Leno Swag, Labyrinth Comic & TNG Animated?

Today while at work we got some swag, not all of the shows I work on make shirts and/or hats or other items with the shows name on it but Original has always made a ton of swag for their popular shows like Monster Garage, Monster House, Deadliest Catch and now Jay Leno's Garage. I got this very soft t-shirt with Jay Leno's Garage on the back and a cap also with Jay Leno's Garage printed on it... both are pretty cool.

I'm a huge fan of Labyrinth so when I read this news I as super excited!!! BOOM studio's announced that in August they will be releasing the Labyrinth 30th Anniversary Special, which will be 48-page comic book comprised of some short stories based on some of the ancillary characters of the world: Sir Didymus, Ludo, Ambrosius, Hoggle, some of the iconic figures that Sarah came across in her journey through the labyrinth. Unfortunately Sarah and Jareth are not be part of those stories. I can't wait for more news about this comic book. You can read more about and see some pages of the comic book HERE

Michael Dorn (who played Worf in the Star Trek universe) tweeted "Just curious, would you guys be into an Animated TNG Series?" and attached this picture. I would totally love to see a Star Trek The Next Generation animated series. As the actors continue to age I can seem them lending their voice to this project, I mean most of them did voice acting when they were doing TNG back in the 90's. I know this is a just a dream and it will never see the light of day (especially with the new Trek movies and TV series) but a fan can dream.

Neverending Story Commercial

I came across this "making of" video for an ad for Spotify. It's a kind of spoof on The Neverending Story. They got Noah Hathaway who played Atreyu and recreated Falkor. It's a cool behinds the scenes video. I then had to search for actual ad and found that as well. It's crazy to think that
The NeverEnding Story theme song by Limahl was released in 1984,​ ​yet it’s still streamed every day.. talk about a nevereneding story.

Here's the Ad:

Here's the Behind the Scenes video:

MASH Podcast & Testing Body Make-up

Geekyfanboy Productions released a new episode of the MASH 4077 Podcast. This is episode 128, covering Season 6 Episode 6, "The Winchester tapes"

Klinger delivers mail; the stock market is in decline and BJ's Peggy gets poison oak. Nurse Nancy Gilmore, recently disengaged (no longer about to marry a Navy dentist) asks Hawkeye to meet her in Seoul. Winchester complains about the 4077 and Korea via tap

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

Went to Namies today, Namies is a professional Make Up, Wig, SFX store in the Valley. I've gotten wigs and other items from them in the past. Today I went to find some body make up for my Twi-lek Jedi that I'm planning on cosplaying at SDCC this year. I've done a bit a research on what kind of make up I should use, alcohol vs water base but I want to see what they have there.

Namies has two different brands and about five different colors of green. I wasn't sure how dark I wanted to go so I tested some colors on my arm and then put the picture out there on social media to get peoples opinions and opinions I got. About 90% of the people agreed with the one I ultimately chose, bottom right. What's crazy is that a 5 oz bottle is super expensive ($45) and this one is more for testing.. so I'm sure I'll have to purchase another one at some point in the near future. Cosplaying is expensive... but fun.

Table Top Day

Today is National Table Top Day, so after working out and then having brunch with fellow NerdStrongers, Lauren and I hung out and headed to a friend's (Jason) game store to say hi and check out some of the games. The place sells "smart" toys and games. It was fun we played a few games, then grabbed some lunch in the mall before heading back to Jason's store. Both Lauren and I purchased a new game. I got one called Dr. Eureka, we played a few demo games and it was alot of fun so I purchased it.

After that game store we headed to Geekie Teas, it's another friends store. She was having an event with several tables of people playing various games. Lauren and I joined an "Escape Room in a Box" game. I've always wanted to do an Escape Room but just haven't been invited, when friends go or planned one of my own so this was the next best thing. It was a fun game, I don't know about repeat play but it was fun for the one go round. Luckily we had Lauren on our team.. she's super smart.  Overall it was a great way to celebrate International Table Top Day.

CJ Cregg Returns to the White House & Lowes Commercial

This is pretty fantastic and another reason why I love this current White House. Allison Janney came walking out during a press conference in the White House briefing room, if you don't know who Allison Janney is and why my heart jumped for joy when I saw this, she played CJ Cregg, press secretary on one of my all time favorite tv shows The West Wing.  She was really there for the White House Correspondents' Dinner and was talking about the opiod epidemic, and about recovery and treatment. You can watch the video below.. the first minute and 20 seconds is the best.

Watching this really makes me want to do a West Wing rewatch as it's been over ten years since the final episode aired. Anyways give the video a watch below if you are a fan.

I came across this Lowes commercial that has me tearing up.. I'm such a sappy romantic.

Update on Rats and Tattoos

Here's an update on a few items I have mentioned on my blog recently. First my little Hobbies are getting big, they are about double the size they were when I got them. Their personalities are starting to show. Frodo is the calmest and sweetest of the bunch. Sam is a close second but likes to start fighting ever now and then. Merry and Pippin are pains in my butt and I spend more of my time yelling at them for fight each other or picking on Sam and Frodo. I have to be honest but there are days I regret getting the four to them. I should have gotten just the two (Sam and Frodo) but I'm stuck with four. I'm hoping they calm down a bit as they get older.. if not I'll be looking into finding a vet that can neuter them (which is suppose to curb their aggression). I'll keep you guys posted.

The other update is a tattoo update.. we have officially begun the "itching" phase of the tattoo healing process. This is my fifth tattoo so I knew this was coming but it doesn't make it any easier... must resist the itch.

And I want to share this video with you guys. I don't know if this is a readily available treatment or still be tested but the results are amazing. This is deep brain stimulation (DBS) and it's being applied to a Parkinson's patient. I particularly like this video as it end the older gentleman gives a small but sweet smile.

Lego Star Wars Mini Cartoons

Back in February Lego released a handful of Lego Star Wars shorts. I don't know how I missed them but I did.... well until today. I came across one on Facebook, watched it, loved it and noticed there were 4 more, for a total of 5 Lego Star Wars specials. They all revolve around The Force Awakens characters of course. To make it easy for you I have posted them all below. If you're a Star Wars fan you should check them out. They are really short and just alot of fun.

Real Life Donkey Kong

I came across this amazing Donkey Kong "real life" mini movie. It's pretty amazing and I'm so surprised that it doesn't have more views on Facebook. When I posted it on Facebook I didn't get many reactions. I think it's incredible and I can watch it over and over again. The graphic effects are awesome but the camera work timed with the music is just brilliant. It's funny to me that some things go viral and get millions of views (and honestly don't deserve them) and then you have people who create amazing art and they get no recognition. Anyways I'm happy to share this video with you all.

There is also a great behind the scenes video for this short film.. you can watch that below.

Nothing New

I hate not posting a blog every day but I really don't have anything to blog about today. I could go through and entertainment websites and find some interesting tidbits but since I'm so behind on my blog it seems wasteful.. so I hope you all are enjoying my blog.. thank you for your continued support.

My New NerdStrong Tattoo

In the evening my buddy Derek came over to my place and we started our trek out to Hemet to get my fifth and Derek's first tattoo from my buddy Moose (who has done my other four tattoos).

Both Derek and I go to NerdStrong and we both agree it has changed our lives for the better. I mentioned about six months into working out at NersStrong that I was going to get their logo as my next tattoo, of course everyone thought I was joking but I wasn't. NerdStrong has changed my life and I want celebrate by having their logo tattoo'd on me to remind me of where I had been, how far I had come and how far I still have to go.

Six more months pass by and I was talking with Derek and he mentioned that he wanted to get the NerdStrong logo tattoo'd on himself as well. So we set out to make this happen and today it's finally happening. The stars have aligned and my all of our schedules match up. As I mentioned this was going to be Derek's first and he was excited.

Once we got there Moose was setting up his station, I let Derek go first as it was his first time and I really wasn't looking forward to getting it. The location of this new tattoo was going to hurt and I had purchased some numbing cream and put it on as Derek prepared for his tattoo.

Derek has a much higher pain tolerance than I do as he barely grimaced or made any faces during his tattoo time. He mentioned a few times that it wasn't pleasant, especially toward the bottom closest to the ankle but he took it like a champ.

I on the other hand winced and did some controlled breathing to fight through the pain. Parts of my ankle area was numb but the majority wasn't and I felt it all. Luckily it wasn't a complicated tattoo and only took about 45 minutes to complete. Compared to my 4 1/2 - 8 hours tattoos, this was nothing.

Derek opted for a completely black logo and place it on the outside of his right ankle area, I decided on doing a black logo but with a green cape, green being my favorite color and place it on the inside of my right ankle area.

The end results are pretty fantastic!!!

Recording More Of The Geek Roundtable

After the gym I had another record session for my new podcast The Geek Roundtable, this is the second recording. Joining me as guest hosts for this recording are Adam West, Anne Westcott, Josh Marvin , John Higgins & Lauren Andrews. Five guest hosts this time around, instead of my planned four (me being the fifth). I'm hoping to record six topics, Farscape, Gaming, Lord of the Rings (movies), Whedon Universe, Star Wars A New Hope & Star Wars Empire Strikes Back. I originally had planned to do four to six episodes (topics) per recording but the first session I only planned four and we had an hour or extra time that we could have recorded a few more episodes so this time I booked six topics and sure enough we ran out of time and could only get through four of them. I wind up cutting the two Star Wars topic (which we will do at a later date). Part of the reason is that we had six people talking instead of five like last time and also the dynamic of the group. I think we had more talkative people then time around compared to my last record session.

We had a great time talking geek, we could have gone on and on and after the first two episodes I had to come up with a hand signal to let them know they needed to wrap up and move on. There was also a topic in there that I knew very little of  (Gaming) so I didn't participate as much and was more of a moderator in the truer sense. But overall it was a great time, we had lots of laughs, some good debates and lots of excitement. Thank you to Adam, Anne, Josh, John and Lauren for co-hosting these episodes and for helping me out with my new podcast endeavor. 

New Doctor Who Companion

So they announced the new Doctor Who companion as well as released a scene from an upcoming episode. Her name is Pearl Mackie and her character's name is Bill. I don't know the actress and I don't know if she's known in the UK. From what I can see she's going to be a interesting companion, but it really is hard to judge from a two minute clip. I was hoping we'd get a male companion but I guess that's to much to ask for. Peter Capaldi's Doctor is growing on me. He's still far from my favorite but I'm excited to see the Christmas special and then the new season in 2017. Check out the two minute clip below.

Royalty Meets Star Wars

Came across this video on Facebook and it just made me smile. Two of my favorite loves coming together, British Royalty and Star Wars. If you know me you know I'm a huge Anglophile, I love all thing British including the royal family. So it was a real treat to see Prince William and Prince Harry  on the set of Star Wars Episode 8 in Pinewood Studios. I hope their genuine reaction of excitement and wonder was real. They seemed like they were having a fantastic time on set.

"Don't Wake Me" Fox In A Box

Well I across this video on Facebook and I can't tell you why but I want one. When I found out that one actually made this I was bummed because I couldn't buy it but then I dug a little deeper and found this person youtube channel with an email address in which you can email her and request the cost of making one of these. I haven't done that yet.. but I'm super tempted. I can watch is video over and over and it makes me laugh everytime.

The Shannara Chronicles Renewed

MTV's fantasy series The Shannara Chronicles was picked up for a second season. I was worried as this series didn't get an early pick up like others. I really enjoyed season one, especially the second half of the season. I knew it was based on a book series and had plenty more story to tell. And the way the season ended left plenty of questions that need to answered in season two. There is so little fantasy on TV it's nice to see they giving this series a second season.. I can't wait!!! You can read a bit more info HERE.

Good Samaritan & Bio Urns

It's videos like these that give me hope for humanity. There is so much hate and bigotry and negativity that it's nice to see people being nice to people for no other reason then to be nice. This man give his shirt off his back to a homeless man but it doesn't stop there.. he also helps this man put the shirt on and then he gives him his hat as well. So much good in the video.

I came across this video about Bio Urn. I had never heard of them before but they are pretty amazing. Instead of having your ashes inside of a regular Urn on someone's mantel you can have your ashes added to the bottom of this Bio Urn, they will then planet a small tree in the top section of it. So you're ashes will become part of new living thing. There is something cool about the idea of becoming part of another living thing after you have passed. I know I don't want to be buried in the ground and when I die I hope to be cremated and now that I have seen these Bio Urn I'm really considering this route. Check out the video below...

The final video I want to share with you guys is the second trailer for Captain America Civil War. This one has a surprise guest appearance from Spiderman at the very end. I really enjoy all of these Marvel movies and since I'm blogging well after this movie has been released I can say that I love it and I'm sure I'll be blogging a review of it when I get to that date.

Travellers T-Shirt & Amazing Star Wars Saga Video

I came across this pretty awesome shirt that I think I will have to pick up if I ever travel to another country where English isn't he primary language. It has 40 universal symbols that eveyone should understand. All  you have to do is point to what you want. I think it's pretty ingenious.

I saw this fan made Star Wars Saga video and it brought me to tears. This universe that George Lucas created is amazing and I'm so excited that I can visit it whenever I want with so many amazing movies, cartoons and books. And this universe is ever expanding with all of the future movies, cartoons and books. MAN I LOVE STAR WARS!!!

NerdStrong MASH Hike

Today was another awesome NerdStrong Gym outing. This time I got a group together to go hiking in Malibu Canyon and to the old MASH TV filming site. It's a nice hike, it's roughly 5 miles and takes about 2 hours to complete. Joining me for this fun hike was Shannon, Derek, Kiki, Jen, Rob, Matt, Lauren, Naomi and Jim.

It was a beautiful day, a bit warm but blue blue skies. Everyone was excited for the hike, this was a first for everyone but me (this is actually my fourth time visiting the site). This is a great hike, not to daunting and only a few inclines here and there. My favorite part of this hike is the last third of it where you are hiking between two mountains next to a stream (when there is water). It's this great trail that runs along the side of the mountain. We did run into a down tree that was lying across the hiking path. There was really no way to go around it so we had to climb through the branches to get to the other side but at the same time avoid the poison oak which was all over the place.

Once we got to the site we hung out for about a half hour, took some pictures and ate a light lunch. We then made our way back the way we came. That's one downside of the hike.. the fact that you have to hike back the same way you came, though it's a beautiful hike and always nice to see twice. I do wish you could hike back a different way.

But we made it back with no injuries and everyone really enjoyed the experience. This is the second NerdStrong Gym hike, first was Vasquez.. now Malibu Canyon.. need to plan our third one.. but where should be go?!?!?

Behind On My Blog

If you're a regular reader of my blog you have noticed that I have been behind the past six months.. usually just a month but I've gotten further and further behind and I'm currently about two months behind. Of course I could just drop those two months and start new today but I just can't do that.. I've done some fun things the past two months and I want to share. This is more of a "diary" for me and I enjoy going back and re-reading parts of my life. I might skip some things just to blog faster and I know I'll skip the majority of my NerdStrong posts.. those were daily and then we weekly so I may have one or two posts about it but rest assure I'm still working out five days a week and loving it. I'm seeing improvements though slowly so I'm trying to keep a positive attitude. When I get caught up on my blog (and I will) I'll go back to my daily NerdStrong blog posts. As of now I'm going to try my best to get caught up in the next few weeks. Of course this will depend on work and my free time. I just wanted to give my regular readers an update. Thanks for reading and supporting everything I do.

Robert and Caits Wedding

Today is the big day.. my best bud Robert is marrying his best friend Cait. The day started with me heading over to Robert's place in the AM to help him pack up his car and take things over to the Church/Wedding site. After unloading everything and a little bit of drama, we made our way back to NoHo for his Bachelor Brunch at a local restaurant. It was a fun brunch, we had a great waitress who Will actually improv'd with.. This was Robert's final hurrah of his single life. Afterwards we grabbed our tuxes and headed back to the church.

When we arrived we made our way to the "Grooms" room and hung up our tuxes. We then went into the reception area and started to set up. This wedding was done on a budget so it was all hands on deck. For my part I did table clothes, table numbering and place settings among other smaller things. Soon it was time to get ready so we all headed to the Grooms room and began to suit up.

People started to arrive to the church, Robert's stepdad and brother joined us in our room for a while before heading in. Soon it was our turn to head in. We met up with our counterparts (bridesmaids) and got into position. I was walking in last with the maid of honor so we watched each couple walk up one at a time. It was our turn and we slowly made our way up. It was great seeing so many friends smiling faces. During the rehearsal yesterday we all decided that we would all give Robert a kiss on the check as we passed by him, so one by one we gave him a peak.. at least I assume they did I didn't really pay attention to what was happening in front of me as I was just focusing on walking and not tripping. But I did hug and kiss Robert when I got up to him and then stood beside him.  As ring bearer George passed by me he handed me the ring and then the ceremony began as Cait who looked amazing began to walk down the aisle.

The ceremony went off without a hitch, there were lots of getting up, sitting down, walking up stairs, walking down stairs, singing and saying prayers. It's was a long ceremony but very enjoyable.. both Robert and Cait beamed. I was so happy for the two of them.

After the ceremony the wedding party and family headed over to the other side of the church to take photos. After the family was done the wedding party ran across the street to City Hall to take our pictures over there. It was alot of fun. We did your typical wedding party pictures but then there were some fun ones mixed in as well. Photos took about an hour or so but we finished and headed into the reception. We were announced as we entered the room to cheers and applause. It was great seeing several tables with friends sitting around it. I found my table and sat down.

The next several hours were a whirlwind. I did shots of Fireball Whiskey with friends in the kitchen, we chatted, danced and ate dinner. When it came time for the toast I was feeling pretty good. I hate public speaking but this was my best man duty. I had written a speech weeks prior and wrote it down on several index cards but when it came time to give the speech I was so nervous I went off card and babbled on for a few minutes. I think I covered about two thirds of my speech but folks laughed in the right places and in the end everyone said they enjoyed it. Now that the speech was over I could relax and enjoy the rest of the evening. We drank a little more and danced a little more before we had to exit the hall. We had to be cleaned and out by 10pm so the party came to an end around 9pm and then family and a few friends stuck around and helped clean up the place. Afterwards a group of us headed over to a local hotel bar to drink a little more. Around 11pm I said my goodnights and got a lift home from my buddy Will.

Overall it was a crazy day filled with laughs, joy, dancing, drinking, lots of pictures, a little stress and a bunch of amazing people. Congratulations to the happy couple...

Robert & Cait's Wedding Rehearsal

Took off work around lunchtime to head over the hill to Hollywood to pick up my tuxedo for Robert's wedding tomorrow. I was also picking up my buddy Dallas' as well. Once I got to the place the lady had me try it on to make sure everything looked good and nothing needed to be altered. Luckily everything fit nicely. I usually have issue the suit jackets because of my broad chest but this jacket actually laid down pretty good. I was very happy with the fit. After picking up my tux I headed out to Pasadena for the wedding rehearsal. That was interesting as I didn't realize that I'd be playing a role in it by holding the notes for the priest as she had to use both hands during points of the ceremony. It was an Episcopal ceremony. I'd never been to a Episcopal service and there is lots of moving around and singing and praying.. it was interesting.

Before the rehearsal I got to meet Robert and Cait's family who all flew in for the wedding. I don't really know Cait's family but I have heard alot about Robert's and I'm actually Facebook friends with Robert's mom and older sister so it was great to finally meet them in person as well as his step dad. I also got to meet Robert's Dad (who I've heard alot about) and his younger sister and brother. There were all exactly how I expected them to me.. awesome!!

After rehearsal we walked to a local restaurant to for rehearsal dinner. There was a bit of confusion at the beginning but in the end everything turned out great. We drank and ate a ton of tasty food. We were there for a couple of hours before the party broke up. The groomsmen and I got to talk about going out to an arcade, I had planned to go to an arcade during Robert's Bachelor but we ran out of time so why not do this now.. We passed a place while walking to the restaurant so all the groomsmen, ring bearer, father of the bride, Robert's younger brother and several other family members went out and played some video games for an hour or so. Afterward we walked back to our cars, I drove Chad (Robert's younger brother) back to his hotel and then headed home.. tomorrow is the big day.

My Workout Week

This workout week was all kinds of crazy, with Robert's Bachelor party on Saturday and Renaissance Festival on Sunday this week was a bit shorter then most of my workout weeks.

So since I missed two days on the weekend I joined in for a rare Monday workout. Mondays are strength days which I do on Thursday as well hence why I usually don't do Mondays. We started off with a pretty crazy warm up, then did 3 rounds of 10x Wall Tap Hip Hinge & 10x PVC Hip Hinge. Then we did 3 rounds of Kettlebell Pendulum Swings and 10x Banded Hinge Pull-Thrus. Then 3 rounds of Kettlebell Swing Ladder, this was 1 minute sets for 15 minutes, each set is 10x reps. The object was to start light and go heavy. I started with the lightest and ended on the heaviest. I can't believe I kettlebell swung 80lbs for 10 reps. We we finished with a TABATA :20 seconds of work, :10 seconds of rest, Jump Squats and Push Ups. I'm glad I came to workout on Monday as I really enjoyed the Kettlebell Ladder.

Tuesdays DEX workout started with a nice warm up, we then did 5 minutes of Dynamic Step Overs and 5 minutes of Dynamic Step Unders. For the main workout it was stations, 1:30 minutes of work and :30 seconds of Rest. We did 3 rounds of Split Squats, Deep Knee Bends, Medium to Tall Kneel, Deep Knee Bends to 1/2 Knell and SHIN box.

Wednesday was Coach Christy's birthday so she created this "37 is a Prime Number" Workout. After a warm up we did a 37 Minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible). Here is what we had to do for those 37 minutes.. Plank Pulls, Push Ups, V-Ups, Slamballs and Jump Squats. None of these are to difficult but doing them over and over again is a killer.

For Thursday's workout we did a nice warm up and then some banded hip and ankle work. For the workout it was a 30 minutes of 10 Duel Kettlebell Front Squats and then 20x Explosive Box Step-Ups. After that we had a finisher of 5x :30 work :30 rest Wall Sits / Rest.

It was a good week.. though it was one less day. And the coming weekend I'm taking off as well because of the wedding but hopefully I can get a extra day in during the week.

Laughing & Star Wars With Chris

I came across this Coca Cola "Happiness Starts With A Smile" Campaign video of a man on a subway watching a video and then starts to laugh and eventually he has everyone else laughing around him. I assume this isn't "hidden camera" and that everyone laughing are actors but I think it's gets it's point across. Laughter is infectious. I am told that I have an infectious laugh, so much so that when I was younger my friends use to call me The Giggler. There are many versions to my laugh but the one that most people enjoy most is my Sesame Street "Count" laugh.  Unfortunately I don't get to laugh like that very often so when I do it's magical and feels amazing.

My best friend Chris is visiting from Montana for our buddy Robert's upcoming wedding but tonight we got to hang out.. just he and I and it was awesome. He made some amazing ribs and we got to watch Star Wars The Force Awakens on Blu-Ray for the first time together. I purchased this a few weeks ago but have been so busy with everything that I hadn't had a chance to watch it yet.. until now. It was great watching with him. I wish I could have watched it for the very first time in a theater with him but current circumstance prevent that so we do what we can do. It was a great way to end a stressful work day.

Labyrinth Board Game and My New Wig

When I saw this I was hoping it was real.. and sure enough it looks to be.. River Horse, Who have created tabletop games like My little Pony, Terminator Genisys and The Hunger Games, have secured the rights to making a brand new table top game called – Jim Henson’s Labyrinth The Board Game.

Here is a bit of information about the game... This is the maze that players must navigate every time they wish to save Sarah’s baby brother. Each game is different with the blank card spaces being filled with the magical encounters and monsters that are depicted on the deck of cards that comes with the game, this ensures a great deal of replayability and unpredictability in the game, giving the Labyrinth its signature feel.

The game consists of two distinct stages, one where the group must adventure through the labyrinth trying to find the goblin city whilst keeping their willpower as high as possible (nobody wants to fall into the oubliette!), and a second action packed stage where the players must fight their way into Jareth’s castle where Sarah must say the  magical words that will release her brother.

Check out this LINK for pictures of the game pieces and more info. There is no release date so I guess I'll just have to keep my eyes open.

I've been searching and searching for the right wig for my Samwise Gamgee Cosplay and I think I finally found it. It's synthetic hair which I don't really like but it did say that it could be curled.. so will see if it works.. wish me luck.

The Magicians S1 Finale

Tonight I watched the season finale of season one of Syfy's The Magicians. S1 Ep13 "Have You Brought Me Little Cakes" Having traveled to Fillory, Julia and Quentin discover they've been followed by Martin Chatwin, who they promise to help. They commission a blade to help them kill the Beast, and meet the Watcherwoman, a future Jane Chatwin, who takes them to when they need to be. They rejoin the group, collect the knife, and Eliot marries a local girl as he has been named future High King. Quentin and Julia meet Ember, who gives them power and unlocks Julia's memories, revealing that her friends had accidentally summoned Reynard the Fox, who killed her friends and raped Julia. Quentin and Julia rejoin the others, who had been rescuing Victoria and discover Christopher Plover, who reveals that the Beast is Martin Chatwin. Josh and Victoria escape, and the rest travel to the source of Fillory's magic to ambush the Beast. However, Julia has taken the knife from Alice, and while the rest of them are injured, with Penny's hands cut off, Julia holds a knife to the Beast's throat. Julia makes a deal with the Beast to kill Reynard, and they leave, with Quentin the only one left standing.

First let me say that I'm glad they got picked up for a second season.  I was left in shock after watching this finale. I don't even know where to start talking about this episode. Of course everything has been leading up to this big battle with the Beast. You are lead to believe that the Beast is Christopher Plover but find out that it's Martin the molested brother of the main character Jane Chatwin. I was never a fan of Julia and what she did at the end was horrible.. I mean I understand why she did it but it was all about revenge and helping herself. It was an interesting twist to find out that they have been living the same time loop over and over again trying to defeat the beast. Of course we have the ending and everything going to hell. We don't know who is dead and all we know for sure is Quintin is alive. Since this is the last loop before the current Jane was killed so she can't start it over again I don't see how they are going to write themselves out of this one. I'm temped to read the books but I kind of like not knowing and I was told that the books are pretty different from the TV series. I guess they are combining alot of the different ideas in the books together for this series. Anyways it was a crazy ending to a pretty crazy season one. I can't wait to see what's next in season two.

A Friends Movie Trailer, Sweet SW Commercial & Doctor Strange

One of my friends America Young has been working on a movie for several years, it's her first directorial debate and it's reaching it's end. They released a trailer for it.. has a kind of cool 80's vibe to it. I also happy to have a very small cameo in the film. I'll let you know when it's released but for now enjoy the new trailer.

I came across this very sweet Star Wars themed commercial. It's for a place called Kaufland which I assume from the commercial is a German department store, like a Walmart. All I know is it's an extremely sweet and touching commercial.

And I have one more trailer for you.. they Marvel released the teaser trailer for Doctor Strange. I know absolutely nothing about this Marvel character but from what I see in the trailer it looks pretty good.

Car Accident, New Fantastic Beast & Suicide Squad Trailers

On my way to the gym this morning I was at a stop light and a car hit me from behind. From the hit I assumed my bumper was hanging off the car. We both pulled into a parking area to check out the damage. The guy was very apologetic and said that he didn't see me. I don't think that's possible as I'm in a very green vehicle. And to my surprise there wasn't much damage, just a few scratches, so I'm thinking he was stopped behind me and reading his phone when he suddenly thought I moved forward so he hit the gas the impact felt big but little damage was done so I assume he was only a few inches away from me when he hit the gas.. because when I felt the hit I looked up and it looked as though he as looking at his phone. As I said he was a nice guy and offered to exchange info, which I didn't do but later thought I should have just in case. Needless to say it's not how I wanted to start my day.

WB released a teaser trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. This is set in the Harry Potter Universe and takes place the 1920's in United States. It's not really a prequel but Harry Potter and all students have Hogwarts have to read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them written my Newt Scamander who is the main character in this movie. This is part of of a three part trilogy. I'm super excited to see this. I don't know anything about this movie other then what I've seen here in the trailer.. I can't wait!!!

WB also released a second trailer for Suicide Squad. I know very little about this comic book series.. only from what I got on Arrow and of course the first trailer which I loved. They had alot of live up to with this new one and I have to say if it's not better it's definitely just as good as the first.. check it out.

Last thing I want to share today is this image I came upon.. it made me smile. Not all Princes need a Princess to live happily ever after :)

Renaissance Festival

Since my buddy Chris was visiting from Montana my other buddy Dallas organized a trip to the local Renaissance Festival. I had not intended on dressing up (just haven't had the time to make anything but Chris had bits an piece from his previous cosplays so I rifled through them and found a pretty great "pirate" type outfit. I really liked the red pants.. I think those were my favorite piece. And though they were a bit small around the waist (as Chris is much smaller then me) I was happy to see that they would still close and tight up. Besides the amazing red pants I wore this awesome black fluffy shirt, a cool wrap around belt with a small dagger attached and a few sizes to big boots that finished off the look. Well a hat would have really finished it off.. but I think I looked pretty good for a last minute throw things together cosplay and I could definitely see my weight lose in those clothes... I felt great.

When we got to the faire there was a bit of ticket confusion but it was quickly resolved and we entered the grounds. I've only been to the Ren Faire a few times and I missed last years but this years felt a lot larger, maybe I just didn't explore everywhere the last few times but this years I felt like it was at least a third larger then previous years. We walked around, checked out the booths and just enjoyed the atmosphere. We had a large group and that always makes it more difficult to do things. We enjoyed some meat pies, the Queen Jousting Tournament and a few of the stage shows.

Towards the end of the day I lost my group and roamed for a bit by myself. My feet were hurting in the two sizes to big boots so when my ride said they were ready to go I was all on board with that. I think we spent a total of about seven hours there. It was loads of fun and I look forward to attending next year.

Robert's Bachelor Party Extravaganza

Today is my best buddy Robert's Bachelor party. I've been planning this for since the day he asked me to be his best man (btw this the first time I have been asked to be a best man, been a groomsmen several times but not a best man). Right off the bat I knew it was going to be an all day event. Weeks before I created an itinerary and worked out all the details. Then three days before the party I went to make a reservation at the restaurant that look me forever to find and found out that they are closed on the day due to some foreign holiday that they celebrate. So now I'm in a panic and need to find another restaurant quick. Luckily with in a few hours I found another one though it's a bit more pricey then the one I had previously found, but that didn't matter.. I mean he is my best friend and deserves the very best.

Joining Robert and I for this Bachelor Party Extravaganza was groomsman Will, groomsman Chris (who fly in from Montana), groomsman Dallas, groomsman Tamar and Ringman George.

Everyone joined me at my place with exception of George who was going to join us later in the day. Will, Dallas, Tamar, Chris and I walked to Robert's place to pick him up. He joined the party and we then headed out for breakfast. We were going to walk to EAT which is a kind of hipster breakfast place, but they have good food but we realized that we had six people and seating there is extremely limited, so instead we decided to go to NoNo Diner, food is good (typical diner) but the place is large and they can easily seat a party of six. Servers was bit slower then usual and that pushed us off my carefully laid out plan. Breakfast came and everyone enjoyed a good meal. Robert has no idea what I have planned so it was funny with Chris accidentally spilled the beans on what was coming up next. He felt horrible but it was all good as Robert would eventually found out that we were going Paintballing next.

So after breakfast and more then a half hour off of my schedule we walked back to my place and split into two groups as the six of us couldn't fit into one car. Robert and Will drove with me while Chris and Dallas rode with Tamar. It's a 45 minute drive north to Canyon Country where Paintball USA was located. We had gone to this place a few years ago for Chris' going away party but that experience was pretty horrible as there was a constant rain and our masks kept fogging up allowing us to see nothing. Today the weather was shaping up to be the same.. clear all week and then suddenly clouds and possible rain. As we were driving up it started to sprinkling and my heart sank. It was to late to change plans as I had pre-paid for the tickets. Since we were off schedule a bit George arrived a half hour earlier then us so we met up with him and went to check in. After alot of craziness we all had our guns, gear and paintballs and headed up to the more advanced fields which I didn't even know about.

There was a light sprinkle but the masks didn't fog up like before. We were part of the .55 caliber guns so when one of the refs walked to an entrance of a game and yell 55 that was our cue to get over to him and join the game. Our first game with in the Mole Hill area. You play two games in each area, starting on different sides each time. I don't know how long each rounds last but I'd say about 5 minutes or so. The first round I made it about half way before getting hit in the head. Second game I was taking out fairly early on. Chris had some issues with his guns but everyone else seemed to have a good time. After our first two games we knew we would need more ammo as the majority of us went through our allotment of paintballs fairly quickly so George picked up another 1000 and we all loaded up for our next battle. The next battle was in the Trench area, this is one that we had to walk by to get to the mole hill one and we all wanted to run that one. Though my gun jammed a few times I survived the entire run of both rounds in this area. It started to rain a bit harder while we waited for our third and final round. We knew this was going to be our final round as the place was about to close so we filled up our guns and planned to go out in a blaze of glory. For our third round we went to the hay bail area, we were hoping for the apocalypse trailer park but no such luck. When we grouped up in front of our next area there were a bunch of young kids so they split up our group for the first time and we got to fight against each other which was kind of fun. It was a fun way to end our paintball adventure.

Next we were to head back to my place, clean up, suit up and then head out for One Up for some drinks and video games but as they say the best laid plans.. Since George drove separately he decided to go home and freshen up instead of back at my place. He lives about a half hour from me and was going to Uber to my place when he was ready. We were already a bit behind because of paintball and it was clear that it would be a waste of time to head to One Up for a half hour before heading out to dinner so instead we opted to go over to Will's for some pre-dinner drinks. This also gave me the opportunity to take some pictures while we drank some 30+ year old scotch. Once George arrived we called two Ubers as once again seven of us couldn't fit into one car and made our way to the restaurant.

As I said this was my second choice that I had to find quickly but once we were there I was very happy with the choice. It's called Larsen's Streakhouse and as I said it's a bit pricey but well worth it. We had an amazing dinner, the food was unbelievable and the service was beyond fantastic. We had our own attendant who just stood there and waited for us to need something. In the end with food, drinks and tip we spent almost $1100 for dinner.

After dinner we Uber'd back to Will's place and hung out and a drank for a few hours. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the day. Robert loved every minute of it so for me it was a huge success. It was a lot of fun and planning and I'm glad it's over.. next up is the wedding!!

Princess Rap Battle : Galadriel vs Leia

I don't now how I missed this when it first came out over a year and a half ago but this is by far my favorite Rap Battle of all.. This is Galadriel Vs Leia and it's the best thing I've ever seen. This popped up on Facebook and after watching it I must have watched it 50 times (I'm not kidding) I loved it.  It's created by Whitney Avalon (who plays Leia in this video) she has a you tube channel for her Princess Rap Battles. You can check it out HERE. There are five or six more of these amazing videos with various other Princess Battling it out but I have to say this one is my favorite.

There is also a Behind the Scenes of this battle that is worth a watch..

NerdStrong Gym - This Past Week

I got my full five days of workouts in this week. Saturday CON, Sunday TEAM, Tuesday DEX, Wednesday CON and Thursday STG.

Saturday's CON class started with a Slo-Push Up Challenge. We started with a 6 second push up, so that's 3 seconds down and 3 seconds back up. Not to bad so they up'd the time to a 10 second push up, 5 up and 5 down. Now we're talking.. they increased the time to 20 seconds, that's 10 seconds down and 10 seconds up. Now you're feeling the strain to hold yourself up while you slowly lower yourself down. The final one was a 30 second Push up, 15 down and 15 up.. it was tough but I'm fairly proficient in my push ups so this challenge wasn't horrible.

We then did a scaled down version of this months boss monster, it was called Chip'Thulu "third form" it was a 15 minute AMRAP, we started with 10x Slamball Wallball, 10x Kettlebell Swing, 10x Dumbbell Push Press, 10x Armless Sit ups and then 10x Hi-Pull. But we increased 5 reps with every round. So after 10 of everything we did 15, then 20 and so on. It was a tough workout.

For Sunday's TEAM workout we once again took one Boomer's Burden. After alot of stretching we did the first portion of the workout which was an 8 minute Ladder, all of these movement were with a sandbag, we did Sprawls, Deadlifts, Cleans, Front Squats and Overhead Press. We then rested a few minutes before doing another 8 minute AMRAP, this time we did a 140 Meter Run, 10x Toes to Bar, 10x Wallballs and 10x Kettlebell Swings. We rested once again before doing our final 8 minute AMRAP, this one was 20x Scissor Kicks, 20x Kettlebell Glute Bridges, 20x Sit Ups and finally 50x Jumping Jacks. Overall this was a good workout.. lots of various movements.

Tuesday's DEX workout was all about Planking. Five rounds and a Finisher. We started with 3 rounds of :15 Plank, :15 Plank (R Knee), :15 Plank (L Knee), :15 Plank, :30 Pike Stretch and then :30 Rest.
The next round was :60 seconds Work, :30 seconds Rest of Wall Angels and Jumping Jacks. The third round was :15 Plank, :15 Wide Leg Plank, :15 Plank, :15 Wide Leg Plank, :15 Child Pose and then :30 Rest. Fourth round was :60 seconds Work, :30 seconds Rest of Butt Kickers and Flutter Kicks. The final round was :15 Plank, :15 Bird Dog (R Arm, L Leg), :15 Bird Dog (L Arm, R Leg), :15 Plank, :30 Knee Hug to Chest and :30 Rest. And after all that we did a TABATA of :20 work, :10 rest of High Knees and Squat Holds. This was a pretty rough workout.. definitely a good DEX day.

Wednesday's CON day was my least favorite activity.. Rowing. We had to do 3 rounds of a 500 Meter Row. When we weren't rowing we were doing Max Holds for Wall Sits, Plank and Hang. We then moved on to 5 rounds of 20x Box Dips, 10x Pull Ups or Chin Ups or Lat Rows and then 20 meter Walking Lunge with a Mace. Rowing is tough and I feel like since I'm short it take twice the effort to row the same amount of distance as the majority of the class.

Thursday's STG day started with a pretty crazy warm up of 2 rounds of 230 meter Run, 10x Kettlebell Swings, 10x Air Squats, 10x Push up and when you were done you did 50x Sit Ups. We then did 5 rounds of 8x (each side) Pinch Grip Plate Curls, this was extremely touch depending on the weight and the type of weight. Though it was tough I enjoyed this workout as it's a part of our body that we don't workout often. We then did a 12 minute AMRAP of Thrusters, Knee to Elbow and Suicide Run. We started with x2 Thrusters and x4 Knee to Elbow but each round we increased Thrusters by 2 and Knee to Elbows by 4.. luckily the run said at 1. It was an exhausting finisher.

Overall this was a good workout week. I got to learn some new moves while doing old favorites. I continue to love my time at NerdStrong Gym.

SDCC Hotel Success & New Poe Dameron Comic Book

OMG!!! I got my third choice of Hotel for San Diego Comic Con. I can't believe it.. I've never gotten a hotel through the lottery. I got word that notices were going out a half hour earlier and then sure enough I got my email that informed me that I got the Manchester Grand Hyatt. It's the same hotel that we stayed in last year and it's only one hotel away from the convention center. I couldn't be more excited and I know my brother is going to be thrilled as well. So how I was lucky enough to have the hotel gods shine their light down upon me.. woohoo!!!!

After work today I headed to my local comic book show "Blast Off" to pick up the very first issue of the new Star Wars comic book titled "Poe Dameron" I heard they were going to do a run of new comics based on this new Force Awakens character. Come to find out that the Damerons are actually in a previous Star Wars comic book series called Shattered Empire. So of course I had to get the graphic novel of that was well. I'm super excited to read these and learn more about one of my favorite rebel pilots.

Rogue One Trailer!!!

Today they released Rogue One: A Star Wars Story teaser trailer though it's over 2 minutes long. Regardless of the length.. it's pretty EPIC. I don't really know much about this movie other then it's the story about how the Rebels got the plans for the first Death Star. I can't wait until December!!!

Force Awakens on Blu Ray & The BFG Trailer

On my lunch hour I headed to Target to pick up Star Wars The Force Awakens which came out on Blu ray today. There were several exclusives from different stores but I choose Target for the extra 20 minutes of behind the scenes footage. Not sure when I'll get to watch this but I'm super excited to not only rewatch the movie but check out all the awesome extras.

Disney released a new trailer for the BFG. I really don't know much about this movie but I do know it's based on a Children's novel. I love fantasy movies so I'm really looking forward to this one.

SDCC Hotel Lottery

This morning was the SDCC (San Diego Comic Con) Hotel Lottery. This is when millions (okay maybe hundred of thousands) of people all bombard the hotel website hoping to be about to get a hotel near the convention center at a decent price.. and when I say decent price I mean $300 a night. Previous years it was a free for all.. at 9am the website opened and it depend on how fast you could type and how fast your internet is would determined if you got your application entered in time. Usually it was within the first three minutes you'd get your room. I never got a room during the lottery but I continue to try.

This year they decided to do the same as the badge purchases and use a waiting room and then randomly bring people into the hotel website where you had to fill out a form and submit it within minutes if you wanted to get a room. I've had no luck with this system when it came to badges so I wasn't hopeful here. You have to get in the waiting room between 6am and 9am. It didn't matter what time you got in as it was all to chance. So I signed in on my home computer around 8:45am as well as my iphone around 8:50am. Figured I'd double my chances to get in early and get a room.

9am came and they started bringing people in. On my computer all I had was the spinning wheel which meant I had not been selected yet. About a minute in to the process my iphone screen changed and it said I as 496th in line, then seconds later 275, then 49 and about a minute after getting in line I was on the website. I quickly selected my top six hotels and entered my information and by the time I hit send a total of about 4 minutes had passed. I didn't have a good feeling but I did the best I could. Now we have to wait while they process all the application. Fingers crossed that I got one of my six choices.

Fellowship Travels & New Passport

This is an impressive GIF.. it follows the track of the the Nine from Fellowship of the Ring. It's pretty fantastic!! If the image isn't moving below you can follow the link and watch it HERE.

I got my new passport today.. super excited as I can now leave the country at a moments notice.. or at least start planning my next dream vacation, which is going to be New Zealand. But I really wanna go back to Ireland and England.. so will see which trip is next.

Star Wars Rebels S2 Finale

Tonight I watched the season finale of Star Wars Rebels, S2 Eps 21 & 22 "Twilight of the Apprentice" Ahsoka, Ezra, Kanan and Chopper arrive on Malachor – a Sith world long forbidden to the Jedi – in search of knowledge, discovering a cavern containing a Sith Temple amid the site of an ancient battlefield between Sith and Jedi who used cross guard lightsabers. They soon are attacked by a new Inquisitor, the Eighth Brother, who is hunting a mysterious hermit calling himself "Old Master." When Ezra encounters the hermit, he reveals himself to be Darth Maul and offers to help Ezra get into the Temple, aiding him in recovering a Sith holocron. When the other Inquisitors arrive and alert Darth Vader of their presence, Ezra convinces the group to work together in spite of Kanan's fears that Maul is corrupting his student, allowing them to finally kill the three Inquisitors.

However, Maul soon betrays the group and blinds Kanan with his lightsaber, revealing his true intentions of making Ezra his apprentice. Although sightless, Kanan dons the helmet of a fallen Jedi Temple Guard and manages to throw Maul from the top of the temple. Ahsoka finally faces Darth Vader - who has cornered Ezra and destroyed his lightsaber - and comes to terms with his identity as Anakin Skywalker as she engages him in a duel, while Kanan and Ezra remove the Sith Holocron. Unable to abandon her old Master, Ahsoka stays within the crumbling temple and stalls Vader while Ezra, Kanan, and Chopper flee the planet and reunite with the Ghost crew. Maul escapes Malachor in one of the Inquisitor's TIE fighters while Vader, who survived the destruction of the temple, walks away as a convor watches from above. Ahsoka appears briefly post-battle entering a temple doorway, but her ultimate fate is left unknown. As the Ghost crew tries to cope with their losses, Ezra continues to meditate on the Sith Holocron and finally succeeds in opening it, potentially beginning his fall to the Dark Side.

So everyone was waiting for this battle.. the battle between master and apprentice. But before I talk about that I'd like to talk about a few other things. First up the reintroduction of "old Master" aka Darth Maul. It was great seeing him again. I loved when he was brought back from the dead on The Clone Wars and they left his story open so I knew there was a possibility of him showing up on this show. They make you believe his good "A enemy of my enemy is my friend" but then you're not sure and then you think maybe he is but ultimately he's a bad guy and trying to turn Ezra to the dark side.  These last few episodes are Ezra, Kanan and Ahsoka centric and we see very little of the rest of the Ghost crew.

We get a new inquisitor but that's short lived as Maul kills all three of them. I think the bulk of the episode happens as the end with Maul tricking Ezra to activate the Sith Temple. I wonder if Kanan will be blind from here on out. And of course we have the very end when Ezra opens a Sith Holocron and we are told that only a sith can open it.. does this mean he's sith or has he tapped far enough into his dark side. Lot's of questions for season three to answer.

Now to talk about the battle between Ahsoka and Anakin (Vader). As I mentioned everyone has been anticipating this fight and I have to say they didn't disappoint. The fight scene was amazing, the reaction of Ahsoka when she actually truly found out that Darth Vader is actually Anakin Skywalker was heart wrenching.

My only complaint if you can call it that is how they left the battle at a very pivotal point to follow the main characters off the planet. Of course this was done on purpose so we don't know if Ahsoka is dead or alive. The Ghost crew believes she's dead but we did see something staggering into the temple at the end. So I guess will have to wait until next season to find out (if they reveal it then).

I have to say Star Wars Rebels first season was good but I was such a hard core fan of The Clone Wars that I kept comparing the two and it didn't stack up. But I have to say Season two has really found it's footing.. and not only because they added Ahsoka and Captain Rex (from Clone Wars) to the cast but the overall story feel more connected with the original Star Wars "A New Hope". Both Star Wars The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels are some of the best Star Wars stories out there and I'm super excited for season three.. not sure when it will start.. I assume in the fall but I can't wait for more Wars.

The Geek Roundtable Podcast - First Recording

After six years of on again off again plans, my new podcast The Geek Roundtable, finally recorded it's first episode. I can't believe it's finally happen. This poor podcast has gone through several incarnations and several host possibilities over the years but I'm happy with the current format and hosting ideas. Of course I may record this first episode and realize that it's doesn't work but I think it's going to be a fun podcast.

Last month a recruited a about 40 friends to help co-host this podcast with me. For the first recording I got friends Anne, Ivan, Michael and Patty to join me. My plan is to record four episodes today, one topic per episode. Today's topics are Buffy/Angel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Strong Female Characters and Disney Animation/Pixar.

Unfortunately my friend Anne has to cancel at the last minute but luckily a familiar voice (if you listen to my Knights of the Guild podcast) my friend Jenni was available and happy to fill the void. Jenni and I haven't recorded a podcast together in years.. this is a sort of KOTG reunion.

I'm not going into great detail about the topics or recordings as you'll have to wait to listen to them but the over all experience was really fun. It was as though five friends were sitting around the living room talking about their favorite things... we were just geeking out.

I don't know when this podcast will be released. I'd like to get at least twenty or so podcasts in the can before I start releasing them. Just so I can mix up the co-hosts from episode to episode. I hope to premiere it sometime this summer. I have already booked people for the next recording and I can't wait to get down with more friends and talk geek.