Man of Steel - My Review

Went to the Arclight Sherman Oaks with my buddy Robert to see Man of Steel. I saw it in 2D on opening night.

First let me say I'm a huge fan of Superman, he is my favorite of all the superheros. I really enjoyed Superman back when I was a little kid watching George Reeves in the B&W Adventures of Superman. But fell in love with Superman when Christopher Reeves put on the suit in Superman The Movie back in 78'. After that movie I devoured all things Superman, comics, cartoons, tv series, movies.. anything I could get my hands on. I do admit that I haven't followed the Superman comics in over 20 years.. something I hope to correct in the near future. So I've been looking forward to seeing this movie since they announced the reboot. I am one of the few that enjoyed Superman III and Superman Returns... Superman IV I can take it or leave it.

I've purposely avoided any kind of spoilers for this new incarnation of the Man of Steel. I mean I knew who the actors were and I heard they were trying to make it more "realistic" and I knew Zod was going to be the bad guy.. but that's about it.

So here is my short review (no spoilers)...  I loved the movie, it was everyone I was hoping for. There were a few small issues but the good well out weighted the bad. The action scenes were amazing, the sfx were cool and the actors did a great job in their roles. I don't know why there is a swell of negative reviews coming out all of a sudden, from both critics and friends. But you know what.. I don't care. Haters are gonna hate, and you can't please everyone. All I know is that I loved the movie and can't wait to see it again.. and truthfully to me, that all that matters.... go me :)

Now for a more detail idea of what I really enjoyed and the few things I disliked (SPOILERS ahead).  First what I didn't like since that list is so much smaller.. I didn't like the shaky camera, luckly it wasn't in to much of the movie but I just don't understand why directors go that route. It may look good on a small screen but on a huge movie screen that shaky cam sucks. The other issue I had was the destruction of Smallville and Metropolis. I mean hundreds if not thousands of people had to have died during the battles and attacks. I didn't understand why Superman wouldn't have lead the "bad guys" away from the populaces and battled in a more remote area. I mean I understand why the film makers did what they did because it looked cool having these super strong flying people throwing each through buildings, but if Superman is all about saving humans he helped kill quite a bit of them with destroying buildings... those are really my only two complaints.

Now here's what I loved about the movie. First of all Krypton, how awesome was that. It was so alien and so different then any of the other movies have every represented it. That was a real treat. I enjoyed everything about the opening of this movie.

I really enjoyed Russel Crowe as Jor-El and I'm not a big fan of Mr. Crowe but I really liked him in this. Costner as Jonathan was amazing and was the heart of the movie. His death scene was incredible and heartbreaking.. when he knew he was going to die (from the Tornado) and stopped Clark from saving him with a shake of his head was heartwretching. Clark and Martha had to stand there and watch their love one die.. gives me chills just thinking about it.

I loved Amy Adam's Lois Lane, she was smart and fearless. I really like that she used her investigative reporter instincts and was able to find out that Clark was an alien before he even became Superman. This is a huge departure from the Superman lore, I mean she finds out eventually but not at the beginning.. and I really liked that.

Superman is an alien, it's not really addressed in previous movies but here was one of the main storylines. How would the humans react to finding out that we are not alone in the universe.

I love that Clark had to learn how to control his powers when he was young. There is a very touching moment when Clark's vision and hearing starts to go super and he freaks out. Martha Kent (Diana Lane, who was fantastic) comes and talks him down. Also when he's older he had to learn to fly.. he starts by jumping really far and finally is able to stay up and flies.

I really like how the movie is structured, I mean after the opening on Krypton and his ship crashed on Earth we see an older Clark working on a fishing boat, he's kind of a drifter. And they tell his childhood through flash backs.. that was very well done.

I love the new suit.. the missing red underwear
didn't bother me as much as the missing S on his cape.  I did like how the S meant hope on his world. I love that the suit was alien and from Krypton as well. I mean all of the Kryptonian outfits were awesome.

I liked the sfx when they battled.. at first it looked kind of cartoony but then again super strong and super fast being would move like that. 

I liked the final moments in the battle of Superman Vs Zod. I like how Zod said he was born to take care of Krypton, that's all he's ever known. Kind of makes him not a "bad guy" just a guy trying to save his people.. of course it's at the cost of the human race.

Of course the final moment in that battle where Superman has to chose between "the human race" and killing Zod. You can see the torture he is going through. He's meant to save people not kill and when he gives that scream of frustration and snaps Zod's neck is just amazing.

I was wondering if reporter Clark Kent was going to make an appearance and sure enough the final scene we have Clark Kent being introduced to Lois Lane and the Daily Planet.. so good.

Oh and I almost forgot... Henry Cavill was amazing as Superman and man is he HOT.. and his body is AMAZING!!!!!

I give Man of Steel a solid A

Painting, Workout & Superman

After the "fail" that was yesterday I was determined to get more done today. So I was up at 8am and outside taping up the trim on the back of my house. It was already hot in the high 80's so my plan to to work for an hour and then go inside for a half hour to rest and cool done. I did this for about five hours and managed to finish painting all the trim on the back of the house. I said I was going to take baby steps so I'm very happy with what I got accomplished today.

I moved on to working out. I had limited time as I was going out to dinner and seeing Man of Steel with my buddy Robert so I couldn't do Vasquez today. Instead I with weights and my elliptical in my garage. 15 minutes of cardio on the elliptical, 3 sets of 10 on the chest fly for my chest (75 lbs), 3 sets of 10 working on my back (75 lbs), 3 sets of 20 on the front leg press (45 lbs), 3 sets of bicep curls  lbs), 3 sets of 10 on the free weight (110 lbs). It was a good workout.

Afterwards I showered and then headed into town. I was meeting Robert at the Sherman Oaks Galleria. We grabbed some dinner at P.F. Changs before heading to the theater for Man of Steel. I won't go into great detail or spoil anything here ( I plan to do a separate spoiler filled blog next). All I will say here is that I loved the movie... can't wait to see it again. Robert also enjoyed it.

We said our goodbyes and I got home around 11:30pm and called it a night.

Hobbit Figure Exclusive & Shadow Dancing

So today "the lazy monster" got the better of me. I did manage to clean the house a bit, but didn't paint like I had planned or edit any podcasts. I did workout, got a very nice 35 minute carido hike at Vasquez Rocks in but didn't do the weights like I had planned.

I came across two things that I wanted to share with you all. First of all the San Diego Comic Con Exclusive, The Bridge Direct have revealed the final look of their 2013 Comic-Con Exclusive figure! As you may remember, last year they did a 6″ Invisible Bilbo Baggins figure, as he would look while wearing the Ring. And I picked up three of them... Well, this year they are bringing to fans a 7″ version of one of the coolest looking characters from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Azog the Defiler. Azog comes with multiple switch out parts, in order to create him as we see him from ‘The Battle of Azanulbizar’, still with his left arm and holding King Thror’s head. You can also have him as we see him a little later in the film, no longer having his left arm but with that gruesome metal object in its place. Azog will be limited to 2600 pieces world-wide, so he’s sure to go quickly. So if you’re at Comic-Con this year make sure you stop by the Weta/The Bridge Direct booth 3513B!

The second things I wanted to share was a performance by a group of Hungarian artists called "Attraction" The preformed on this years Britain's Got Talent. This blew my mind and brought me to tears. This is their initial audition performance, they made it to the semi finals and performed another amazing piece of work and then again at the finale where they did a great tribute to England and they won 2013's Britain's Got Talent.. you can see all the performances on You Tube.. they are truly incredible.

Taking Control of My Life

Today I'm turning over a new leaf.. I'm tired of the woe is me Kenny. Yes things aren't going that well in my life but complaining about them doesn't change anything. I'm the only who can make those changes so it's time to kick myself in the ass and get moving forward again.

Spent a few hours cleaning up the house (living room, TV room, Kitchen and dining room). I love having a clean house and with just me living here it should be easier to keep clean.

Had to run some errands and grab some lunch. While I was out I stopped by Vasquez Rocks and did a 45 cardio hike (this is my third day in a row and I'm loving it). While on the hike I found a stick on the ground that I thought would make a really cool wizard wand. All I have to do is sand it down a bit and then stain it a dark walnut color. It think it will be a cool addition to my wand collection.

When I got home I started working on my house. I'm starting with the back of the house. I removed old painters tape that's been there for almost six months. Took some doing but after 2 hours of battling the tape I got it all off and ready to be re-taped and painted. I'm gonna start painting tomorrow. I'm going to do small sections at a time, trying to take on to much at once is very overwhelming. I figure in time doing bit by bit it will all get done.

I spent the rest of the evening until about 11:30pm editing my next episode of MASH 4077 Podcast.

So all in all not a bad day, there were many times when I felt the laziness come upon me but I fought it off and continue to be productive. I know it's not like turning off a switch so it will take time but I'm determined get my life back in order one step at a time.

Treading Water...

I'm not sure what's going on lately in my life. I feel like I'm going through the motions everyday. I wake up, jump online, talk with friends, look for work, workout, yard work, watch TV, edit podcast, write my script, eat, and sleep. Day in and day out it's the same thing. There are days when I wake up and I'm full of energy and I have this grand plan to get so much done and then by the end of the day I feel like crap because somehow the entire day has passed by and I didn't do a single thing planned. I don't know what it is.. I lack structure... I just feel like I'm lost in life at the moment.

This isn't recent stuff.. I've felt this way for a few years now. I'm not saying I'm depressed all the time but I do fight bouts of depression from time to time. I know I blog about hanging out with friends and going to Disneyland and Magic Mountain and my life seems like an endless joy ride but it's really isn't. I spend the majority of my days alone at home trying to stay motivated long enough to get something done around house, to workout, to edit podcasts, to write my script.

I have friends tell me all the time.. well it seems like you're always having fun, partying or going to amusement parks, unfortunately that's not true.. When I tweet or post a blog you only hear about all the fun stuff so it seems like I'm always having fun.

I feel like my life is lacking direction for the first time in 40 years. I've always known what I wanted out of life, a great job, family, a partner, travel and all the other typical things folks want out of life but then something changes and everything seems to fall apart.

I'm single after 10 years, with no prospects of finding someone else or even the need to find anyone else. I'm jobless and have only worked 5 months out of the last 24 months and currently I'm not wanting to get back into my line of work. So naturally you ask what do you want to do. That's not an easy question as I've been in my current career for over 18 years and when I'm working I make pretty good money. I won't be able to find a job that will start me off even close to that. So I would need to start back on the bottom and I don't know if I can "financially" do that.

With every passing year the idea of having a family dwindles. That was until a few months ago when I made a vow to adopt at least one "older" child by the time I was 45. I am determined to be a father. Of course I will have to have a steady job and make enough money to support a family.

I haven't done nearly as much traveling as I would like. I've been to about 20 or so states and down in Mexico but I've never been abroad which has always been a dream of mine. I've even considered moving to England for a year just for a change of pace.

My most immediate issue beside finding a job is selling my house. My ex and I purchased this together almost four years ago and though there is no legal obligation for me to sell the house and give him a portion of the money, morally I would not screw him over like that. So my main priority is fixing up the house and putting it on the market which I have been extremely lazy about doing as of late. I need to kick myself in the ass and get it down so it's one less financial burden to have.

I don't know what it is but it's time for a change. Friends give me advise and I so appreciate it but it's really up to me to make the changes, to take back control of my life and start moving forward.. I'm tired of just treading water.

It's time for a new chapter in my life and I'm the only one who can make it happen... so let's do it!!!

Hobbities & Hanging with Friends

Today Warner Bros released the first trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

It runs just over 2 minutes and it's AWESOME!!!! I'm so pumped for this sequel, it's one of three movies that I can't wait to see this year (Star Trek Into Darkness and Man of Steel being the other two). I've must have watched this at least 20 times in a matter of a few hours. :)

Continued with my workout, today I went to Vasquez Rock's again for my cardio workout. Didn't last as long as I did yesterday as it was super hot out still.. but I did manage to hike for a good 30 minutes. Afterwards I came back home and worked with my weights. 3 sets of 10 on the chest fly for my chest (75 lbs),  3 sets of 10 working on my back (75 lbs), 3 sets of 10 on the front leg press (45 lbs), 3 sets of 10 on the bicep curl (45 lbs).

During the evening I had dinner plans with my buddy Will. We were meeting up at Pitfire Grill in North Hollywood. We got there, ordered our food and when we went to sit down we noticed that a friend of ours and my former KOTG co-host Jenni was there. She was waiting for a friend for dinner as well and was early so she joined us for about 20 minutes. We all caught up on each others lives then her friend arrived and we parted ways. Will and I continued to have a nice dinner, got to talk about the latest going on's in our lives. Will also helped me realize something about my life and motivation which I hope will help me in the future. Time to get my butt in gear and get things back on track.

Afterwards we headed back to his place (he lives close by). We planned to watch some Star Trek Deep Space Nine. We watched the pilot episode a few weeks ago at my place and we said we would continue to watch DS9 together so at this rate it's going to take us 20 years. :)

When we got to his place his roommate Jen, another good friend of mine (in fact they meet through me) was home and joined us. We watched season one episode 2 of Deep Space Nine. We planned to watch other episode but Will had a few voice over auditions that he wanted to do before he was too tired so he went upstairs to his studio to do that while I hung out with Jen and chatted. About an hour later Will re-joined us and by this time it was already 11:30pm.

The three of us debated on watching another episode but instead we talked for the next hour and a half. I got to see Jen's room since I have not been over to their place since she moved in. Jen is really into Portal and had several guns.. I have to say that they are pretty epic and would love to own one.

It's now 1am and these guys need to be up at 7am for work and I have at least a 45 minute drive home so we said our goodnights and I headed home.

Neil, The Tonys and The Geekie Awards

Watched the Tony's today. I've never been into the Tony Awards until Neil Patrick started hosting. And honestly I don't really pay attention to the actual awards being given out.. I'm more into the performances between the awards...I can't get enough of those. For this one we got to see Cinderella, Matelda, Bring it On, Motown, A Christmas Story, Annie, Pippin, Kinky Boots and Phantom of the Opera.

Living here in LA you don't get to see alot of theater but I have seen some plays and musicals in my time and have loved them. Watching the Tony's you actually get to see scenes from many different plays/musicals currently on Broadway and it just makes me want to see the whole thing. Live theater is so magical.

But what really impressed me with this years Tony's was Neil Patrick Harris. This is his fourth time hosting and I have loved everyone of them but his opening number this year was AMAZING!!! Best opening number not only for the Tony's but for all awards shows.. he is truly an amazing artist. (Check out the video below if it's still there.. CBS is having them taken down from you tube)

For my workout/cardio I went on a hike at Vasquez Rocks for about 50 minutes. It was later in the day and was a nice cool 80f outside. When I got home I wanted to do my weight training workout but never got motivated enough to go out to the garage (how said is that). So instead I'll be doing my weight training on Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday instead of my usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday. I'm going to try and go to Vasquez every day this week for my cardio workout. It's so much nicer then doing the elliptical in my garage. 

Also today the Geekie Awards announced the winners of the individual sub categories as well as the nominees of the main categories. Those awards will be given out at the actual event in August... you can read more HERE. Tickets are also on sale for the event if you're wanting to go.. it's going to be a fun time. Buy now and you can get a discount.. You can check out the different tickets levels HERE.

Alien Nation: The Newcomers Podcast Ep17

Download from itunes http://bit.ly/itunesAlienNation Listen on Stitcher Radio http://app.stitcher.com/browse/feed/32281/episodes or Listen/ Get 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 17 - Real Men

Directed by John McPherson
Written by Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider
Original air date February 19th 1990

Plot Summary:
Matt and George investigate the use of male newcomer hormone at a local gym. Matt's friend visit from Detroit and takes an interest in the Newcomers. Albert plans George's baby shower, while George contemplates paternity leave.
Hope you enjoy it,

Kenny & Michael

Twitter Friends & Podcasts

Woke up at Robert's and just hung out talking for an hour before hitting the road at around 9am. Today I was hanging out with my twitter friend Scarlet. She and I became friends on Twitter a few years ago, we were both big Guild fans as well as huge Harry Potter fans.

She drove up from Texas to visit family out in Palmdale and asked if I wanted to join her for lunch today. We were meeting at a Pizza place out in Lancaster. I got there just before noon. She and her family were also pulling up.

You would think it would be awkward meeting someone for the first time but I've meet several "twitter" friends and it's like you've known each other forever. It doesn't even cross your mind that this is the first time that you are meeting this person. I also got to meet her husband, older son and niece as well. More of her friends joined us and we were soon a large group. I pretty much talked to Scarlett and her husband the entire time. It was great getting to know them a bit better. Of course I was her only friend who was truly a geek so we geeked out a bit over The Guild and Harry Potter. Lucky for Scarlett her husband is a geek by association :)

It was a lot of fun, I spent about 4 hours there chatting it up. We've made some tentative plans to visit Vasquez Rocks as well as Whimsic Alley this week before they head home. Hopefully schedules will work out.

Afterward I headed home and continued to work on my next Alien Nation podcast. Today is the ninth and it's due to be released on the 10th. So I spent the rest of the evening finishing that up. I think it turned out pretty good. It will be posted tomorrow morning.

Disneyland and Vampires

So I crashed at Robert's place last night as we are going to Disneyland in the morning and he lives closer. We were up and out around 9am, we made it to Disneyland around 10 and it wasn't to busy. I thought, since it was a Saturday, that it would be busy but the parking structure wasn't that bad. First thing we did was get a corn dog, we didn't eat breakfast and were both hungry.

After the corn dog we headed over to Star Tours to get a fast pass and then rode Astro Blaster for our first ride. The competitive nature comes out in the both of us when we go head to head but Robert won this round.

Next was Space Mountain, we waited about 45 minutes or so, which really in the big picture isn't that bad. It gives Robert and I some time to chat and boy do we have some crazy conversations. I won't go into details but it was a very enlightening and somewhat disgusting conversation :)

It was now time for our fast pass for Star Tours so we rode that next, we got Hoth for our first planet, which I really enjoy, then Leia spoke to us about the rebel spy and for our second stop we got Coruscant, which isn't my favorite but still fun. On our way out we grabbed a churro to enjoy and walked over to Adventure Land. We planned to ride Indiana Jones but the wait was an hour so instead we go a fast pass and made our way to Pirates of the Caribbean. We chose poorly on which line to get into (there are two) so it took a bit longer to get on the ride but still it gave Robert and I time to just hang.

Next was The Haunted Mansion, this ride we literally walked onto, there was hardly any wait time. Like Pirates this ride is just fun to chill and relax. It's great to get off your feet and just have fun.

After the Hunted Mansion we were ready for some lunch, I wanted to try this Mexican restaurant over in Frontier Land which until recently never knew it existed. Robert and I got the same thing, some cheese enchiladas and they were very tasty.

When we were done with lunch we headed back to Indiana Jones as our fast pass time was now but the ride of down and they weren't sure when it would be up again. They said we could use our fast pass any time today when the ride is working again.

If you don't know what a fast pass is, you can get a hour time period on when you can bypass a large chunk of the line. You can only get so many per day and when they first started you had to come between the times listed, but for years now it didn't matter on what time you came as along as it was after the first time listed, but Robert informed me that they have gone back to having to go in-between the times listed.

Since we couldn't get on Indiana Jones and the Matterhorn had the biggest line I'd seen in years we headed over to Disney California Adventures.

First ride we did there was Radiator Springs Racers, we did the single rider line as the regular line can take hours, and the single rider line only 20 minutes. And the cool thing is Robert and I actually got to ride in the same car.. so win win for us.

After Racers we got some soft served ice cream (you can only get it at DCA). We ate while we were in line for Screaming.

Next was Midway Mania and again here is were our competitive nature came into effect again but this time I beat Robert.. woohoo.

We then did Silly Symphony Swings, this isn't one of my normal rides but Robert really enjoys them and I don't mind swinging.

After the swings we did Goofy's Sky School, which is always a lot of fun. Little Mermaid, which is a new favorite of mine at DCA and finally Mater's Tractor Pull, which was my first time on this ride and it's alot of fun.

We headed back over to Disneyland to ride Indiana Jones but when we got there it was broken down again, by this time it was just after 7:30 and we both agreed we had a great time and was ready for some dinner.

I mentioned going to Denny's as I enjoy their buffalo chicken strips, and Robert said we should do Buffalo Wild Wings. I've only been there once and lucky for us there is one near Disneyland, well actually closer to Knott's Berry Farm. Anyways we were there for a few hours and enjoyed several different types of buffalo wings as well as buffalo fries, it was all was very tasty. I even purchase several bottle of the buffalo sauce to use at home.. yum!!

We headed back to Roberts and decided to end the night with some Buffy. We continued our Buffy rewatch/first time. We are in the middle of the final season. Tonight we started with S7 Ep 10 "Bring on the Night" Buffy attempts to rescue Spike from The First. Giles arrives in town with three Potential Slayers and some unnerving news.

A good episode.. this is the first episode that really starts the beginning of the end of the series. Giles returns with, what we know now as "Potential" Slayers. I was never a bit fan of these Potential as I was always to understood that there is born 1 slayer per generation to fight evil. But now there are a ton. I mean I understand that slayers die and they need replacements but this story line never really made since to me. But that doesn't mean it took anything about from the final season and these episodes.. still loved them.

We watched one more episode before calling it a night, S7 Ep 11 "Showtime" Buffy must win back the confidence of Potential Slayers; Anya and Giles seek out an oracle.

Anther good episode, my friend Felicia Day is introduced as one of the potentials which is awesome. Buffy got her ass kicked by the vampire that vampires fear. Poor Spike is being tortured but he still hold out hope that Buffy will save him.  Some of the potential were so whiny but end the end they were all schooled by Buffy and who begins to build this arm against the first evil. This was a really good build up episode.

By this time it was super late so I decided to crash as Robert's house again and head home early in the morning. It was an awesome day of Best buds, Disney magic and Buffy kick ass.. couldn't get any better then that.

Much Ado About Nothing - My Review

So I didn't plan on seeing this movie in the theater. I mean I'm a big Joss Whedon fan and a love Shakespeare but I figured this movie would be just as good on blu-ray on my 60 inch TV and since I'm out of work I shouldn't be spending money on a theater ticket. Well my friend Anne posted a link to an event at the Arclight Hollywood, it was a screening of this movie and then a panel afterwards that would include Joss himself.

Next thing I knew I was clicking on the link, selecting my seat and purchasing the ticket. At the time this was the only showing but a week or so ago they added a bunch more including one at the Dome with a panel afterwards. Some friends returned their tickets and got tickets for the later showing.. I stuck with my original plan. Joining me though we were sitting far apart from each other. Jes, Jen, Anne and Nicki... and to my surprise my friend Amy.

So I had my popcorn and soda and I was ready for the movie. A few days ago I saw something that said this movie was in black and white, and then today before I headed out my friend Thomas mentioned that it's all done in Shakespeare's original language. So I kind of knew what to expect when it started.

As I mentioned I enjoy Shakespeare but I've never read Much Ado About Nothing. So I had no idea what the story was or anything that was going to happen. It took a good ten to fifteen minutes to get use to the language but afterwards you start to understand the story it was like second nature. I really enjoyed the movie. I mean I'm a huge Whedonite and most of the cast were from previous Whedon projects so that made it extra fun. This was shot in only 12 days at Joss' house. This was like a pet project for Joss.

The acting is incredible. I don't know how these guys remember such long and very complicated speeches.. they were just amazing. I love the way it was shot, I'm not a big fan of B&W but this worked. It was strange at first to hear the "old" language set in a modern setting with cell phones and such. It was a very entertaining movie and I'm glad I saw it on the big screen. I give it a solid B+

Afterwards there was a panel, joining Joss were actors from the movie. Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Clark Gregg and Tom Lenk (come to find out that the Dome screening had four more actors join in). The panel was a blast, it was great hearing how this project came together, how the actors had been doing Shakespeare for fun at Joss' house... I guess Joss had parties all the time and they did this just for fun. It was great hearing everyone's love of Shakespeare and how they have all wanted to do Shakespeare. Clark Gregg had a fun story of how he was suppose to do a play and had to decline being in the movie but the play was delayed two weeks and that normally that isn't enough time to do a movie but for this movie it was so he got to do it.

All in all it was a fun, entertaining evening.

Goonies, Podcasts, Workout and Bees

28 years ago today I was a young man (14/15) watching what would be one of my all time favorite movies. I remember wishing I had a group of friends like The Goonies and we'd go off on these crazy adventures. Of course that never happened but I did see The Goonies six or seven times in the theater, got the book, soundtrack and anything else I could find. When I drove up north in 2010 I had to drive through Astoria, Orgeon (that's where the story takes place).

This movie is still one of my all time favorites and they did a fantastic 25th anniversary blu-ray release a few years ago, they even created a Goonies board game with it.. I can't wait to see what they do for the 30th in a few years.  Happy 28 years Goonies.. and remember Goonies Never Say Die!!!

Today I worked on my next Alien Nation podcast, again I've been struggling with motivation (future blog post to come), but I did manage to put in a few hours of work. Still have a few more hours to finish but I'm well on my way. 

I continued with my workout: 15 minutes of cardio on the elliptical,
3 sets of 10 on the chest fly for my chest (75 lbs),  3 sets of 10 working on my back (75 lbs), 3 sets of 10 on the front leg press (45 lbs), 3 sets of 10 on the free weight (110 lbs), 3 sets of 10 on the bicep curl (45 lbs)

Not my pix, but it's what it looked like

As I was walking outside to the garage a heard this loud buzzing sound I looked around and bout five feet above my head was a swarm of bees. Now I've seen swarms of bees in movies and on TV but it doesn't prepare you for when you actually see and hear them. The buzzing is deafening, there had to be at least a few hundred. I remember thinking to myself.. don't move, just be still and they will go away. I mean swarms of bees are known to kill people. It was tough trying to stay still as my legs were like jello and it took everything I had to just wait patiently as the passed by. It was one of the scariest moments in my life.

I went and saw Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing at the Arclight in Hollywood, I'm going to post a seperate review blog for that.

After the movie I went and grabbed some In-N-Out with Dallas, Jes and Jen before heading over to my buddy Robert's place where I was crashing for the night as we were going to hang out at Disneyland tomorrow.

Twitter, Dinner and Superman

I created some new business cards for my production company... Geekyfanoy Productions. Now that I have my new logo I wanted to get some new cards made. I tried various templates but I think this is my favorite. It's simple, easy to read and to the point.. just what a business card should be. What do you guys think?

I've been on twitter almost since the beginning and I've slowly built my following. I'm currently at 2459. It helps that I'm a podcaster and worked for The Guild as alot of my followers are from there. I guess they find what I say interesting as my followers continue to grow but at a much slower pace these days. I remember when I hit 1000, then 1500 and finally 2000. I was so excited. To think that I have over 2000 people who want to read my dribble about my life and geeky things... it's pretty awesome. Will I hit 2500 by the end of the year.. who knows all I know is I enjoy interacting with my followers and I hope to continue to entertain and talk geek for many years to come.

Tonight I had dinner with my buddy Christopher. I've known Christopher for over 10 years now, it's crazy how times flies. We went to Islands and had a delicious dinner while catching up on each others lives.

When I got home from dinner I still had to do my workout.. I was procratinating all day and now it's 9pm and I'm tired but I still have to get my cardio done. So I jump on the elliptical for 30 minutes. It wasn't as bad as I thought.. at least once I got going.

I ended the night watching Henry Cavill who is playing Superman in Man of Steel on Leno. Not only is this guy gorgeous, British but he's a geek. He was telling Leno how he reacted when he got the part. He was playing WOW and was raiding.. so when the phone rang he ignored it because you can't pause an MMO and he didn't want to leave his fellow guild defenseless. When it finished ringing he looked down and saw that he had a missed call from Zack Snyder (the director of Man of Steel). He was sure he blew it, he quickly called them back and the rest is history.. but I mean come on.. how awesome is that story.. he's perfect Superman.

I can't wait, it's only a week away and I've gone on "radio" silence for all things Man of Steel. No more featurettes, no more trailers, commercials or anything else that shows anything about Man of Steel. I want to go into this movie without seeing half of it on TV. This is one of my top three movies to see this year.. Star Trek was first, this is second and The Hobbit 2 later this year is third. Man of Steel is going to be EPIC!!!!!

Buffy Season Seven...continues

I ended my Wednesday like I have done the past few months.. at my buddy Robert's place watching Buffy. We are about a third of the way through the seventh and final season. First up was Ep 7 "Conversations with Dead People" Several Scooby members have separate encounters with dead loved one with warnings.

I really enjoyed this episode. I mean it didn't really didn't make a whole lot of sense but was still alot of fun and very freaky. Poor Dawn was put through the ringer. It was great to see Jonathan Woodward (Before Firefly) playing a vampire and having a fantastic conversation with Buffy. In the end we find out it was the big bad playing with all their minds. Though Dawn is still a bit weary of her mother's warning about Buffy. It was sad to see Jonathan die, I totally forgot that happened.

Next up we watched Ep 8 "Sleeper" Buffy probes a series of grisly murders that may be the work of Spike.

Another good episode. A continuation from the previous episode. Spike is being controlled by this new big bad and is killing again. We saw girls being killed all over the world.. now we are back with the watchers and they are also being killed.. Giles finds one dying as an axe comes down about to hit him when the screen goes black... dun dun dun...

And our final episode of the night was Ep 9 "Never Leave Me" The Scooby Gang begins to realize the magnitude of their peril. The Summers' home gains two captives: Spike and Andrew.

Again a continuation of the previous two episodes.. not alot of stand alone episodes in this season. It's like one long story arc. Some humor with Xander and Anya playing good cop/bad cop with Andrew. Lot's of setting up for the second half of the final season. At the end Spike is kidnapped and his blood is drained to open of the "hellmouth" and unleash the "first" evil. We also get a hint that something is up with Principle Wood.. now of course I know what it is and I can't wait until it's revealed.

Only three episodes tonight.. we got off to a later start with some techy issues and we also chatted a bit beforehand. Overall three solid episodes and well on our way to the explosive conclusion to the Buffy series.

Working Out, Superman & Love

I didn't get alot of productive work done today.. I didn't get any podcast work done or anything done around the house. I did manage to work out which was nice, this is my third day in a row working out.. Today was a full work out like Monday

Today's Workout:

15 minutes of cardio on the elliptical
3 sets of 10 on the chest fly for my chest (75 lbs)
3 sets of 10 working on my back (75 lbs)
3 sets of 10 on the front leg press (45 lbs)
3 sets of 10 on the free weight (110 lbs)

I really don't understand BMI (Body Mass Index). There are calculators online and all you do is enter your weight and height and it gives you your number. Well my BMI is 36.2 which according to their scale puts me in the obese category.  Now I know I'm over weight, but I've never considered myself obese. I'm short and stocky and the BMI calculation doesn't really take that into account. All it knows is I'm 5'3" and 208 lbs. According to the BMI chart I would need to be 140 lbs to just be below the limit of being "normal". I can't tell you the last time I was 140 lbs. it was back in junior high. It's discouraging to hear that you are obese.. when you're really not.

I can't wait for Man of Steel next week.. but before then you gotta check out this very cool article about the past 75 years of Superman's suit. It was a fun read and interesting to see how the suit has changed over the years. You can read the full article HERE

I really enjoy some of Syfy's reality/game shows like Faceoff and Total Blackout.. well they have a new one that just started this week called Exit.

In each nail-biting episode, four teams of two contestants will battle to escape a series of four mind-bending and seemingly diabolical rooms, each more challenging than the last. The winning team must beat the clock while solving rapid-fire brain games and navigating a bevy of terrifyingly entertaining puzzles in order to be the only team to truly exit and win the $10,000 prize.

I loved this new series.. I'm bummed that season one is only six episodes but I can't wait for the next one. This show is intense, full of pop-culture goodies and just plain and simply fun to watch. Check it out it if you can... you won't be disappointed.

I put a call out there for help with my next Tattoo.. this time it's going to be on my left calf and be Star Trek themed.. I'm looking for an artist friend who can bring my idea to life. Watched this very sweet video online today that I wanted to share with you all.. it is the story of a gay couple who've been together for over 50 years.. such a sweet story.

Watched this very sweet video online today that I wanted to share with you all.. it is the story of a gay couple who've been together for over 50 years.. such a sweet story. We need marriage equality.

Hiking Vasquez

As part of my new workout regime I'm trying to go hiking at Vasquez Rock at least twice a week. It's only a few miles away from my house and not working (at the moment) and being cooped up in the house all day long, it's good to get outside and get some fresh air.  Only issue I have to deal with is the heat. Luckily it was only 75 outside so it wasn't too hot.

The good thing about hiking during the week is that there are very few people around.. you pretty much have the entire part to yourself.. wish is nice.

It was a good hike, a little bit of climbing but mostly just traversing rocky terrain. I was out there for about an hour. I got a really good cardio workout.

Podcasts, Working Out & TV

I was somewhat production today.. after spending an hour watching reactions on you tube to last night's Game of Thrones episode. I don't even watch the series (yet) but I do know what happens so it wasn't really spoilery but it was fun watching folks go from being stun, to crying, to screaming to being angry and to swearing off the series... good stuff.

In the afternoon I jumped on Skype with my friend Teal to record a quick mini podcast for "My Gimpy Life" podcast. She currently has a kickstarter for the second season and I wanted to get a podcast out for the last 10 day push. So we got the recoding done and then chatted for another 20 minutes or so. Afterwards I took an hour to edit the podcast and got it posted and available for download.

So I'm starting to work out again.. my current weight is 208

Today's Workout:

10 minutes of cardio on the elliptical
3 sets of 10 on the chest fly for my chest (75 lbs)
3 sets of 10 working on my back (75 lbs)
3 sets of 10 on the front leg press (45 lbs)
2 sets of 10 on the free weight (110 lbs)
1 set of 100 jumping rope

I really do want to take better care of myself. I would love to get below 200 before my 43rd birthday in September.

Syfy's Defience is back.. they took last week off because of the holiday but today it was back. Again this series doesn't blow my socks off but it's constantly entertaining and makes me want to come back each week for a new episode. They are defiantly building up the storyline with the on going mystery but still have fun entertaining stand alone stories.

I also started watching The Fosters, a new series on ABC Family about a multi-ethnic family mix of foster and biological kids who are being raised by two moms. I saw a preview at the theater when I went to go see Star Trek Into Darkness and made a note to make sure I DVR'd it. I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure if I'm going to continue watching.. I'll record them and if time permits I'll continue to watch.

Overall it was a fairly productive day!!

Dungeon and Dragons - Pathfinder

Today is our fourth D&D Pathfinder session. Playing today was Will, Robert, Kenny, Dallas, Brett, Josh, Jen, Jes, Aaron and Rupert... also Matt joined us mid-way through.

Today session was a bit more action packed then the last session. We fought some dogs and their handlers as well as some zombie like brainwashed townsfolk. We ended the night walking into a chamber full of skeletons that just came to life.. dun dun dun...

My character Dash didn't have much luck with his magic spells but did manage to use his quarterstaff quite effectively. Our group was split up for a time which makes things a bit chaotic, but eventually we all came back together for the bigger battles. This time around we really kicked some butt.

Some folks didn't seem to be interested in playing and were being more social so it was difficult at times to hear Dallas (the game master). I think this is due to the fact that we have a very large group and it takes awhile for your turn to come back around. Plus we all love hanging out with each other so we tend to talk when we are together.

Overall it was another fun and entertaining game play. Dallas once again took us on a fun adventure and the way we left things I think our next session is going to start off with a bang... can't wait.

Kenobi's 4th Birthday Party

Today is my little nephew Kenobi's 4th birthday. Of course his parents through a big "Spiderman" themed party. I got there about an hour early to help out. When I got there Lora was going crazy trying to get everything ready and my brother was out back prepping the BBQ. They ordered a bouncy thingy that had a water slide attached to it. But it hadn't arrived yet and the party was starting in an hour.

I decorated the back porch with streamers and balloons. At 1pm folks started to arrive and the bouncy thing just arrived and it took them a good hour and a half to get it up and running. More and more kids showed up and just stood around waiting impatiently (no they were actually very patient for the situation).

A few hours in and the party was in full swing, food was being BBQ'd, folks were having a good time and Lora was able to kind of relax. I played with the 15 or so kids most of the day. I had to fix the hose on the water slide so of course I had to change into my swimming trunks and climb up there. It was cute because the kids were waiting for me to finish so they could slide and they kept calling me Unk.. because that is what Kenobi calls me. I had a good 15 kids bouncing on the bouncy side and popping there heads in every two seconds saying "Unk is it ready yet".. I actually went down the slide several times.. but this time around I didn't dislocate two fingers (if you remember from last year at my nephew's birthday party I dislocated two fingers on my right hand sliding down a similar slide.

I had a blast playing with the kids (ages 3 to 12), squirting them with the water hose, nailing them with beach balls and shooting them with water guns. It was a lot of fun. We did cake and presents (Kenobi really made out with a ton of toys, I think I'm the only one who got him some educational writing pads so he could practice his letters). As the day wind down I got to hang out with my Dad, brother, sister-in-law, mom, Lora's moms' and my niece and nephew.

Overall it was a fun party... I know I'm going to be sore tomorrow when I get up.. but it was well worth it seeing all the smiles on those kids faces.. especially my nephew Kenobi.

Fires and Farewells

Well the fire still burns out of control.. I think the last I head they were hoping to have 20% containment by the end of the day. Smoke isn't as bad as yesterday and the ash isn't as heavy... of course all that can change with the wind. Still no threat to my place.. so yay, but unfortunately it is threatening other homes on the other side of they hill.. I wish everyone the best.

Today my "temporary" roommates Anthony and Michele are moving out. They have been living with me for the past three months. Now I hadn't lived with roommates for over ten years.. I mean I lived with Harry but he was my partner which is completely different then roommates. And I haven't lived with him in over 2 years.. so it's took some adjusting to
having people live in my house with me. But overall it was a
good experience and it reminded me how much fun you can have living with roommates.

Anthony and Michele are moving to Wisconsin to live with his mom while their baby is born, but before they left they had a going away party at one of Anthony's friends house in Simi Valley. It was fun hanging with a few of our mutual friends Robert, Will, Becca, and Rupert as well as meeting several of Anthony's friends. The party ended around 11pm and we said our goodbyes. I'll miss those guys they have become good friends over the past few years.  Good luck to them on their new adventure.

Wildfires

Living just outside Los Angeles in a very rural area has it's pluses and it's minuses.. a big minus are wild fires. There are a good handful of wildfires every year here in SoCal, some have gotten close to my property but I've been very fortunate that they normally are burning in the opposite direction.

We had several fires the past few weeks but again at the closest they have been more then 30 miles away... well that was until today. Around 3:30 I noticed some smoke just over the hill behind my house. It got darker and darker as the day
went on. The fire (they are calling the Powerhouse fire) was spreading quickly. The fire was about four or five miles from my house (but there was a large valley between my place and the fire) so I was feeling okay. Winds were blowing in the opposite direction and the fire was burning away from my place.

But as the winds would change smoke and ash would engulf my house and blot out the sun. Everything looked kind of brownish. By the end of the day they had no containment but luckily it shifted directions again and was heading north of my place. As of right now I think my property is safe. The fire would have to make some drastic changes to threaten my place. I'll keep you all posted on it's progress.

Buffy and Bros Continue

It's Wednesday and Robert and I continue our Buffy and Bro night.. we've seen a lot of Buffy the past week, last Wednesday, Sunday, Monday and now Wednesday again, but you can never get enough Buffy.

We started off the night with Season 7 Ep 3 "Same Time, Same Place" Willow cannot find her friends in Sunnydale, where a flayed body has been found.

This was a good episode, I really enjoyed the scene with Spike talking to Willow and then he's talking to someone invisible and then they go back and do the scene again and you realize that he's talking to Buffy and Xander. I had a hard time watching that demon eat parts of Willow's skin. I felt the pain Willow was going through. It was very well done. 

Next was Season 7 Ep 4 "Help" Cassandra "Cassie" Newton, a student at Sunnydale High School, goes to the new counselor Buffy with an alarming prediction: She is to die on Friday. Buffy scrambles to save her, but fate prevails when Cassie suffers heart failure.

I really liked this episode as well. I liked the guest star who played Cassie. Again it rarely happens on Buffy but people die of natural causes, it's not always demon related.

Then we did Season 7 Ep 5 "Selfless" Anya gets back into her old Vengeance demon ways by helping a girl get revenge on an entire fraternity by having a spider demon tear their hearts out. Willow, returning to college, discovers this and she, Buffy, and Xander fear the worst of Anya.

Another excellent episode, we get Anya back story and her present day struggle with being a vengeance demon. We see a short re-appearance of Dark Willow, and Buffy fighting Anya to the death. Again not a big fan of Xander in this episode. He was very much a dick in this one.

And finally for tonight it was Season 7 Ep 6 "Him" When Dawn, Buffy, Willow, and Anya all mysteriously fall for a handsome Sunnydale High quarterback, it's up to Xander and Spike to stop them before they do any real damage.

A funny episode to end the night one. Nothing to special, just lots of laugh out loud moments. 

Another fun filled night of awesome TV, tasty foods and the best of friends.

Judging The Geekie Awards

Today I finished judging my entries for The Geekie Awards. Overall it was a fun experience and I'm very happy to be part of it. I hope this award show becomes an annual event.

There were so many great entries and it was tough choosing my favorites in each category. I went through all of them, gave them their rating and made comments then I went back through them again to make sure the ones on top actually deserved to be on top.

It was fun but also very difficult as you're not judging the topic as much as the overall production/presentation. If you haven't guessed I was a judge for podcast entries so there were podcasts that I had no interest in the topic and vice verse, a topic I loved. It's tough not being bias but I guess that's part of the job of being a judge, being able to look/listen to something with an open mind. I think I did a pretty good job at that.

I can't wait for the actual award show in August. Should be a great time... and since I was a judge I get the VIP status :) Not sure what that entails but it should be fun. I'll keep you guys updated on when tickets go on sale for the award show.