characters are Kenny (me), Jes and Olivia and then we have a group of secondary characters, Chris, Jen, Robert, Josh, Michael and Will. And then we have various other supporting characters, Aaron, Brett, Dallas, Anne, Nicki, Rupert and Luis.

For today's read through we had me, Chris (via Skype), Jes, Olivia, Robert, Josh, Will, Brett and Aaron joining us.

Folks started rolling in around noon but we didn't actually start until about 2pm. First up was just a table read. That's where we all sit around the table and read the scripts. See how things work and flow. Make minor adjustments if needed. Everyone laughed when they were suppose to and seemed to be having a great time. We went through all five scripts before starting over again. The second time you could tell folks were getting more comfortable with the material. A few more notes were made, they questioned if some of the jokes worked or not... it was a nice collaboration from the group.

We took a break after the second read through and decided to play at game of Cards Against Humanity. 

After the game we decided to do one more read through but this time we were going to actually move around and act it out. Now this is were the fun really began. I mean it's a blast hearing your words come to life but it's a totally different experience watching them come to life. Again with the third read through there were great ideas of additional lines added to the scripts, how folks should be delivering their lines and so on... it was a lot of fun.

Now I'm not an actor, never wanted to be and I have been worried that I wasn't going to be able to really do it. But after these rehearsals I think I did a fairly decent job. Of course I have a long ways to go and it will be different when there is a camera pointed at you but these run throughs kind of gave me the confidence that I can pull something like this off.

With rehearsals over some folks left but Robert, Cait, Aaron, Brett and Josh crashed at my place so we stayed up and watched Sky High. I love that movie and a few of the guys here hadn't seen it before. All in all it was a very successful first rehearsal. Can't wait for the next one.

I want to thank everyone for coming out and playing with us. It couldn't have gone any better. I know only a few of you are want to be actors and rest are doing this for fun like me... Thanks for being AWESOME!!!!

Copies and Twisted Ankles

Today I went out and had to make copies of some scripts. Tomorrow a group of friends are getting together to rehearse the first five episodes of the webseries that my buddy Chris and I are writing. I printed out 1 copy of each at my buddy Robert's place and wanted to get 9 more copies made. It was a total of 54 pages that I needed to copy 9 times.

Now the last time I made copies they were something like .02 cents a copy. Well today at the UPS store they were .07 cents a copy.  I had to make 486 copies/pages. Instead of it costing $9.72 it was going to cost me $34.02. Yay, not having money or a job this was not going to work so instead I opted to buy only 4 copies of each script costing me $15.12 (which is still to much for me) but I had to have scripts for the cast to read off of. Anyways... super excited for tomorrow and hearing the words that Chris and I wrote come to life.

Did a google hangout with my buddy Chris tonight, a few friends joined in, Eva, Brett and Elea. I was only able to stay an hour before doing my geeky workout before bed. Said my goodbyes and started up the Xbox for an hour of SW Galactic Dance Off. Only a few minutes in I over excited and came down on my left ankle wrong and felt a sharp jolt of pain run up my leg. Needless to say my workout was over. I don't know if my ankle is twisted or what all I know if I can put any real pressure on it at the moment. Will have to see how it feels tomorrow.

I swear the universe if trying to prevent me from working out. First my elliptical breaks, and I find a suitable replacement activity and now my ankle twist, stopping me for doing that...  Ugh!!!

"Get Fit" 3 Weeks Later

So I've lost focus a bit the past week. In week two which I forgot to blog about I was down to 201.5 from 210 lbs, super excited that I was going to get below 200 lbs within the next two weeks. Well week 3 hasn't been that great. My elliptical machine broke down (which is a major bummer), but I did find what I think is a suitable substitution with my Star Wars Kinect Galactic Dance Off. I have to do an hour of it for a good sweat and really get my heart pumping.. unlike my elliptical which only took me about 20 minutes to work up a good sweat, but it will work until I can get either my elliptical fixed or somehow buy a new one.

My bigger issue is my eating. With the first two weeks I limited myself to "eating out" once a week but this past week I have eaten out three times. And it shows on the scale.. this morning when I weighted in I am currently at 203.5.. that's a gain of 2 lbs this past week. Part of it could be that my Dance Off workout isn't as intense as the elliptical workout but I think the bigger part of it is my eating.

I knew that my eating habits would be the hardest thing to overcome and I have to not let this little set back throw me off track. For week four I need to re-focus my efforts and get back on track to doing more cardio, eat healthier and lose the weight. I would love to be below 200 for my 43rd birthday (which is just under a month away)... I don't think that's an unreasonable goal. Now I just have to do it!!!

Job Interview, Batman Backlash & Sci fi Vs Fantasy

Today I had a job interview, seems like these are so far and few between. It was set for 11am in Hollywood so I was up and out of my house by 9am. It only took me an hour and 15 to get there so I sat in my car for 45 minutes and listen to some podcasts to kill time. I met with two people, the post director and the post manager. It lasted about 20 minutes or so and it went pretty well.

If I get this gig there will be a few challenges as it's being shot, edited and delivered in PAL format, which I have never done. But it's pretty much the same as NTSC with a different frame rate. I find out in a week or so if I got it or not.

In other news of the geeky type.. Ben Affleck was announced to be playing Batman in the Superman Vs. Batman movie (Man of Steel sequel). I was surprised by this choice but I am a fan of Mr. Affleck and know with the right script, he can be pretty amazing. But oh my god the backlash that happened, twitter and facebook blew up. Some folks simply swore off the next movie (as I'm not going to see it... period!!), most bitched and complain how this was the worse choice the WB could have made. Fans are fickle (I'm including myself) but I've always been in the mindset of let's wait and see before I say yay or nay. We know absolutely nothing about the story, about how this Batman will be portrayed. I think Zack Snyder did an amazing job on re-creating Superman in Man of Steel, so I can't wait to see how he re-creates Batman for the next movie. Do I wish they cast Joesph Gordan Levy to play the next Batman (keeping with the previous incarnation of Batman), sure but fans would have complain that he was "Robin" in the last movie and not Batman.

Everyone has the right to their opinion, but after a while I got tired of hearing people bash the WB and Afflect. They have no proof that this was a bad decision. It the same when Anne Hathaway was cast as Catwoman or Heath Ledger was cast as The Joker. So much fan rage over these casting and look how those performances turned out. So again I'm at a let's wait and see mood.

I posted a tweet/Facebook post asking "Which is your favorite, Fantasy or Sci fi". I figured Sci fi would run away with it but to my surprise Fantasy actually held it's own. Out of the fifty or so people who answered, I'd say about 45% said Fantasy, while 50% said Sci Fi and 5% said Both.

I'm in that 5% I love both Fantasy and Science Fiction equally. I guess if push came to shove and I had to choice just one it would be Fantasy. I mean two of my four favorite things of all time are Fantasy; Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. And it's debatable weather Star Wars is Fantasy or Sci fi. I consider it both actually. Star Trek is the fourth one and is my only true Sci fi. What are your thoughts on Affleck as Batman or Sci Fi vs Fantasy.. leave your comments below.

Podcasts & Spaceships

Worked on editing my next MASH 4077 Podcast, it's not due to be release until September 1st but I wanted to get a head start. This one took a bit more editing but in the end I'm very happy with the final results.

While taking breaks from editing, my eyes can only take so much looking at the computer screen I started to wash baseboards in my house. I might not be able to paint because it's so hot outside but that doesn't prevent me from cleaning up the inside.

Today is Wednesday so that means TV night with my buddy Robert. We are continuing our first time viewing of Babylon 5. Been really enjoying this series so far. We're getting towards the end of season one.

Tonight was started with Season 1, Episode 16 "Eyes" Sinclair's decisions of the last year catch up with him, when an internal affairs investigator arrives to test the crew's loyalty to Earth Force with the help of a telepath. And Lennier shows great interest in Garibaldi's attempt at assembling a 1990's motorcycle.

Another enjoyable episode. The "bad" guy was so annoying, you just wanted to punch him through the TV screen. That's what I love about these characters.. they are so well written they annoy the heck out of you.. almost to the point of being uncomfortable.

Next up was Season 1 Episode 17 "Legacies" A Minbari war cruiser comes to Babylon 5 to display the body of a recently dead Minbari leader, while Ivanova and Talia battle for the fate of a young girl with newly discovered telepathic powers.

I enjoyed this episode as well. Again you have the Minbari commander being a total ass and doing such a good job at it. You also have Delenn being shifty. I can't wait until we find out more about her background. I think we've gotten to know Ivanova pass the best of all the main characters. I'm glad she fought for the young telepath.

Our next episode was Season 1 Episode 18 "A Voice In The Wilderness pt1" Strange signals start coming from Epsilon 3, the planet below Babylon 5. A science ship is sent to investigate, but is fired upon by a defense system on the planet. Meanwhile Garibaldi worries about a lover he left back on Mars, when fighting breaks out there.

Really enjoyed this episode, lots of conflict in this one. It seems like everyone is trying to take over Babylon 5 this season. Seems there were lots of hints of things to come in this and the next episode.

And our final episode of the night, Season 1 Episode 19 "A Voice In The Wilderness pt2" The situation heats up when an Earth Force heavy cruiser arrives to "protect earth's interests", and the fusion reactors on Epsilon 3 start going out of control, and may blow up the planet and Babylon 5.

Love Londo in this episode. He was having a blast flying that ship. I knew that Delenn's friend was going to take the place of the dying alien long before it was revealed in the episode. I assume this planet will come back into play at some poin in the series.

Only got 3 more episode of Season 1.. can't wait to see where it all goes and what they have in store for us with Season 2

New Star Wars Action Figures

I was listening to Rebel Force Radio (my favorite Star Wars podcast) and they were mentioning these new action figured called The Black Series.. what makes these different from all the other Star Wars figures is that they are six inch figures and not the usual 3 3/4. I saw these on display at SDCC last month and really liked the look of them. I had no idea that they were already out. Looks like they came out at the beginning of August. Of course since I'm late to the party I'm going to have find them online if I want to get all of them... which I do. I haven't collected Star Wars figures since the 80's as it got to a point where they were releasing a ton of figures a year and being a completest I had to have them all. So I gave up Star Wars figures and only collected favorite characters like R2D2 or Queen Amidala.  What's great about these is that they are larger figures, but of course larger figures means more money. The small figures are going for on average $10 (which is crazy as I remember buying them for $2.99) but as I mentioned these figures are larger so the cost is $20 each. It's a bit pricey but they are pretty awesome.

Wave 1 consists of Darth Maul, Luke in X-wing Pilot outfit, Sand Trooper and my favorite character in the Star Wars universe R2D2. Wave 2 (I don't know when they are going to be released) will have Slave Leia, Han Solo, Greedo and Boba Fett. And speaking of Boba Fett there was an exclusive of Boba Fett with Frozen Han at SDCC but I missed out :(

So Star Wars as managed to suck me back in to collection action figures. I don't know how long this line will go, they are saying it's a limited run, like their Star Wars Unleashed figured, which I loved and have all of them. So for now I'll take it one figure at a time.

What makes you a Die-Hard fan?

So I'm a huge fan of Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Buffy/Angel, Firefly, V (original and remake), Doctor Who, and many other genre shows/films, but am I a die hard fan. I've been questioning what makes a you a die hard fan? Do you have to know every fact there is about the show/film, do you have to read, watched, play everything there is about the show/film. Or are you a die hard fan if you love something so much that it's truly becomes part of your daily life. What separates fans for die hard fans?

Many of my friends are die hard fans of one particular thing.. example.. they love Star Wars, the live and breath it. They may like other genre things but nothing compares to Star Wars. But I'm not like that. I consider myself a die hard fan of many things. I love and breath four universes in particular. Does that mean I'm not devoted as much since my love is spread among many and not concentrated on one?

I'm a die hard fan of Star Wars, it was my first love, it is what made me the geek I am today. It got me into action figure collecting. It was something that I bonded over with my Dad when I was a kid. It will always be important to me. But I have only seen the six movies, the few TV specials, Clone Wars cartoon as well as Ewoks and Droids cartoons. I've read a few of the comics but never gotten into the books (not that I wouldn't mind reading them). I don't know ever detail of every character or much of their background. When it comes to the Star Wars universe I'd say I know about 60% of it, but is that enough to call me a die hard fan.

I'm a die hard fan of Star Trek, I remember watching the original series as a kid and it was fun. I didn't really get into it until Star Trek The Next Generation, that's when I went from a fan to a die hard fanboy. I have seen every TV episode of all the series (with exception to TOS and Animated series). I've seen all the movies, I've read a good 60 or so of the TNG/DS9/VOY era books and I've read about 80% of the comic books. Does this mean I love it more then Star Wars... no it doesn't. I love both of this and consider myself a die hard fan of both of these for different reasons.

I'm a die hard fan of Harry Potter, I've read/listen to those books hundreds of times. I know more details about that world then any of the other worlds I love. I've seen all the movies, I even have some Hogwarts robes of my very own. Am I a die hard fan... you know it. Because I know more about this world then the others does that mean I love it more.. no... it's because it's a bit easier with Harry Potter since the world is much smaller then Star Trek and Star Wars.. and by that I mean there is less movies/books and such to consume.

I'm a die hard fan of Middle Earth Universe, Like with Harry Potter I have read/listen to The Hobbit and The Silmarillion several times and Lord of the Rings trilogy a good 30 or so times. I love, love, love the movies and I've seen the not to great animated movies. I consider myself a Hobbit and in fact my alter ego is Frodo Gamgee (@MyHobbitLife), son of Samwise and Rosie. I dress up as a Hobbit every opportunity I get. I love that world. Am I a die hard fan even if I can't spout off the linage of the Hobbit families.. I think so. Of all the worlds I visit this would be the one I would love to live in.

I'm often asked do I love one more then the others... nope. Each one adds to my life, sometimes Lord of the Rings is more prominent, sometimes it's Potter and other times it's Wars or Trek. Each one hold a special place in my heart, so much so that I'm getting tattoo to represent each love. So far I've gotten Harry Potter, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Next on my list is Star Trek and I'm having a design created for that as we speak. Will be getting in after my 43rd birthday next month.

So I guess I answered my own question by writing this blog.. regardless of what you consider a "die-hard" fan... If you think you're a die hard fan.. then you are, and to be honest that's all that really matters.

My New Geeky Cardio Workout

Since my elliptical broke over the weekend I had to come up with a new cardio workout. Of course I could go to Vasquez Rocks and go hiking but the temperatures around here as of late have been in the 100's and that''s not ideal hiking weather and when the temps do drop to reasonable numbers the park is closed.

I first thought I could do some sort of aerobics, jumping rope or stuff like that but then I remembered playing Star Wars Kinect with my buddy Chris back in Montana last Christmas and I remember telling him.. Wow this is a really good workout, it get's the blood pumping. So I connected my Kinect to my Xbox and got everything set up. I first did Galactic Dance Off and as expected after a few minutes I was sweating. If you don't know what Galactic Dance off is, it's a video game with Star Wars characters dancing on screen and you mimic their dance moves for points. It's tough sometimes but man is it fun.

I then did some Rancor Rampage, again this is a game were you are a Rancor on a planet going berzerk. smashing things and causing chaos. You do alot of running in place, waving your arms around and it too can get the heart racing.

I actually went back and forth for an hour playing both of these games and feel I got a pretty good cardio workout from it. What's funny is that you don't realize how much time has passed when you are doing these.

So for now this is going to be my new geeky cardio workout, until I can get my elliptical repaired or replaced.

The Geekie Awards

Started my day on the elliptical and 15 minutes into my cardio workout my machine started to make some grinding sounds and then suddenly I couldn't push the pedals and everything had frozen. This is just how my luck has been going lately. Just when I get into a great routine and really enjoying the workouts my machine breaks down. I took it apart to see if it was an obvious fix but I couldn't see anything.

The big thing today was The Geekie Awards. This is the first year for the Geekies and I was privileged to be a judge for the podcasts entries. I debated on what to wear, I considered renting a tux but instead decided on just a suit. But I wanted to cosplay it up a bit by wearing some of my Hobbit gear. I figured I'd be a modern day Hobbit. At first I was just going to wear the feet as I really didn't want to shave my facial hair. But after talking to folks and getting various opinions I decided to go with not only the feet but the hair and wig which meant I had to shave since Hobbits don't have facial hair.

I did a test run on what I was going to wear to make sure it looked good together but it was way to hot to wear it over to Jes' place as I was meeting up with several friends (Robert, Jes, Doug and Aaron) and we were carpooling to the award show. So I arrived with everything in hand. First thing I did while at Jes' was put on my ears as that normally takes the longest and just a few minutes before Doug, our final person arrived I put on everything else and as expected it was hot.

We all piled into Aaron suv and headed into Hollywood for the event. Doug and I were both judges and Robert was my plus one and Jes was Doug's plus one. Aaron actually purchased a ticket for the event. We got to the event around 5:15 as doors opened at 5:30 for a VIP pre party. When we got there we asked what line we needed to stand in and were told that the line on the left was for VIP and those who wanted to walk the red carpet and the line on the right was for VIP and Judges. Doug and I had the option on doing the red carpet but I read in an earlier email that our plus one could not. So we opted for just the VIP line.

We stood in line for over two hours, it was ridiculous. I know this is the first year of this event so of course there are going to be bugs and things they'll need to workout if there is a second but the process of lining up and getting our passes was horrific. I don't know who was in charge of this but they royally dropped the ball. We were all hungry and thirsty as we were told that the VIP pre-party was going to have drinks and food. Well we didn't get into the event until 7:15pm and the show was suppose to start at 7:30.

Once we were inside the rest of the evening was fantastic. The venue was nice, they moved us from the balcony VIP area to tables on the main floor by the stage, so that was cool. They had these cool 3D printers creating a rocket in the middle of each table. The show actually started only a half hour later then planned.

Andre Meadows (a popular youtuber) opened the show with some comedy. Then there was this really EPIC battle among various iconic geek characters, Black Widow, Bane, Jedi's, Dark Helmet, Batman, Joker, Hawkeye, etc.. they were fighting over a metal briefcase. This is all happening on the big screen when suddenly it moves to the theaters live, and the fighting continues on stage and behind some audience members. It was a really great opening to the show.

Host Alison Haslip

Then host Alison Haslip (who I just love) comes walking out with the briefcase, opens it and pulls out a Geekie Award. She goes into her opening monologue and got the show going (btw, she was a fantastic host). First award went to Stan Lee for the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award. He was awesome, came out questioned what a geek was to begin with because it does encompass so many different things. Then he read/sung us a poem he wrote about geeks and it was pretty awesome. A great way to start the awards presentation. They then announced NASA to receive the 2013 Geek Cred Award which was pretty great, and then they gave Nathan Fillion the 2013 Geek of the Year Award. Unfortunately he wasn't there but they did a funny acceptance skit instead. Then the actual awards started to be announced. Best Crowdfunding Campaign Award, Best Podcast Award (This is the category that I voted for), Best Short Film Award, Best One Shot Award, Best Toy or Game Award, Best Retail Store or Website Award, Best Web Series Award.

Cast of Freaks and Geeks

The presentations went great, they had some youtubers mixed in with some celebrities as presenters. They had fun little video bits that opened each category. My friend Olivia was part of a skit as

Friend Olivia on right

well as a "trophy" holder for one of the categories. The only real mistake was from The Winner Twins and Richard Hatch when they went to present Best Retail Store or Website Award. They did their shtick at the beginning and then went right into who the winner was. We had no idea what category this was for or who the nominees were. They went right to "And the Winner is...". Found out later from Olivia that the teleprompter screwed up and they just said what was on the screen. But other then that snafu the evening went smooth.. at least from the audience perspective.

It was a fun night, there were several "commercial" breaks during the show. Since I didn't get into the theater until a few minutes before it started I was unable to really socialize with any friends, other then the few I was with. So during the break I did manage to run into Lan Bui and Steven Dengler, both of these guys I haven't seen in quite a while so it was nice to catch up for the few seconds we were talking.

The show ran a bit long as expected since it didn't start on time and was over by 10pm. There was a VIP after party, but several of my friends who I came with had to work the next morning, plus we were all starving, so we did a quick round and I managed to say hi to my friend Bonnie Burton when I was picking up my "Judge" award bag. But I didn't get to meet Kristin Nedopak who I was really looking forward to meeting or Jenna Busch, again I'm a big fan and wasn't able to meet her. There were actually a good 20 or so friends there and I only saw three of them :( We left the theater around 11pm

Overall it was a fantastic time, and I really do hope there is a second annual Geekie Awards. The only downside to the night was the process of getting in, which lead to my other disappointment, not being able to socialize more with friends. But for a first time award show.. Kristin Nedopak should be commended on a job well done.

1st D&D Campaign Comes To An End

Today I as determined to get out of this blah mood I've been in the past few days.  I did both my morning and evening 25 minute cardio workouts on my elliptical... so yay me.

I got up fairly early and went out and did a bit a yard work before it got to hot outside. But even at 8am it was still in the high 80's so that didn't last to long. I came back in and played a bit of LOTRO before finishing up my laundry that I started a few days ago. I worked on a bit more podcasting before getting ready to head out. Today was a special session of D&D. My buddy Anthony was visiting from Wisconsin so we moved the D&D session to today so he could join us. The session was also moved up an hour to 2:30pm.

I got to Will and Jen's around 2:15pm, soon it was a full house and we got going on our final leg of this adventure. This was one crazy last hurrah for this campaign. We found lots of cool treasures, fought several big bads and in the end there were no critically injured companions.. so it was a win win. It was a nice ending to this campaign. Some big things happened in tonight's session that will change the way my character Dash sees some of his fellow companions. I look forward to starting our second campaign in two weeks. Not sure if everyone who played in this campaign will continue to the second one but I for one plan to keep going. I'm having a blast playing Pathfinder D&D and I'm loving my Halfling Wizard Dashel Greenbottle

I got home pretty late around 11:30pm but as mentioned above I was determined to not miss my evening cardio work out. I went to bed just after midnight.

Another Blah Day

The blahness continued today.. along with the super high temps. My laziness was worst today then yesterday. It was a struggle do anything. I only managed to do one 30 minute cardio workout, I just couldn't bring myself to doing another one in the evening.

Today was pretty much a duplicate of yesterday. I would watch some TV, then do some touch painting inside the house, I'd play some LOTRO, then work on my webseries, wash dishes, watch more TV. Nothing to productive.

Of course I'm mad at myself for spending two days doing nothing when there is so much to be doing. Even if I couldn't get outside and paint, I have podcasts I can be working on. I guess I did do a little prep work for my upcoming Alien Nation recording as well a bit of editing for the next MASH 4077 Podcast, but not nearly as much as I would have liked.

It's crazy as I have these burst of energy and I get so much done one day and then crash the next day.  I can't afford many more of these "crash" days. I have way to much to get done and really no excuse as to why I can't do this stuff.

I know when I do get a job I'll look back at all this time off and really hate myself for not getting done. I've done it in the pass and you would think I would have learned from it as I hate feeling that way... I guess old habits are hard to break.

A Blah Kind of Day

Woke up today not feeling so hot.. I think I might have gotten a little to much sun yesterday. Felt very lethargic all day today. I did force myself to do my two 20 minute elliptical workouts. Regardless of how lethargic I feel I can't stop working out... but I have to say it was a struggle.

Didn't do much of anything today. It was way to hot to paint or do yard work outside (110+). So I pretty much stayed inside all day long. I watched a bit of TV, then would clean around the house, play some LOTRO, then wash some baseboards, I'd chat with friends online, then do some laundry.

By the end of the day I felt like I pretty much wasted my day away. I was not happy with how productive I was today. But I guess not all days can be winners.

MASH 4077 Podcast Episode 60

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

Show Notes

Kenny Mittleider from Knights of the Guild, Alien Nation: The Newcomers Podcast & Confessions of a Fanboy Podcast, Simon Meddings from Waffle On Podcast & Al Kessel from Tales from the Mouse House, Fast Forward & Just Because Podcast discuss one of the most successful and longest running television series in history.. M*A*S*H

Today we cover Season 3, Episode #12 - A Full Rich Day

60th Episode Overall
Directed by Gene Reynolds
Written by John D. Hess
Production code B311
Original air date December 3, 1974

Set during the Korean War in the 1950’s

Plot Summary: Hawkeye records a letter to his Dad telling him about the day. A Turkish soldier refuses to be treated because he wants to get back to the front. Another soldier wants his Sargent to be treated first and won't take no for an answer. A soldier from Luxembourg is misplaced.
Hope you enjoy it, Kenny

3000th Blog Post

So this is my 3000th blog post. I've been blogging since 2002 (wow 11 1/2 years), at first I would blog only really big events that happen in my life. It wasn't until 2006 when I started blogging more regularly and then 2008 I started blogging daily. I love blogging, it's part of my life.. it's become routine, like eating breakfast. I couldn't imagine my life without blogging. I'm not a great writer by any means and I don't think I have a particularly interesting life, but that doesn't stop me from blogging :) I know I don't have a huge readership but those that do read my blog, I thank you. Especially those who leave me comments from time to time. I enjoy reading them all.

People often ask why I blog.. well there are several reasons why.. first, I blog to keep everyone (Friends and Family) up to date on my life. Second I like getting things off my chest. Thirdly because it's like having a personal dairy (though I don't get to personal in my posts) and finally and most importantly I love it. It brings me joy, I especially love going back in time and reading some of my older blogs posts and smiling at all the good times I've had.

Will I ever stop blogging.. nope.. even if I didn't have a single reader I would and will continue to blog until the day I'm not longer able to.  "My Life As A Geek" is here to stay.

Here's to 3000 and beyond!!

Painting & TV Night

Woke up early and immediately went outside and started painting. I continued with my trim, but the problem is, even my tallest ladder doesn't reach the peaks of my roof so this morning I had to get up on to the roof and hang over the side and try and paint the trim, it's not an easy task.

First of all it's hot already, in the high 80's and I'm laying on a black asphalt roof so it's boiling hot. I did take a towel up on the roof with me to help but my knees and elbows were just getting chewed up. I did manage to stay up there for two hours before having to come back down into the cool (AC'd) house. While I was in the house on a break, I had breakfast and then did my 25 minute workout on the elliptical.

While I was up on the roof I realized that I had to paint the chimney and a window out-cove that I totally forgot about. So when I went back up I painted those two items. Because there were windows I had to do a lot of taping off of the windows and that's always time consuming. I lasted an hour on the roof this time. The temps were now in the mid 90's and I felt dizzy, which isn't good since I'm high up on the roof top.  I came back in for an hour of cool down before going back up again and finishing up the chimney.

I debated on going back to the trim but it was so hot outside and it's so difficult to paint while hanging off the side of the house that I decided that six hours of painting was enough for the day.

I had to get ready to head out to my buddy Robert's place for TV night anyway. I took a much needed shower and at 3:30 I headed south.

For TV night we are continuing our Babylon 5 first time viewing. So far we are loving the series. Tonight we continue with Season 1, first episode of the night Ep 11 "Survivors" There is an explosion in one of the fighter bays just days before the president is to visit Babylon 5. A dying man implicates Garibaldi, which is just what the head of presidential security wants to hear, as she blames him for her father's death.

I enjoyed this episode, as I really like Garibaldi, but the women (head of security for the President) was such a bitch and she annoyed me every time she was on screen. I did love her run in's with Cmdr. Susan Ivanova, they were awesome. Even at the end when she apologized to Garibaldi (of course he accepts it) I was wishing for her death. But I guess that's a good thing that I felt so much hatred for this women.. good writing.

Next up was S1 Ep 12 "By Any Means Necessary" An accident in the docking bays starts a series of problems on Babylon 5, when a Narn freighter is destroyed and one of the workers is killed. The dock workers demand better conditions or they'll go on strike. And G'Kar has to get a replacement G'Quan-Eth plant for an important religious ceremony.

Another good episode, I like how this show can be related to real life situations. Unions workers are always going on strike for one thing or another. I like how the Captain found a loophole and everyone wins.. well except the Captain who now has made some powerful enemies, whom I'm sure will see later in the season. The B story was a lot of fun with G'Kar and Londo, there is so much history between these two races and we've only scratched the surface.

Now it's time for S1 Ep 13 "Signs and Portents" A Centauri noble comes to Babylon 5 to transport an important Centauri relic in Londo's possession back to the homeworld. And a mysterious man visits all the alien ambassadors asking them an unusual question.

This episode got the most buzz when I tweeted about it. We got alot of "This is where is all begins" type of tweets. And I can only assume they are talking about this mysterious man and the "Shadow". We did get a glimpse of a ship that cut their the huge raiders ship like it was butter. Also we had Kosh confront this stranger and he tells him to leave, but then we later find out that Kosh was in medical looking to repair his EV suit, which makes us believe that he had a scuffle with the "mysterious guy". Oh and we had the aunt of the Centauri noble man predict the destruction of Babylon 5, she even showed the Captain her vision. So just little clues here and there at something bigger,  so I can't wait to see where this story line goes. 

Next was S1 Ep14 "TKO" Garibaldi is surprised when an old friend comes to Babylon 5 to fight in the mutai — a savage alien fighting arena. Meanwhile Ivanova has trouble dealing with her father's death.

My least favorite of the group that we watched tonight. Didn't really care about the whole martial arts main story.. I did enjoy the B story with Ivanova. We got to see a little more character growth from her. She's a very secretive character so it was nice to see this other side.

And our final episode of the night, S1 Ep 15 "Grail" A man comes to Babylon 5 asking the alien ambassadors for information that can help him with his quest to find the Holy Grail, while a Downbelow gangster gives security problems by mindwiping all who oppose him.

Another okay episode, this one had a lot more meaning then the previous one. This one was all about faith. It was a tad predictable but still enjoyable.

Another five great episodes of Babylon 5. Seems like we crossed a mark in the sand as folks keep telling us we're in for a fun ride now. I've been loving every episode up to now so  I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Before I left Robert's place I had him print out scripts for my new webseries. We will be rehearsing in a few weeks the first 5 episodes and I got to make sure I have enough copies for everyone.. can't wait hear my words come to life.

Just Another Day

Workouts continued, I've done 20 to 50 minutes elliptical cardio for the past 11 day straight... feeling great. Today was no different, did a 25 minute cardio on the elliptical this morning and another 25 minute cardio in the evening.

I continued to paint the trim around my house. I don't understand why this task is so difficult for me. I manage to do about an hour or so of painting and then I'm exhausted. This can't continue. I've been painting this house since March and that's just crazy. Time to finish.. tomorrow I'm going to focus on doing nothing but finishing up the trim work. Heat or not I have to get this done once and for all.

My friends Kim Evey and Felicia Day were featured in Produced By, it's the Producer's Guild of America magazine. You can read the article about new media HERE. What's double cool is that they used 5 of the photos that I took while on set on various seasons. I didn't get a credit but cool non-the-less.

I did a bit more star gazing before bed.. got to see a few meteors and one ran all the way across the sky and was so bright.. it was pretty amazing.

The Time Has Come...

The time has come.. I look for a job every morning, it's become routine. I get up, jump online, check my emails and then check a few job sites. Week after week, month after month I have found nothing or very few. Those that I do find I apply for but never heard back (I've applied for about four jobs in the past five months). while looking for work I normally look online for Post Production Supervisor, it's the job I've been doing for over 15 years, but since I haven't been able to find anything in my line of work, today I bit the bullet and started looking for Post Production Coordinator positions. This is a step below Post Production Supervisors and the pay is barely half of what I would make as a Supervisor.. but I can't afford to be out of work much longer. The threat of losing my house and car pushed me into taking a step down in my career. It sucks but it's something I have to do.

Workouts, Housework & Meteors

I manged to get in two elliptical workouts today, the morning one was 25 minutes and the evening one was 30 minutes.. gonna try and expand my morning one to a full hour next week. I haven't started weight training yet but I also plan to get back into that. For now Cardio is my priority.  Still struggling with eating better, my problem is I went grocery shopping the week before my doctors visit so I'm still eating the stuff I purchased. Since I'm without money these days I can't afford to waste any of my food.. even the bad stuff. I think once this food is gone and I go shopping again I'll make better choices.

I did some more trim painting around the house and yard work, but not nearly as much as I wanted to today. Hopefully tomorrow I can get more done.

I finished my night by laying out on my back deck around midnight and watched for meteors, tonight was suppose to be the peak of the meteor shower. I was only out there for about a half hour and only saw a handful of shooting stars, I was so tired, so I called it a night.

Robert, Millers and Pilgrim

Robert and I were up by 9am and laid in bed chatting, we have some of our best conversations either just before we go to bed or when we are walking up. Will and Becca left my place around 9:30am. Robert was going to hang out with me the entire day.. yay!!!

We got up, showered and I made us some breakfast. We've been watching alot of The Big Bang Theory as it's one of my favorites and Robert hasn't seen many of them.

We headed out to Hollywood for a screening of We're The Millers. This was another of my PGA (Producer's Guild of America) screenings. We were seeing it at the same theater we saw the Pacific Rim screening. The previews to We're the Millers look funny, but I'm not one for stupid/raunchy comedy like The Hangover, but I do like smart/raunchy comedy like Bridesmaids.. so I went into this screening hoping for the best. Side not we actually had the writer of the film watching it with us.. talk about pressure :)

Here's a quick synopsis: A veteran pot dealer creates a fake family as part of his plan to move a huge shipment of weed into the U.S. from Mexico.

Here's my review, I really enjoyed it, it was a fun adventure, there were some cringe worthy moments, some laugh out loud, oh my god they just didn't do that moments. But what I think makes this different from the other typical raunchy comedies is this one had heart. It had a very sweet story mixed in with the comedy. Dad was a drug dealer, Mom was a stripper, daughter a homeless runaway and the son a lonely geek. These were four lonely people just looking for love and the happen to find it in each other. I even teared up towards the end. When it was over I turned to Robert (who loved it as well) and said.. wow I was not expecting this movie to have so much heart.  I would see this again in the theater and will probably buy it when it comes out on blu-ray. One of the best moments was during the credits as they show some very funny bloopers but the final one with the four main characters in the RV and they turn on the radio and in the movie TLC's Waterfalls is played and they sing along, well in this version the theme song from Friends is played unbeknown to Jennifer Aniston and then everyone starts singing it.. the look on Jennifer's face was priceless. You could tell from the bloopers that these guys had a blast making this movie and that made the movie all that much better. I give We're The Millers a nice big B+

After the movie Robert and I went and picked up some lunch/dinner before heading back to my place. Once back at the house Robert helped me figure out how to redeem a LOTRO code that I won on Twitter.  I answered one of their trivia questions and won a new title for my characters "The Wise".  He also helped me picked some new features for my D&D character Dash as he has leveled up. Thanks bud for your help.

We finished our night with Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. I have always wanted to see this movie but never got around to watching it. Since Anthony left his copy here at my place and Robert found out that I had not seen it yet we watched it. Here's a quick synopsis if you have never heard of it: Scott Pilgrim plays in a band which aspires to success. He dates Knives Chau, a high-school girl five years younger, and he hasn't recovered from being dumped by his former girlfriend, now a success with her own band. When Scott falls for Ramona Flowers, he has trouble breaking up with Knives and tries to romance Ramona. As if juggling two women wasn't enough, Ramona comes with baggage: seven ex-lovers, with each of whom Scott must do battle to the death in order to win Ramona.

So I remember the previews and knew I was in for some eye candy. The way this movie is shot is so unique and cool. I loved every minute of it. I loved the characters, the effects were amazing, and the cinematography was just incredible. I do admit that I didn't quite understand what "world" they were living in. And I know the movie is based off of a comic book series. But honestly that would be my only complaint. I wish they would have established where this all took place.. I mean other then Canada. Is it an alternate universe? Robert said that this is better established in the comics.. so I may have to give those a read. but overall that didn't take away my enjoyment of the movie. I give Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World a solid B

After the movie Robert headed home and did my 25 minute elliptical workout. Before finishing my night as usual with a little LOTRO play.

Birthday & Meteors

Today is my Dad's birthday, he turns 66. Happy Birthday Dad. I was heading out to see him but first I did a 25 minute workout on the elliptical and played a little LOTRO.

I left my house at 11am, expecting to get to my dad's around 12:30pm. Well traffic was horrific and it took me 2 hours and 15 minutes to get there. Once I was there we headed out to Claim Jumper for lunch as my dad wanted Prime Rib and my brother mentioned that Claim Jumper had the best. But once we were there we found out that they changed their menu and took Prime Rib off. I asked if he wanted to go somewhere else but he said since we are already here let's just stay and he would get something else. So we enjoyed a nice lunch. After lunch we headed over to Walmart so I could buy him Avengers DVD for his birthday.. we were then off to Toys R Us so he could pick up some Yo Gabba Gabba toys for my niece for her birthday (which is still months away). We then stopped by CVS so he could pick up his prescriptions and then we headed home.

By time we got home Mike, Lora, Kenobi and Molly were home so I got to visit with them for a bit. I also tried to print out some scripts for the webseries I'm working on. We are planning a rehearsal and I wanted to get scripts made and since my printer is broken I was hoping to use my brothers but for some reason the script wouldn't print out in the correct format... I tried for over an hour to get them to work before giving up. I'll have to look online and see how you're suppose to print scripts from this program.. I'm thinking that I'll need to buy the "pro" version of the script writing program to print the scripts out properly.. but first I'll see if I can find a "go around".  I did print out some NDA's (Non-Disclosure Agreement) so the cast can sign them before we do the rehearsal.

I left my Dad's around 6pm, stopped by my favorite Chinese restaurant and picked up some dinner then drove home. I got to my place around 8pm and my buddy Robert joined me about 10 minutes later. Tonight I was having a impromptu Perseid meteor shower viewing party. It was starting at 11pm but Robert wanted to come over early to hang out.  There were about 15 people coming but a few hours before 11pm I started getting texts from folks cancelling. First 1 then 2, then 3 and finally a total of 10 people canceled for various reasons. I was kind of bummed but also happy that this wasn't an offical party and I didn't waste money on snacks and drinks. The only thing that got wasted was time spent getting my back deck ready, moving tables and chairs around.

Lydia arrived around 10:30pm. Robert, Lydia and I went out back around 11:30pm and started looking for shooting stars. It was a perfect night as there wasn't a cloud in the sky.. it was so clear that you could see the Milkyway. Only issue we had was a very bright light in my neighbors driveway (which is on my property), but that was taken care of by placing a cardboard box around it. We saw about 20 or so meteors before Will and Becca arrived at Midnight. They joined in on the star gazing fun. Robert called it quits around 1am, Will and Becca called it quits around 1:30am and Lydia and I went in around 2am.  So we were outside watching for meteors 2 and a half hours and saw about 40 meteors, and about half of those were so bright and you could see the tail for a few seconds afterwards. It was pretty amazing.

Lydia drove back to her place while Robert, Will and Becca crashed at mine.

Though 70% of my guests bailed, the four folks who did make it made it a very fun time.  Thanks Robert, Lydia, Will and Becca for sharing this experience with me. I hope you guys enjoyed the

Perseid meteor shower viewing party.