Montana Vacation - Day 2

Woke up in Montana.. yay. Chris wanted to take me out to breakfast to one of his favorite place called Tracy's. The breakfast was very tasty and I'm sure full of calories. Afterwards we headed to Albertson's to pick up some groceries. Chris has been super busy with work so he had nothing in the house. We also had to pick up a turkey and all the trimming for our Christmas dinner. Spent about $260 on food which hopefully will last my two weeks here.. but I doubt it.

After grocery shopping we headed next door to Target to pick up decorations for the Christmas Tree. Chris doesn't normally do a tree but since I was coming down to visit I insisted so we had to go pick up lights, bulbs, ornaments and all things associated with a Christmas tree.

We then headed over to Joann's to find some fabric to make our own stockings. This was an idea of Chris' and I love it. We are going to make some geeky stockings for ourselves. Joann's had a ton of very geeky fabric... lot's of Star Wars and Star Trek. It was extremely tough picking out just two prints, one for the front and one for the back. There were so many prints that I now want to make pillows and other cool geeky things with them. We may actually go back and buy more material to make more things while I'm on vacation here.

Afterwards we went to a sporting goods place called Scheels to get a Christmas tree permit so we could cut down our own Christmas tree. It only costs $5, which isn't bad for a tree.

We planned to go out and cut done our tree today but time got away from us and we had to drive at least an hour to get to where we could cut down trees.. so we opted to just come back home, unload everything and watch some screeners that I had brought. We watched Wreck it Ralph, which we both had seen in the theater but enjoyed it so much we wanted to see it again.

Once the movie was over Chris had to go into work for 3 1/2 hours and I hung out at his place catching up on my blog, doing dishes and watching some Friends and Big Bang Theory.

Chris got home around 11pm and we hung out for an hour or so chatting. Chris got a package from our friend Robert so he opened it before we called it a night.

Lot's of fun today.. one thing I love about hanging with Chris is that we can be apart for three months and it only takes a matter of an few minutes and it's as though we've never been apart. I haven't been here in Montana since April but being here now it doesn't feel like I ever left.  Looking forward to tomorrow... what do we have planned.. I have no idea.. but whatever it is I'll be doing it with Chris and I can't ask for anything better.

Montana Bound Vacation - Day 1

Woke up early today and immediately jumped on editing my next MASH 4077 Podcast. I had to get this episode done before I leave for vacation as it's due to be released on January 1st and I won't be in town for that. I recorded and edited for the next four hours until it was done and uploaded.

Jes was taking me to the airport (Burbank) but first I wanted to take her out to lunch to thank her. We had lunch at Chili's and then she dropped me off at the airport at 2:30pm. My flight was set for 4:30 so I was there two hours in advance. I had checked in online but I did have a bag to check so I had to stand in line for that. I stood there for about fifteen minutes before someone came to the counter and started checking in bags.

Once my bag was checked I had to get though security. I gave the guard my driver license and he looked at it for a few minutes, he asked if this was me. I said yes and he said.. well you've changed your hair, gained weight and are now wearing glasses. I told him that the picture is 20 years old but that I had my passport if he wanted to see that.. which of course he did. Lucky for me my passport picture looks more like me. I think it's time to update my DL picture.

The rest of security was a piece of cake and in no time I was waiting to board.  This flight was from Burbank to Salt Lake City.. The hour pasted by in no time but we were still not on the plane and we were to take off in a few minutes. They never mentioned a delay but it looked as if our plane hadn't arrived yet. So we waited another ten minutes and finally the plane arrived.

I was worried because my layover in Salt Lake City was only 45 minutes and if I was going to be any later I might miss my connection flight. Once on the plane loading took a while and there seem to be even more issues which delayed us even more.  We were finally off and it seemed like we were in Utah in no time. When we landed I had about 15 minutes before my next flight and lucky for me the gate I needed to be at was extremely close so I got there in a few minutes.

The next flight was from Salt Lake City to Great Falls, Montana and there wasn't a single issue.. got on the plan and this time didn't have anyone next to me. The flight was actually ahead of schedule and we got to Great Falls about 20 minutes early. This flight was so short.. I mean you climb for 30 minutes and then fly at 30,000 feet for 15 minutes and then start descending for the remaining 30 minutes and it's over.

I texted Chris as we were taxiing to the gate and he said he was on his way. By the time I got off the plane and was going down the escalator to the baggage claim area Chris came walking through the front doors with a big smile on his face. I gave him a quick hug as I was getting off the escalator and walked over to the baggage claim area. There I gave him a much bigger hug and then proceeded to rattle off a bunch of our friends names who asked me to give him a hug as well.

It was so great seeing him, it's been 3 months but it's felt like forever. Chris and I talk almost everyday but there is nothing better then being face to face.

It was cold in Montana.. about 15 degrees.

We picked up some Taco Bell and went back to his place and ate, chatted and watched TV for a few hours. I gave him the gifts from Jes and Olivia.. then Chris had to go into work for an hour or so. I watched some TV and finally went to bed around 1:45am and Chris got home about the same time.. said good night and made some plans for tomorrow.

So excited that I'm here and I can't wait to spend the next two weeks with my best bud Chris.

Christmas with the Family

So my friend Jes is staying with me for the week while she looks for apartment to move into early next year. Also my bestie Josh crashed last night as it was very late when the Hobbit ended and he lives a few hours away. Jes was already out looking at apartment so Josh and I hung out for a bit before he headed home.

I had to get to CVS to pick up some medicines that I'm going to need while on vacation. I can't believe how busy CVS was midday on a Monday.. was in line for almost a half hour before finally getting out of the store.

My big plans for the day was to spend Christmas with my family since I'll be out of town starting tomorrow and will not be here for the Holidays... so today I am going to my Mom's and then Brothers (Dad). 

If you read my previous tweets you would know that I am having Jeep problems. But before I left I checked my oil and it looked to be perfect but I was still having issues with my oil pressure gauge. Traffic was horrible and it took me 2 and a half hours (normally an hour and a half) to get to my moms. I watched the oil gauge the entire time and it was all over the place. There were times when my oil pressure got so low that my check engine light would come on. I was on pins and needles the entire time and even considered turning around and going home. But I wanted to see my family for for Christmas so I took a chance.

Got to my mom's and my step dad wasn't feeling well and was sleeping so my Mom and I went out to Denny's for some lunch. Had a great visit, we chatted about everything. That's one of many things I love about my mom is we can talk about anything.. and most of the time we do.

We got back to her place and exchanged gifts, she loved the pictures of Kenobi (grandson) & Molly (granddaughter) that I gave her. We visited for another hour or so before I had to leave. I left her place a little after 4 and made my way over to my brothers. Once again my jeep was okay but I was worried the entire time. Took some toll roads to avoid some of the traffic. Got to my brothers around 5:30pm. Brother, sister-in-law, nephew, niece and dad were there as well as Lora's sister. I had asked dad if he could make us some Christmas dinner (Turkey). He was glad to so by the time I got there dinner was almost ready. We ate and it was excellent, we then exchanged gifts.

The best part of the gift exchange was watching my nephew and niece open their gifts. I got both of them clothes (at the request of their mom) but I did get Molly a birthday gift (toy purse) and a doll which she liked. Kenobi was super excited to open gifts and to my surprise he was actually happy with the clothes. One piece of clothing that he really liked was his Superman footie PJ's with a cape. He had to put them on immediately and run around the house for the next hour pretending to fly.. it was pretty awesome.

Played with both my niece and nephew for another hour before calling it a night and heading home. Once again I stressed out about the drive home but I made it home safely. This will be the last time I drive the jeep.. it will now just sit there for the two weeks while I'm on vacation and when I get back I'll be looking for a new car.

Not a traditional family Christmas but it was good to see everyone. I'll miss them this year as I spent the last 41 Christmas' with them.. this will be the first year that I'm not with them. But I'm going to be spending my Holidays with one of my favorite people in the world.. so it's all good. :)

Christmas Movie Marathon - Day 2

Guest remaining, Jes, Dallas, Aaron, Anthony, Michele, Josh, Anne and Brett. We started the day with some biscuits and gravy for breakfast. We then continued the Christmas Movie Marathon with one of my new modern classic favorites.. "Elf". Dallas had not seen this one so it was fun introducing this movie to him.

We then moved on to another modern classic Christmas movie that I got a screener for this year "Rise of the Guardians"  I love this movie and I've seen it I think 5 times over the past month and it never gets old. Only a few folks have seen it so it was cool to be able to share this great movie with everyone.

During Rise of the Guardians Jen joined the party bringing our number to 10. After the movie we headed out to lunch and went to Islands. This group hasn't been to Islands in a while because the group was getting just to big, but since it was smaller this time we were able to return to our old stomping ground.

When we got back home, Anne and Dallas packed up and left while Anthony and Michele took a nap. The rest of us diverted from the Christmas movies and started watching more of my screeners. First up was Cloud Atlas, I've seen this a few times and it gets better with every with viewing and I'm happy to say that everyone enjoyed it.

After the movie, Anthony, Michele and Aaron left for the evening. Leaving Jes, Brett, Josh, Jen and myself to end the Christmas Movie Marathon with my new screener of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

It was a great way to end what was truly a wonderful Christmas celebration with friends. It goes to show that having fewer people does indeed make for a more enjoyable party (at least for me). We also didn't drink hard alcohol, only beer and wine and very little of that as well. It was a great weekend of board games, cards, movies, food and friends.

Thanks everyone who joined me this weekend; Josh, Will, Jen, Jes, Dallas, Anthony, Michele, Luis, Teresa, Aaron, Jennifer, Brett and Anne.

And Merry Christmas to you all...

Christmas Movie Marathon - Day 1

Was up late last night visiting with friends but I knew I had to be up fairly early to get the turkey in the oven. So I got up around 8:30am and went out to the kitchen to start breakfast. Anthony joined me and continued with the breakfast (pancakes) and Brett and I went on to prep the turkey for cooking.

Anthony, Michele, Dallas, Brett, and I played some Yahtzee and then a game of Cards Against Humanity. Josh slept in.

At noon we started with our first Christmas movie Home Alone. Jes arrived around 1ish and we paused the movie to make some mash potatoes and finish prepping the rest of the side dishes. Aaron & Anne arrived just as we were about to eat Christmas dinner which was around 2pm.. I bit earlier then I had planned but we were all hungry and the food was ready.

After we ate we exchanged gifts and I got some pretty nice things including a framed poster of Middle Earth which is pretty awesome.

After four hours we finally finished watching Home Alone. More guests arrived, Teresa, Will, Luis and Jennifer and we moved on to Love Actually and then our final movie of the night While You Were Sleeping (which isn't really a Christmas movie but it's my all time favorite romantic comedy).

It was a great day hanging with friends, playing games and watching some good movies.

And the Christmas movie marathon continues tomorrow.

Hobbitses & Friends

The Hobbit Gang

Today is all about The Hobbit.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens today. Though I had seen it twice already this was the big day that I had purchased tickets for back in November. But before going to the movies I got another screener and its the one I was looking forward to getting this movie season.. yep you guessed it.. I got The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I was super excited to have gotten this as I plan to watch it over and over again.

For opening night I had planned to dress up in my Hobbit cosplay but because of all the stress of editing podcasts, prepping for this upcoming party, getting ready for Montana and the fact that we weren't really waiting in line for the movie I didn't see all the effort that goes into getting into costume was worth it. I kind of regret it as I enjoy dressing up and there weren't anyone else there dressed up so I would have stood out.

The time came for me to leave the house so I got in the jeep, started it up and noticed that my oil pressure gauge was going crazy. It's normally in the middle on 40 and moves very little. But as soon as I turned on the jeep it went directly up to 80.. I don't know what it means but it can't be good. I turned back around and went home to check the engine. I noticed oil on the engine block but I had to get going. I was the one with all the tickets so I took a chance and drove about 30 miles to the theater.

I got there with no major issues.. the oil pressure gauge was all over the place but everything seemed okay. I got there a bit earlier then I had planned so I went to the theater to get individual tickets printed out so I could give each person their own ticket and we don't have to wait for everyone to be there to sit down.

Slowly but surely one by one my friends showed up. We got some concessions and then headed into the theater. Everyone seemed to be very happy with their seats, which made me happy. I was still waiting on two people, Josh & Justin. I waited outside for as long as I could before finally leaving the tickets with the ticket taker and going in and taking seat.

So this is my third time watching The Hobbit.. this time like my first time I watched the movie in 3D HFR (48 fps) and I have to say that I enjoyed it much more this time around then I did my first time. I don't know if I was just use to it or the fact that it was my third time watching the movie. The crispness didn't bother me as much. There were still a few scenes where the CG looked like CG. But I still loved it and all of the folks I watched it with enjoyed it.

It also had this new audio configuration.. Dolby Atmos. there are like 40+ speakers in the walls completely surrounding the seating and then 18 overhead in the ceiling.. the sound is amazing!!!

Afterwards I found out that Josh, who did arrived 25 minutes late, was not allowed in.. this theater won't allow people into the theater after the movie has started. He wound up watching a later showing. Justin was MIA. But later found out that he just couldn't make it.

It was a lot of fun and I'm happy to say that even with this large group of people, everything worked out great (with exception to Josh).

I did manage to make it home safely, I think it's time to get a new car. I won't put anymore money into my Jeep... will need to resolve this when I get back from Montana.

Since I'm having my mini Christmas movie marathon tomorrow several folks who were at the Hobbit opening night decided to crash at my place.. so joining me tonight was Josh, Dallas, Brett, Anthony and Michele.

Shopping, Cleaning & KOTG

Spent half of my day finishing up my Christmas shopping and making my Christmas gifts. And the other half cleaning the house up and getting ready for this weekend for my mini Christmas movie marathon. Today is really my last day to get these things done. I really wanted to get a new Confessions of a Fanboy edited but just couldn't find the time or motivation to get it done.

So though I did get things done today.. I didn't do as much as I would like.

I also released the Knights of the Guild podcast that I finished edited late last night. This episode is the final installment of the "I'm The One That's Cool" music video interviews.. for this episode I interview Jeff Lewis, Amy Okuda, Vince Caso, Various Crew Members and the one and only Felicia Day.

Screeners, Podcasts and Buffy

Today is 12/12/12.. how cool is that.

I got several screeners today. Silver Lining Playback, Zero Dark Thirty and Lincoln. Never heard of Sliver Lining Playback and barely know what Zero Dark Thirty is.. but the one I really wanted to see and was super excited to get a screener of was Lincoln. I'm a huge Sally Fields fan so I'm really looking forward to seeing her.

I worked on the next Knights of the Guild podcast. I gotta get these done before I head off to Montana for the end of December. Should have to done and ready to be released by tomorrow.

During the evening I headed to my buddy Robert's place for Dinner and Buffy. Still working through season 3 and watched Helpless, The Zeppo and Bad Girls.  Helpless was a really good episode, it was cool to see Buffy have to be Buffy without her powers. I did think that she forgave Giles a little to quickly but I was a good relationship builder between the two of them.

The Zeppo was an interesting episode. The main story revolved around Zander and his shenanigans and the background story was the hell mouth opening up again and the team (except Xander) saving the world. It was kind of funny yet very odd that this big event happened and we did not follow it as the main action.  I'm not a huge fan of Xander but I didn't mind him so much in this episode.

Bad Girls is the beginning of the downward spiral that Faith takes in season 3. We get introduced Wesley as Buffy's new watcher and we get to see a different side of Buffy. Big changes are coming to Buffy and this is just the beginning..

So today was a good day.. got some screeners, got a podcast done and spent the ending watching Buffy with one of my favorite people.

Disneyland With My Buddies

Today I went to Disneyland with my buddies Brett and Troy. This all started with Brett tweeting that he needed to go to Disneyland soon. I responded with "when". So we planned it out and I put it out there on Twitter that I was going and my friend Troy said he wanted to join us.

So I got to the park at 10am and made my way to Downtown Disney where Brett was waiting for me. My annual pass expired in August and I have been waiting for renew it until I went back.. so today is the day. I renewed my premium annual pass for another year.

We headed to Disneyland first and our first ride was Star Tours as the wait was only 5 minutes, we then went over to Space Mountain to get a fast pass but it was only a 10 minute wait so we rode that next. We did stop by Star Tours and grabbed a fast pass for that to ride later in the day. We were hungry and it's kind of a tradition for me when I go to Disneyland to get a Corn Dog or two from the Little Red Wagon. It's been a while since Brett had a corn dog and was up for it so we headed over and grabbed some lunch. While we were eating my buddy Troy called and said he was on his way. So we waited for him before heading back out into the park.

I'm not going to go ride by ride.. but we walked around both Disneyland and Disney California Adventures for the next 10 hours. Some highlights were walking pass The Indiana Jones ride which I was told was going to be closed down until the new year, I was bummed as it's one of my favorite rides... but when we walked by there was a line, so we grabbed a fast pass and later in the evening, we rode it. Another cool things was that I never knew about the Winnie the Pooh ride until my friend Troy asked if I had ever ridden it... so we rode that. The park was not busy at all.. I think the longest line we stood in was 20 minutes.  It was awesome seeing both parks all decked out for Christmas. And seeing Car's Land all Christmas-fied for the first time was pretty cool. And for our final ride of the evening we did Radiator Spring Racers. I've only done them one other time and when we did it we didn't race anyone, which was a bummer. But this time we did race and it was so much fun... we won btw.

It was a fun filled day spent at one of the happiest places on Earth with two good friends.. couldn't ask for anything more.

Podcasts and Hobbits

Started my day off by trying to get the new episode of Alien Nation posted. Podbean is changes servers and they are suppose to be down for the day.. guess this podcast will be delayed a day.

I spend the next few hours edited my next My Gimpy Life podcast #9, it's not due to be released until Jan 2nd but since I'll be in Montana I have to get these podcasts done and uploaded so they can be released on time.

Went out shopping for supplies for my "hand made" Christmas gifts but atlas couldn't find what I needed.

The big thing that happened today is that I went out to see another advance screening of The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey for a 2nd time. This time I was going with my buddy Robert. I was also seeing it in 2D instead of 3D HFR which I was looking forward to that since I really didn't like the HFR.

The screening was happening in Hollywood at the Harmony Gold Theater. Robert and I got there about an hour and a half early (can never predict traffic). We grabbed a bite to eat and then made our way to the theater. When we got there there were only a few people in there so we got some prime seats in the middle, middle. Sitting in front of us was this young man named Shane. We struck up a conversation and when it was over both Robert and I looked at each other and said, wow we feel very inadequate. This guy has done so much in his short time on Earth, the biggest having walked from the tip of Scotland to the southern part of Italy. It took him over 4 months but man did he have some fantastic stories. You could tell he was a writer.  Wish I would have gotten his info as I would have loved to stay in contact with him, but it was kind of odd since I literally just met him.

Anyways the movie started and I have to say I actually enjoyed the movie so much more in 2D. Not once did one of the effect take me out of that world. I also think I enjoyed the movie the second time more because I knew what to expect. I mean I knew where they made changes, where the movie ended and what to expect. I could just sit back and enjoy it this time and I did.. very much.

Robert enjoyed it as well and I'm glad I was able to see it with him as we just experience LOTR EE marathon a few days prior.

All in all it was a great experience and lots of fun. You can read my 1st review of The Hobbit to get more details and my thoughts about the movie. You can check it out here http://geekyfanboy.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-hobbit-unexpected-journey-my-review.html

Editing and Releasing Podcasts

Today I worked on the next episode of My Gimpy Life. It's not due to be released until Jan 2nd 2013 but since I'll be gone the last two week of December and unable to edit podcasts I'm trying to get everything done that is due to be released during that time.

Took me about two hours but I got it done, uploaded and ready to go. Still have a KOTR, Confessions and MASH podcast to do before I leave next Tuesday.

I did manage to release a new episode of my Alien Nation The Newcomers Podcast Ep 12.

Download from itunes http://bit.ly/itunesAlienNation or Listen/Direct Download http://Aliennationpodcast.com

Show Notes

Brothers Kenny and Michael Mittleider review and discuss a short lived but very socially aware TV series from the late 80's early 90's ALIEN NATION. Each podcast we will review a single episode in sequential order starting with the Pilot. Will give you our thoughts on the episode as well as some fun behind the scenes information.

Today we cover Season 1, Episode 12 - The Red Room

Directed by Chuck Bowman
Written by Steven Long Mitchell & Craig Van Sickle
Original air date December 18, 1989

Plot Summary: George and Sikes investigate a series of murders, but are removed from the case when the FBI becomes involved and claims jurisdiction. "Project Dart" is discussed and the words have a powerful impact on George, who is haunted by the dim recollections of something horrible. Through hypnosis, he reveals that while in quarantine after the Newcomers landed on Earth, he and a group of fellow Tenctonese were brainwashed by the United States government to be made into perfect killing machines. The "programming" didn't work on George, who had an ethical imprint they couldn't not penetrate, but one of those machines has decided now to fight back against the people pulling the strings, exterminating them one by one.

While all this is going on, Sikes tries to avoid a mandatory psychological examination because he doesn't want to allow anyone to get that close to him (which is actually part of his problem in relating to Cathy). George, on the other hand, looks forward to the exam, though he's disappointed by the resulting conclusion; he's a control freak

Hope you enjoy it,
Kenny

Sunday with my BFF

After the awesome day we had yesterday we didn't want it to end so my buddy Robert crashed at my place last night so we could hang all day today.

I had planned to record some MASH 4077 podcasts this morning but one of my co-hosts had to cancel (so it kind of worked out for the better for us).

We got up, I made us some breakfast and then we jumped into our Holiday movie marathon. Robert watches these three movies every year and since he can't make it to my Christmas party (boo) we decided to celebrate "our" Christmas today. So our first movie of the day was A Christmas Story. This is a classic and one I normally watch on TV since it airs all the time during the holidays. For those who live under a rock and have never seen A Christmas Story here is a brief synopsis. Ralphie, a young boy growing up in the '40's, dreams of owning a Red Rider BB gun. He sets out to convince the world this is the perfect gift. But along the way, he runs into opposition from his parents, his teacher, and even good 'ol Santa Claus himself.

I wouldn't put this in my top 5 Christmas movie list but it's defiantly in the top 10 and a must see every year.  It's funny and ridiculous, it's heartfelt and over the top but it's such a good time. I give this movie a solid B +

After that we watched Christmas Vacation. I was happy to see that this was one of the movies Robert wanted to watch as I had never seen it before (I know how is that possible), but none the less it's true. I enjoyed Vacation and European Vacation so I was looking forward to this. Here's a brief synopsis. It's Christmas time and the Griswolds are preparing for a family seasonal celebration, but things never run smoothly for Clark, his wife Ellen and their two kids. Clark's continual bad luck is worsened by his obnoxious family guests, but he manages to keep going knowing that his Christmas bonus is due soon.

I really enjoyed this movie. I felt bad for Clark as he tries so hard to make this the perfect Christmas but things just never go his way. It was fun to see the very young Johnny Galecki who I know from Rosanne and currently as Leonard from The Big Bang Theory. This movie is the perfect Chevy Chase movie, lot's of slapstick but with heart. It does end on a happy note but this is a Christmas the Griswolds will not soon forget. I give this movie a solid B +

After Christmas Vacation we headed out to grab some lunch at Chili's and then stop by Walmart so I could pick up some pictures I had developed.

Once back home I asked Robert if he could help me cut my hair, and when I say cut my hair I mean save my head with the hair clippers. I can normally do it by myself but it's always hard to get the back hair trimmed. It's one thing I miss about having a partner. Anyways he did it and I now have a new do.

After that we watched our final Christmas movie for the day Die Hard. This is one of my all time favorite action movies but I wouldn't say it's a movie that I need to watch every Christmas. Here's brief synopsis if for some reason you don't know the movie. New York City Detective John McClane has just arrived in Los Angeles to spend Christmas with his wife. Unfortunately, it is not going to be a Merry Christmas for everyone. A group of terrorists, led by Hans Gruber is holding everyone in the Nakatomi Plaza building hostage. With no way of anyone getting in or out, it's up to McClane to stop them all. All 12!

As I said this is one of my favorite all time action movies. It's funny, action packed and tense. Not my typical Christmas movie but I love seeing it anytime of the year and it was a nice way to end our mini Christmas marathon. A perfect A for this movie.

I made some spaghetti for dinner and for dessert I broke into one of my boxes of Twinkies, as Robert hasn't had one in a while and each Twinkie is like gold and I'm only eating them and giving them to those worthy of it.. and Robert is so worthy of one of my Twinkies.

Next up Robert wanted to show me this new game he has been playing called XCom. So we fired up the Xbox and I watched and participate as we played for an hour. It's a fun game.

We went back to movie watching and decided to watch one of my screeners. We selected two Skyfall and This is 40 and ultimately decided to go with the comedy This is 40. Here's a synopsis of the movie. Debbie and Pete—a couple first seen in Knocked Up—continue to fight their way through their marriage. The growing financial troubles from Pete's new record label adds to the pressure.

I enjoyed this movie, it's a comedy/drama but from the commercials you'd never guess it's more drama then comedy. It's a look at two people kind of going through some midlife crisis at the same time. All the "usual" players are in it from the previous comedies like Knocked Up and I Love You Man. It's defiantly an adult movie. There is some crass humor which I normally don't enjoy but can take it here and there. I'm a huge fan of Paul Rudd and really enjoyed his performance even though I may not have agreed with some of his actions (Robert and I disagree on what he did). Over all an enjoyable movie for what it is. I'd give it a B-

After the movie Robert packed up his stuff and headed home. What a fantastic weekend, not only because of the things I did but because I got to spend it with one of my most favorite people in the world... love you buddy.

Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Marathon

I was excited for this day. A few weeks back when the tickets for The Hobbit went on sale they announced that they were going do have a one day marathon where they would screen all three Lord of the Rings Extended Edition movies back to back to back. Well being the huge fan that I am I jumped at the opportunity to get tickets. I put a call out there in the social network world asking if anyone wanted to join me. I mean I would have gone alone if needed. No one responded and I wanted to get the tickets quickly to get good seats. So I purchased two and figured I'd find someone in the next few weeks to join me.

I asked my bestie Josh who is more of a Tolkien fan them me (I know it's hard to believe). But he had work and was already requesting time off the following week so he didn't think he could get the time off. I then asked another bestie of mine Robert and after a few minutes to consider what he was agreeing to, he said yes.

So today Robert and I met up at The Arclight Sherman Oaks at 9:30am. When we got there we found a table where employees explained to us what was about to happen. We had 20 minute breaks between each movie. We would get popcorn and soda free all day and they had box lunches that we could order if we wanted to. We immediately took advantage of the free popcorn and soda. Got into the theater and found our perfect seats.. We sat there and chatted at what we were able to do watching other folks come in with pillows, sheets and such to get comfy. At 10am an employee came in and once again went over what was to happen, the run time of each movie (which everyone laughed) and when each movie would be starting. The lights dimmed and the The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition began.

228 minutes later ( 3 hour 48 minutes) Fellowship was over and we were 1/3 through our day. We got up and headed to concession, which was a madhouse. We waited in line our entire 20 minute break. We got the the front with only a few minutes to spare and planned on getting some hot dogs for lunch but they were out (very poor planning). So instead we got some apple smoked sausage baguettes things which were just like hot dogs only spicier. Of course we refilled out popcorn and soda and headed back into the theater. Since it was such a mess outside they extended the break another 10 minutes before starting the next installment The Two Towers.

235 minutes later ( 3 hours 55 minutes) Two Towers was complete and we were now 2/3's of the way through our marathon. My right knee was starting to act up so I walked around a bit. The concessions weren't as bad this time around but we had misunderstood about the box lunches, you had to order them before the intermission so they were ready at the intermission, so our dinner plans fell through and we resorted to more popcorn and some candy for dinner. Headed back into the theater for our final installment of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. This one was special as it had a Hobbit preview as well as an introduction by Peter Jackson. I think this is the print they used when the Return of the King played in the theater for a day to promote the Blu ray release.

263 minutes later ( 4 hours 23 minutes) Return of the King was finished thus concluding our Lord of the Rings Extended Edition movie marathon.

I had done this marathon in a theater before when Return of the King was first released, they did Fellowship EE and Two Towers EE and then premiered Return of the King. This was at the Cinerama Dome and the seats were horrible uncomfortable. The Arclight has much better seats. But this was my first time seeing the Extended Edition of Return of the Ring in the theater.

The audience was perfect, they cheered, boo'd and clapped during the movies. It was a room full of Lord of the Rings diehard fans and it couldn't get any better then that. These people payed $30 a ticket to sit in a dark room for over 11 hours and watch one of the best movie trilogies of all time.

Robert was amazed at what he actually just did. I'm glad I got to experience this with one of my best friends. It truly is a rare occasion (this actually being the first time ever) where you can watch all three Extended Edition movies back to back to back on the big screen. I'm so happy I did it.


Afterwards we headed back to Robert's place, picked up some much needed food from Taco Bell and crashed at his place for a half hour or so before heading back to my place as we had planned to spend the entire day tomorrow watching Holiday movies and hanging out.

Making Christmas Gifts

Well today I spent the majority of the day catching up on some recorded TV shows but I wanted to feel productive so I sat down in front of the TV with all my materials in front of me and started making my Christmas gifts for friends this year. I actually went out yesterday to get supplies but I needed more so I headed back out for a few hours but couldn't find what I needed. I'll have to go back out on Monday and look as my weekend is booked full.

It was fun spending the day creating various Christmas gifts. I don't want to post any pictures because several of you who read my blog will be getting one, two or three of my Christmas gifts. These gifts aren't anything expensive but they are made from the heart and I think those are the best kinds of gifts. 

I Got The Job!!!!

I finally got a call from the place I interviewed a few weeks ago. I pretty much just figured that they didn't want me and I'd never hear from them again so I was surprised when I got the call asking if I was still available and if I wanted the position of Post Production Supervisor for the second season of their show "I'm Having Their Baby" for Oxygen. Will be working in Universal City. And there is potential for this to become a staff position. I start when I get back from vacation on Jan 3rd. Super excited that I can now enjoy December and the Holidays and start fresh and new with the new year. Thanks everyone for all your well wishes and happy thoughts.

Besides the awesome news of getting the job I went out Christmas shopping and spent way to much on my niece and nephew.. if that's even possible. I got both of them some very adorable clothes for Christmas. I also picked up supplies to make my yearly Christmas gifts (there are two different ones). 

Got back to my place and had two screeners waiting for me "This is 40" which had Paul Rudd who I enjoy and the other movie "The Master" which I had never heard of but come to find out it's about the creation of Scientology. Not sure it's my type of movie but as I have said with others that are not my type of movies.. I will watch if it a friends wants to watch it with me. 

So all in all a pretty good day for Kenny.

More Screeners, Hiking & Buffy Time

Jackpot today on screeners.. with one delivery I got four movies in one package. Anna Karenia, which I do know a little about and want to see so I was excited to see that in the pile. Hyde Park on Hudson, is something that I had never heard of.. I did look it up and it stars Bill Murry as President Roosevelt, the movie is due out this Friday. Promised Land stars Matt Damon and isn't coming out until early Jan 2013 and ParaNorman which I do know and have seen many commercials. Anna Karenia and ParaNorman are the two that I wouldn't mind seeing.. the other two I would see if someone wants to watch them with me.. but I wouldn't put them on and watch them if I was by myself.

Finally after rainy crappy weather it was very nice out today so I decided to head to Vasquez Rocks to go for a hike. I had planned to do a thirty minute hike but it turned into an hour.. it was just so nice outside and it was beautiful at Vasquez.. I really do need to take advantage of this more as it's in my back yard.

For the evening I headed down to my buddy Robert's place to watch some Buffy. Got there around 6pm and we walked to Taco Bell to get some dinner. We started with S3 Ep8 "Lover's Walk". This was a huge episode as the Xander/Willow love thing finale gets resolved. We see the return of Spike and poor Cordelia almost dies. I really enjoyed this episode. We then moved on to S3 Ep9 "The Wish", this episode introduces one of my favorite "regular" characters Anya. It's cool to see what Sunnydale would look like if Buffy never came to town... I like these "What if" kind of episodes. Our third episode that we watched was S3 Ep10 "Amends".  Again I liked this episode.. got a lot of emo Angel, but they did introduce us to the first evil which we see again in future seasons. It was cool to see Jenny (kind of) again. Not my favorite episode of the night but fun. And our final episode of the night was S3 Ep11 "Gingerbread". This episode was all about a Witchhunt. It was okay.. again not a favorite of mine but an okay way to end the evening.

As always had a fantastic time hanging with my buddy Robert.. love our Bro-Dates.

Twinkie Adventures Continues

So if you read my blog last week I went on a Twinkie scavenger hunt and came up empty handed. I turned to Ebay but some of those prices they were asking were crazy loco, a buck for 1 twinkie... but I did manage to find one that had four boxes of Twinkies (so 40 Twinkies) and it was close to ending so I watched it and made my offer with only seconds left. I was willing to pay $30 for the four boxes, but wound up only paying $25.50 with an additional $5.30 shipping for a grand total of $30.80 and if you dived that by 4 you get $7.70 per box. Now the price on the box that they paid was $4.49 so I paid $3.21 over per box.. and to be honest I'm happy with that.

Depending on if and when someone buys the recipe and starts making more of them I will eat these extremely slow and try and make them last as long as possible.

I am still trying to get some Cup Cakes and Ding Dongs.

Screeners and Cards

Today I got Skyfall and Hitchcock screeners. I know Skyfall is the current Bond movie but I'm not a huge Bond fan. I mean I haven't even seen Danial Craig as Bond yet, but since I have the screener I do plan to watch this one. I hear that's it's pretty good. I really don't know anything about Hitchcock...I mean I assume it's a biopic about Alfred Hitchcock. Doesn't sound like my kind of movie but if one of my friends want to watch it I'll give it a go.

I also got my first Christmas card of the season. I use to get tons of cards but the past few years there has been fewer and fewer. Maybe it's because I no longer send cards out. I did cards for years and years and stopped a few years ago as I just didn't have the time. Maybe it's Christmas card karma.. I have to give one to get one. Anyways.. Thanks Janna for this AWESOME card. It's hand made and it's Star Wars.. two of my favorite things. It made my day.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - My Review

So I got to see a sneak preview of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey tonight at the Warner Brother's lot. I have been looking forward to seeing this movie ever since they announced that it was being made. Of course at the time I didn't realize it was going to be one of three movies.

I'm a huge Tolkien fan, I've read/listen to The Hobbit a few times, Lord of the Rings to many times to count and The Silmarillion a few times. I love the world of Middle Earth so much so that I have a tattoo of the script "One Ring to Rule Them All" on my right arm with JRR Tolkien initials in the middle.

I invited my best bud Josh, who is also a HUGE Tolkien fan to join me. We got to WB at 6pm as the movie was starting at 7 and we wanted good seats. We parked and then proceed to walk the WB lot for the next 20 minutes looking for the theater. I mean if I wasn't in a panic to get good seats I would have loved the walk. We were walking through backlots and sound stages.. they were even filming an episode of Ellen, as we could hear the audience cheering as we passed. We finally found the theater and made our way up. The theater was about half full already (these screening room hold about 100 or so people). We checked in and grabbed our glasses. We were seeing this film in 3D and in HFR (48 fps). I was pumped to see this version as this is what Peter Jackson intended it to be viewed.

Now I'm not going into great detail about the movie, there might be slight spoilers (but I mean it's a 75 years old book that most people have read) . I plan on giving my overall thoughts and views. First let me say that I totally LOVED this film. It was everything I had expected and so much more. I can't wait to see it again and again.

Let's start with the world. From the first shot it felt like you were stepping right back into the Middle Earth that we visited in Lord of the Rings. I enjoyed how the movie opened, the narration and how it lead into the LOTR movies. The costumes and sets were amazing just as they were in LOTR and what you would expect from Jackson and company.

The acting was fantastic. Freedman was wonderful as Bilbo Baggins and McKellen was, as always, wonderful as the Wizard Gandalf. I'm still trying to get the 13 dwarves names down but I love how Jackson gave each one a very different look and personality. Ones that stood out for me would be of course Thorin, he was the King, he had that royalty presence. Another was Balin who was so loyal to Thorin and boy could he fight (and it's cool/sad to know that this is the same Balin from LOTR who dies in Moria.). Other Dwarves who stuck out to me were Ori (funny and young), Fili, Kili (both good fighters and cute) and Bofur (who bonds with Bilbo). The others (Nori, Dori, Oin, Gloin, Bombur, Bifur and Dwalin) had moments but not enough to really make an impact on me.

I had heard some negative things about Radagast The Brown (another Wizard), some were calling him the Jar Jar of this movie. First of all Jar Jar didn't bother me and maybe that's why I wasn't bother by Radagast. He's a recluse, he prefers the company of animals, of course he's going to be a bit off. I actually enjoyed his character. 

You get a much calmer and cooler Elrond in this movie, you can see the stress of Sauron rising has not effected him yet. He's like a different character. It was great to see Galadriel and Saruman in the short White Counsel scene. I liked the Galadriel and Gandalf moments, you can tell they have known each other for hundreds of years.

The actions scenes were incredible and there were moments that I felt were kind of nods to LOTR. I noticed several parallels. Like when the company is running through Khazad Dum mimicked the company running through the Goblin Town (which was one of my favorite action scenes). Could be similar music playing.

The Riddles in the Dark scene was amazing. Andy Serkis outdid himself as Gollum. The CG has advanced so much in 10 years. The Gollum scenes were just so heart wrenching. Gollum and Bilbo's interaction was just as I had hoped.

Lot's of scenes and dialogue were pulled directly from the book, it was amazing to see this world come alive. The Hobbit is a much different book then the LOTR. It actually is a children's book. And this movie though feels very much like LOTR has a totally different vibe storywise. It's a lot funnier and comical without going over the top. I mean there is still an edge to it with Goblin heads getting chopped off left and right but Jackson and company very much succeeded at making this feel the same but very different.

As for changes from the book.. I haven't read the book enough to noticed any major changes. I asked my friend Josh if anything was major and he said they moved little things around here and there and embellished a bit but nothing major was changed. As for the ending.. I'm not going to say where the movie ends but it was a satisfying ending... much like Fellowship of the Rings. 

Now for my thoughts on the 3D and HFR (48 fps)

I kept telling myself: ‘Oh Kenny, your eyes will get used to it… just give it a bit longer.‘ Well that never happened.  I couldn’t help but think, ‘Why does this look like some highly produced BBC TV drama?‘ It was like every 10 minutes or so I would think to myself.. do I like this or not.. It was very difficult for me stop noticing the difference. I guess it's like watching HD for the first time. It's so different then anything you've ever scene. Don't get me wrong the picture quality was crystal clear and the colors were amazing, I've never seen anything so sharp. But with that said I think it took away some of the  "filmyness" of the movie. Maybe I'm just old and enjoy the old school 24 fps. I mean film has a certain look to it as does TV and it was odd seeing HD TV on the big screen.

If I could do it again I would see the movie for the first time in 2D, so I could enjoy the story and characters and not think so much about the technical stuff.. I would then go and see it in 3D HFR (48 fps) just to experience it... it is pretty amazing.

Even with the 3D 48 fps I thought this was a GREAT adaptation of the beginning of what will doubtingly be another EPIC trilogy from Middle Earth.

My Gimpy Life Podcast Episode 8

 Download from Itunes ow.ly/eYv9G or Listen, get direct download mygimpylifepodcast.com

Show Notes:

Now that My Gimpy Life season one series has come to an end. There will be no more companioncasts, but that doesn't mean the podcast is over... far from it.

In this episode I update listeners on what is happening with various cast members. Also have an audio comment from faithful listener Steven Cain.

There is also a special announcement about more My Gimpy Life webseries.

thanks & enjoy,
Kenny

Christmas, Reviews & Fairytales

Well I started my Christmas shopping today. It was pouring down rain and crazy windy but I had to start as I feel like I'm really behind. I'm making some of my Christmas gifts this year like I did last year so my only goal for today was to go to Michael's to pick up some crafty supplies so I could start making these gifts. After Michael's I went to grab some lunch at Panda Express before heading home.

Every once in a while I go to itunes and look up my podcasts pages to see if I have gotten any reviews. For the most part, I'd say about 90% of the reviews are positive and folks are enjoying the podcast. Occasionally I'll get a negative review, and sometimes they are just down right horrible. Well I got one of those today on my MASH podcast. Logically I know better then to let it effect me. I mean it's just one person and most of the time they haven't even listen to the podcast and are just trolling. But it still sting when you hear something negative about yourself. This one for MASH wasn't about me this time but I have gotten ones that have complained that I laugh annoys them or that I have a big head and like to drop names. Like I said I know the majority of the people enjoy my podcasts and negative comments are the price you pay putting yourself out there.. but it doesn't mean I have to like them.

Tonight was the mid season finale of my favorite TV show on right now Once Upon A Time. And as always I watched it with my bestie Chris. This episode didn't disappoint. It was happy and sad and resolved things while opening up huge things for the remaining episodes next year. I have been extremely happy with season 2 so far and I can't wait to see where this season goes.

Movies with Robert

My best bud Robert took me up on my offer to come over and watch some screeners. He arrived around 9:30am and we got started. He first went through my pile of screeners and picked out movies that he wanted to see. I then went through and pulled out a few that I have seen and didn't wish to see again. We wound up with six movies and put them in a order that we though was good.

We weren't sure if we would get through all of these but we started with Rise of the Guardians. Now I saw this last week and loved it. It became an instant yearly Christmas movie for me. And on my second viewing I loved it just the same... it's a Christmas classic already for me.

After Rise ended we were hungry so we headed out for some lunch. We went with Wienerschnitzel as it's one of Robert's and my favorite places. Back home we popped in Moonrise Kingdom. Again I had seen this one a few weeks ago and was mediocre about it. But Robert really wanted to see it and I enjoyed it enough to watch again. I have to say that I actually enjoyed this movie more the second time around and I'm glad Robert wanted to watch this one.

Next was The Perks of Being a Wallflower. And if you read my blog about hanging with Brett yesterday you will notice that I watched this with him as well. So this is going to be my third time watching this in a matter of a few weeks.. and you know what... I don't care. I love this movie. Everything about it is just so good. And I'm actually the one who suggested that we watch it. Robert knew I had just seen it and it wasn't in his pile to watch.. I actually put it there because he needed to experience this fantastic movie.

So the first three movies I had seen.. now it was time to watch a movie that I have not seen yet. Madagascar 3. Here's the synopsis: Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman are still trying to get back to the Big Apple and their beloved Central Park zoo, but first they need to find the penguins. When they travel to Monte Carlo, they attract the attention of Animal Control after gate crashing a party and are joined by the penguins, King Julian and Co., and the monkeys. How do a lion, zebra, hippo, giraffe, four penguins, two monkeys, three lemurs travel through Europe without attracting attention and get back to New York? They join a traveling circus. Their attempts to get back to New York are consistently hampered by the Captain of Animal Control who wants to make Alex part of her collection. Once they make it back to New York Marty, Alex, Gloria and Melman realize that they want to be part of the traveling circus.

My Review... I enjoy the Madagascar movies. I've seen the first two several times and was looking forward to watching this. I had heard such great things about it and folks comparing it to Toy Story 3 which I just adored. Well it's defiantly not Toy Story 3. The first hour or so the movie is kind of crazy. Robert kept looking at me and saying "I feel like I'm on speed" the movie was so disjointed and fast pace it was very bizarre. Once they joined the circus the movie slowed down and actually started to get good. And it ended great bringing this trilogy to a conclusion. Maybe that's why folks were comparing it to Toy Story 3 as that movie did the same. It nicely ended that series. I give Madagascar 3 a C+

Made some pizza for dinner and started with our fifth movie Flight. Again another movie that I had not seen yet. I have heard from friends that it's not what you think, that it's a much darker film about alcoholism. So I was warned about the movie before watching it. Here's a brief synopsis: An airline pilot saves a flight from crashing, but an investigation into the malfunctions reveals something troubling.

My Review... As I mentioned the previews are a bit deceiving but I was warned about what the true story is about. The movie is not bad, but it's wasn't enjoyable for me. I have a hard time when the person, who is the main character and protagonist, is just horrible and never really changes until the end. But by that time I didn't care what happen to him. There wasn't one redeeming quality about him. The acting was excellent but I just couldn't get pass that I hated the main character. Maybe I didn't enjoy the movie because it was too real, I mean I understood that alcoholism is a sickness and that part of his actions were not controllable because he was sick, but it was just to hard to watch someone so self destructive.  Maybe that's why I enjoy Fantasy as I have enough real life drama in real life I don't need to see it on the big screen.

As I said this isn't a bad movie I just don't think it was the right movie for me. If you enjoy extreme drama then this movie is right up your alley and I'm sure you'll love it. Am I glad I watched the movie.. sure, will I ever watch it again.. nope. I give this movie a C

After that depressing movie we watched our final movie of the night Dr. Seuss The Lorax. This is the third movie of the night that I had not seen. Here's a brief synopsis: In the walled city of Thneed-Ville, where everything is artificial and even the air is a commodity, a boy named Ted hopes to win the heart of his dream girl, Audrey. When he learns of her wish to see a real tree, Ted seeks out the Once-ler, a ruined old businessman outside of town in a stark wasteland. Upon hearing of how the hermit gave into his greed for profits and devastated the land over the protests of the Lorax, Ted is inspired to undo the disaster. However, the greedy Mayor of Thneed-Ville, Aloysius O'Hare, has made his fortune exploiting the environmental collapse and is determined to stop the boy from undermining his business

My Review... I enjoy Dr. Seuss and don't ever remember reading The Lorax so I wasn't sure what to expect. This was an environmental film animated for kids. This movie is all about deforestation and how it effect the environment. Robert mentioned several times how this film just hits you over the head with their message and I agree.. it's not a subtle message. But with that said I did enjoy the movie and I did like the storyline, though a bit heavy-handed. My biggest complaint were the musical numbers that they would do in the middle of a scene.... Those felt very weird. Nowadays most kids movies are written for kids and adults and can be enjoyed by both. This is definably a kids movie and one that I don't think I'll watch again. I give it a solid C +

So I saw three movies that I had already seen and three new movies, but the best part was spending the entire day with one of my favorite peoples in the world.. Thanks for hanging with me all day Robert, you're AWESOME!!