Tattoos & Dragons

Got up around 8am, made some breakfast (pancakes) then headed out to my brothers for a tattoo party. Both Robert and I needed to get a touch up on several of our tattoos. My buddy Moose, the one who actually did my three tattoos was coming over to my brother's today to do tattooing all day. We needed to be there at noon because we had to leave by 3pm to get to our D&D session today and it's about an hour and a half away from my brother's place.

We got there a little early and hung out with my brother's family while we waited. It's so cool how Robert had integrated himself into my family. This was the first time Robert was at my brother's house so Mike had to show him his Star Wars room and his many many arcade games.

Moose arrived and after eating lunch we got started around 1pm. Robert was first as I wanted to make sure he got his tattoo fixed first just in case we ran out of time. His fix took about an hour and the result are like night and day. He had gotten Sonic the Hedgehog symbol on his forearm last year. But the guy who did it, didn't do a great job, so Robert asked him to fix it.. and he did. Or I should say he didn't. Still looked like sloppy work. So Moose went at it and I think Robert was extremely happy with the end result. It's much sharper and darker and looks amazing.

My turn was next and I have having Moose touch up my Lord of the Rings tattoo that he did last year for me. There was this small area that I felt didn't get enough red. Well Moose had something else in mind and did about half my yellow over again, made it much richer and he did all the red and made it look more like it was burning through my skin.. I love it. This time around the line work was killing me. I had to keep telling myself to breath. I don't know why the pain was more intense then last time but man I was hurting.. the shading didn't hurt as much (which is different from last time).

We did mange to go over our exit time but it was worth it. We got out of my brother's place and headed to Dallas and Jes' place for D&D. We arrived about a half hour later then we planned but everyone was still just settling in so we didn't miss anything.

We jumped right into our continuing D&D campaign, Dash was doing okay this time. I mean he didn't die and that always a good thing but my buddy Nar almost did. There was lots of conflict on what to do next. Half of us wanted to get out of the temple and back to town and the other half wanted to continue to explore deep catacombs under the temple. In the end the group who didn't want to leave got into a bit a trouble (hence why Nar almost died) so some of us (excluding the rogues) came back to help out. In the end we did leave the temple and back to the town where Dash (that's me) got kidnapped and now has a knife against his throat... what will happen next.. we have to wait two weeks!!! Good stuff.. so much fun.

It's also my friend Jen's birthday, a large group are going out to drink and see a movie called The Room which I will not be partaking in because of my big plans tomorrow. Anyways before we called it a night we sat Jen down and we all sang to her (we had the lyrics printed out) to "Still Alive" the song from Portal (one of her favorite games) as the line was sung about the cake being so delicious and moist we presented her with a chocolate cheese cake that looked liked the cake from the game. Jen was over joyed, she was truly at a loses for words.. it was pretty epic. And I have to say that our little group weren't that bad of singers :)

I said my goodbyes and headed home. My buddy Brett was joining me as he was attending the event at my place tomorrow and was going to crash at my place and help me set up tomorrow morning.

Magic Mountain Time!!!

Today I went to Six Flags Magic Mountain with my friends Josh and Nicole. But before I left I got up early (6:30am) and worked on my next MASH 4077 podcast as it's due to be released on Monday July 1st and I won't have any free time the next few days. Luckily for me Josh and Nicole were running late so I got to not only finish my MASH podcast but I also manage to clean up the house a bit for this weekend.

I got to Magic Mountain around 11am and I couldn't believe how packed it was. Not only was it packed but it was hot and I mean HOT, 110f. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to physically stay out in that sun all day. I planned to just hang out with them for a few hours but honestly once your body acclimates to the temperature it's not that bad.. I mean it's hot and you feel gross but after a while it doesn't bother you.

We rode a total of about seven roller coasters (Revolution, Viper, Roaring Rapids, Ninja, Superman, Jet Stream and Apocalypse) from Noon to 11:30am to 7:30pm. We didn't want to stand in the unspecified time line for the new roller coaster Full Throttle. It was such a made house, figured I'll go again when it's not so busy after the newness wears off.

All in all it was a fun, though extremely hot time at Six Flags Magic Mountain.. Thanks Nicole for the invite.

I stopped by Taco Bell and picked up some dinner and got home just in time for Robert to arrive. He is crashing at my place tonight as we are getting up early and heading out to my brothers for a tattoo party (both of us are getting tattoo's touched up).

Twitter, Pipes and Buffy

Today I noticed that I lost about 7 followers on Twitter in the past 24 hours, I'm not sure why. It could be Twitter cleaning out spam bots or it could be folks who aren't enjoying what I'm having to say. Regardless you try and not let it effect you but it always does for a few minutes at least, but then it passes. I made the mistake of complaining about it on twitter and kind of got a little backlash with some complaining that I really have nothing to complain about, since I have over 2400 followers. What they don't understand is that Twitter and all of social media is very important to podcasters. It's our main source to getting news out there about our podcasts. I may have just over 2400 followers but more is always better. Plus I have been stalled at trying to get to 2500 followers for about six months and I was finally showing some movement and got to 2462 but now I'm dropping again. When it comes to social media and podcasting, be it followers on Twitter or Likes on your Facebook Page, more is always better.

Went to Lowes today and picked up two more repair kits for my busted water well pipe as well as a portable sauntering iron as my last resort. As my previous repair didn't take and my well pump has been off for about three days, I didn't have much hope for this quick fix idea.. but to my surprise the very first one I tired (cheapest of the group) worked great and now my well pipe is sealed, the well pump is back on pumping water and not a drop of water coming out of the pipe.. woohoo.. now I can return the two items that I didn't have to work and get my money back.. which is always a good thing.

If you're a regular reader of my blog you may have noticed that I didn't blog about Buffy Wednesday that's because it was pushed until today.. Buffy Thursday. Drove down to my Robert's place, we ordred some pizza and wings and continued out Buffy Rewatch (for me) and 1st time (for Robert). We started tonights viewing with S7 Ep 15 "Get it Done" Buffy Summers introduces Principal Wood to the rest of the crew and he gives her a bag that he got from his mother. One of the girls commits suicide after talking to the First. Buffy uses the set of shadow figures in the slayer's bag to trigger a portal. On the other side, she meets the Shadow Men, who tell her of the origin of the Slayer and offer to infuse her with more power. She refuses upon discovering the cost. They leave her with a terrifying vision.

I liked this episode. It delves more into how the slayer was created. It also shows us what exactly the first evil has waiting for our heroes.. and it terrifies Buffy.

Next up is S7 Ep 16 "Storyteller" "Storyteller" refers to Andrew Wells, who became a pseudo-member of the Scooby Gang after being one of the The Trio, Buffy's enemies in Season Six, and has been held hostage at since Summers' home since early in the season. Andrew composes a video documentary narrating the apocalyptic adventures of Buffy and the Scooby Gang.

Fun episode, Robert mention how much he is enjoying the character development for "once bad guy" Andrew and I agree with him. I love the idea of documenting Buffy and all her deeds. I mean I'd be doing the exact same thing if I was in his shoes. Lots of humor in this episode.

We then watched S7 Ep 17 "Lies My Parents Told Me" The Scooby Gang investigates Spike's trigger. Robin Wood and Giles team up behind Buffy's back.

Been waiting for this episode.. a god Spike back story episode. And of course Woods finally confronts Spike about killing his mother. Spiked looked like he was done for but then suddenly old Spike is back and almost kills Woods. And Buffy is so pissed at Giles for trying to deceive her. 

And the final episode of the night was S7 Ep 18 "Dirty Girls" A group of Bringers chase a new Potential into the grasp of Caleb, an evil villain in priest's clothing. He gives her a message for the Slayer, burns her, stabs her, and throws her out of the car. Willow and Faith return to Sunnydale and find the injured girl, who tells Buffy that Caleb says he has something of hers. Buffy gathers a group of dismayed Potentials for an attack against Caleb after she and Faith discover his stronghold. The attack is a disaster; Caleb easily overpowers the whole group, including Buffy, Spike and Faith, killing two potentials and seriously injuring Xander. The terrified survivors are taken to the hospital and Buffy reflects on the debacle.

First of all Nathan Fillion!!!!  I knew he showed up at the end of Buffy but couldn't remember what episode. Also we get the return of Faith which I completely forgot about so that was a happy surprise. This was a great episode, it really puts Buffy to the test and she fails. We lose two potential slayers and many are injured including poor Xander who loses an eye. Good stuff all around.. it's setting everything up nicely for the huge showdown coming in the season finale.

Speaking of season finale.. we are only 4 episodes of way from ending our Buffy Rewatch/1st. We should be able to wrap up this series with our next viewing. Robert and I have been talking about which series to do next... in the running is of course Angel, Smallville or Babylon 5. We made watch several series at once.. it's not like we have to watch nothing but one series. Will have to make that decision in the coming weeks.. can't wait for our next Buffy night and finishing off this fantastic series.

A Good Day To Be Gay!!

Big news today... the Supreme Court over turned D.O.M.A. (The Defensive Marriage Act) Which stated that a  marriage can only be legal between a man and a woman . So even though some states made gay marriage legal in the eyes of the Federal government it was not.

D.O.M.A. effected my relationship with Harry as Harry was from Austria and we could not get married and request a spousal green card. So instead Harry stayed in this country illegally rather then traveling back and forth every few months. It's something every bi-national couple has to deal with. But being here illegally and not able to work or do much put a strain on our relationship which of course ended after an 8 years. If  D.O.M.A  had not been there who know what our future would have looked like. So this ruling means a lot to me. It may be too late for Harry and I but there are thousands of bi-national couples who no longer have to break the law or travel back and forth every few months to be with their loved ones.

Of course you have all the haters (religious conservatives mostly) all over the news saying now that D.O.M.A. is gone people will start marring animals and inanimate objects... so stupid. All this means is that people who are in love can now get married and enjoy the full benefits that our government offers.

The other big news.. especially for Californians, Prop 8 appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court. Which means the lower courts decisions stands. Some back story.. Gay marriage was legalized in California a few years back, then they put an intuitive on the ballot, Prop 8 and unfortunately it passed with 52% of the vote. So after only a few months gay marriages was illegal once again. Then some couples took Prop 8 to court and fought to get it over turned. After a long court battle it was deemed unconstitutional and was over turned. Well the haters quickly filed an appeal to the Supreme Court and while they were waiting the ban on gay marriages still stood. We waited and waited until finally today the Supreme Court refused to take case which means the lower court decision that it's unconstitutional stands and gay marriages in California will resume once again.

As of July 2013, thirteen states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington), the District of Columbia, and five Native American tribes have legalized same-sex marriage.

So only 13 of 50 states but hey we're getting there.. baby steps... I mean just ten years ago we had no states and if we can get another 13 in ten years I'd be super happy with that. And I'm happy that if I do find another partner to share my life with, either local or abroad I can now legally marry them and have it recognized by my State and Country for what it is.. LOVE.

Disneyland with Christopher

Today I got up and headed to Disneyland with my buddy Christopher. This was going to be his last trip to Disneyland for a while since he's moving up to the Bay area. Though I have known Christopher for over ten years and we are both huge Disney fans this will be the first time we've have gone to Disneyland together.

We got there around noon which is pretty late for me and it was pretty busy for a weekday but then Christopher reminded me that school is out for the summer. First thing I did when we got there was grab a corn dog for lunch. Christopher went over to the Tomorrow Land food court to get his lunch. We sat in the Tomorrow Land food court area and watched the Jedi Training event that they do there every few hours. Afterwards we headed to Star Tour as that is one ride I tend to do every time I visit Disneyland.

Afterwards we rode a few more rides but like I said it was busy and lines were long. We headed over to Disney California Adventures around 5pm and that place was packed as well. We headed to Tower of Terror but it was an 80 minute wait so we skipped it. We did ride Mator's Tractor Pull ride as Christopher had never ridden that.. he liked it. We only did a few more rides there before calling it quits for the day around 8:30pm. Before we left Christopher wanted to hit up the World of Disney store.. I've never been there and OMG is that a huge place. Lot's and lots of awesome Disney stuff.. now I know why I haven't been in there.. I could spend a ton of money. We did manage to find a Sully hat to match my Wazowski hat. Anyways Christopher got a shirt he wanted and we called it a night.

Thought we didn't ride a ton of rides it was still and awesome time hanging with Christopher at one of our favorites places. I can't wait to visit him up in the Bay area, I love San Fransisco and haven't been there years. 

Helping a Friend

So I got up this morning and checked to see if the fix I did to the well worked.. I turned on the well pump and immediately water started leaking through the patch.. then it started spraying everywhere as if the patch wasn't even on it. I quickly turned off the well pump again, signed and headed back inside to work on plan B.

Today I was heading over to my buddy Christopher's place to help him pack for his big move up to the Bay Area. I got there around noon and he assigned me to pack up his kitchen. I worked on it for a few hours before we headed out to lunch, when we got back I continued to finish the kitchen. I was almost done when it was dinner time. We headed out to Chevy's for some much needed dinner. Who know packing was such hard work. When we got back I finished up the kitchen and then moved on to a few odds and ends before calling it a night.

I crashed at his place as we were going to Disneyland the next day.

Life's Curve Ball

So today started off with a huge smack in the face. As many of you know I have been jobless for a while now and really have worked only 4 months out of the past 24 months. So needless to say I've used up all my savings and funds are extremely low at this time, in fact I had to request some money from a family member (which I hate doing). This family member was my safety net, they ensured me that no matter what I would not lose my house, they would help me out financially until I could get back on my feet. Well I got a call today from this "family member" and they informed me that they were not going to help me, for reasons I won't go into here but needless to say they didn't make any sense... at least to me. So one week away from my mortgage being due and bills being due I must now scramble and figure out how I'm going to pay for things and not lose my house. Talk about blood pressure going up and the stress mounting. I got off the phone and immediately started to have chest pains. Panic was setting in and all I could do was tell myself to calm down and to breath.

I really didn't have much time to think about what I was going to do because I was recording six new episodes of my MASH 4077 Podcast with my buddies Al and Meds at noon. We were also having some "guest" co-hosts joining us. These are listeners who entered a raffle and won spots as co-hosts.

Even though I was in panic mode the recording went great, we had very few technical issues and the conversations were fun and entertaining. There will be a few editing challenges but I'm up for them. 

Finished recording around 2:30pm, said my goodbyes and let the panic resume. I quickly checked to see how much I had left in the bank. There's nothing left in my savings.. a hundred or so in paypal and about a hundred in cash. I was freaking out.. for the first time in over 10 years I didn't know what I was going to do. I mean I lived pay check to pay check all through my teens, 20's and into my 30's but I've never had a house mortgage, especially a large house mortgage.

Four o'clock came around and I went outside to water my trees because my watering system is broke and I can't afford to fix it.. especially now.  You know that saying.. "when it rains, it pours". Well I got out near the well for my water and noticed that one of the pipes had split open and water was spraying all over the place. I quickly turned off my well pump to stop the water from spraying out. Luckily for me I have a 500 gallon reserve tank so I should be okay for a while if needed.

There were five or six small holes in the metal pipe. I quickly jumped in my car and headed to Lowes. Remember when I go anywhere it's at least a 20 to 30 minute drive. All I'm thinking is I'm wasting gas that I soon won't be able to fill up.

Got to Lowes, found the plumbing area and looked for a solution. I found a metal pipe fix-it repair pack for $11 bucks. Looked fairly reliable so I got it. I got home and it was starting to get dark so I quickly applied the patch and would let it dry overnight and test it out tomorrow morning and see if the leak was fixed.. cross your fingers.

Also while I was dealing with my well issues I remembered that I do have emergency credit cards (2 of them with a fairly large limits). So my plan B is to charge as many bills as I can to my credit card and then get a cash advance for my mortgage. I don't want to go into debt again but this will at least give me another month (July) to find a job or come up with another plan.

The panic and stress isn't gone but it's defiantly more manageable now that I have an idea of what I'm going to do. Life is funny sometimes.. it knocks you down and just for fun it's gives you a good kick in the balls.

IT Crowd, Thrones and a Friend

Today my good friend Jen came over to hang out. We haven't had a one on one hangout in quite a while and it was long over due. She got here around noon and he headed out to El Pollo for some lunch. While we were out we grabbed some snacks as we planned to chill out and watch some TV.

Jen introduced me to The IT Crowd, I had heard of it but didn't really know much about it until we watched the 1st season at our last "hangout". I watched season two and some of three back in November of 2012, so today we are going to finish season 3 and watch season 4. When season 4 was over I was sad that that was going to be it.. but I did hear that they are doing at 40 minute one-off episode to wrap things up. It's not as good as a full season five but will take what we can get. Any amount of Roy, Moss and Jen is always a good thing.

The IT Crowd is such a funny show, Moss was my favorite when I first started watching but I've really taken a liking to Roy (I mean he's so adorable). I use to really dislike Jen but she's grown on me but I still very much dislike the owner of the company. I was disappointed to see quite a few episodes in season 4 that revolved around this very unlikable character (including the last episode of the series).

After the IT Crowd, we watched some more Game of Thrones. Jen loaned me her blu-rays of seasons 1 and 2, but I've only been able to really watch the first two episodes of season one. So we continued to watch starting with Season 1 Ep 3.

I have heard that it's extremely slow at times and I agree but like that. It's all about the characters and building the drama. I read 2/3'ds of the first book so I kind of have an idea of what's going on so maybe that helps with the pacing. But so far I'm loving it.

We took a break and headed to Vasquez Rocks for a hike, we figured since we were snacking on donuts and chips we should try and counter that with a good hike. We hike Vasquez for over 45 minutes. It was beautiful outside and a very nice hike. 

Back home we continued with Game of Thrones.. S1 Ep 4. We made some dinner that we had purchased earlier from the store and then watched S1 Ep 5. Again, loving the storytelling and the characters. I know Jen could have kept going and to be honest so could I but it was already pass 11pm and I figured this was a good place to stop.. I'm halfway through season 1. I can't wait to get back to it and finish off season 1 and move on to season 2.

Thanks Jen for a fun day of awesome TV shows and great company.. hope it's not another year before we can do this again.

Knights of the Guild Ep 51

My trim painting continued.. nothing to exciting.. just painting.

I did manage to edit and release the next episode of Knights of the Guild podcast.

Download from itunes: bit.ly/KotGCast, Listen on Stitcher Radio ow.ly/linep or Listen / Direct Download from the main website bit.ly/2CrYxk

This episode is all about Greg Aronowitz, we sit down and talk sets and props for Season 6 of The Guild.

It's always fun talking with Greg as he's been in the industry for so long and has worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood. He has the best stories. 

New Look!!!

So I decided to change my look up a bit, I shaved the beard and dyed my gray hair. I've had the beard "look" for over 10 years and only shaved it off when I would cosplay as a Hobbit. But it never lasted more then a few days. I posted a before and after pic on Facebook and twitter and the majority, I'd say about 70% said they liked the beardless Kenny and 30% said they liked the bearded Kenny.

I think I so look younger without the beard, especially since there is so much gray in it. But I think I look fatter without the beard as it can hide my double chin.. so it's a trade off... youth for fatness. I'm going to try it for a while and see how it goes. I mean SDCC is coming up and I'd be shaving anything as I plan on cosplaying again as Frodo/Bilbo Baggins.

Productivity wise I continued to paint the trim on the house. It's a process that I have gotten down but still it feels like I'm moving so slow. But I'm happy that I'm moving forward, slow or not it's getting done.

It's Buffy Time

So it's been a few weeks since Robert and I had our Buffy night rewatch/1st time so we were both excited to pick that back up again tonight. We are actually in the middle of the final season, season seven. We started the night off with S7 Ep 12 "Potential" Willow learns from her contacts that there is another Potential Slayer in Sunnydale. She casts a reveal spell that makes all the Scooby Gang (except Buffy, who is not home) think this new Potential is Dawn. Dawn runs into her friend Amanda, who tells her that all sorts of strange things have been happening to her. The two go to the school to investigate. Their encounter with vampires and Bringers leads Dawn to realize that Amanda is the actual Potential, not her. Dawn and Amanda escape and Buffy, Spike, and Xander arrive in time to defeat the Bringers.

A good episode, you really believe that Dawn is a potential and it makes sense as they used the blood of the slayer to create her.. but of course you find out it's Amanda who happen to be standing on the other side of the front door when Willow did the spell. This is one of the very few episode that I actually enjoyed Xander. His speech to Dawn about being the "sidekick" with no powers and just being "support" was touching and truthful. It was a great moment between Dawn and Xander.  Also I was shocked with Spike and Buffy left the four potential in the crypt with the vampire to fend for themselves.

Next up was S7 Ep 13 "The Killer In Me" Willow must face her own demons after her first kiss with Kennedy has an unexpected, magical result. Buffy gets in touch with the government about Spike's chip, which is malfunctioning.

Another good episode, it was good seeing Willow deal with the death of Tara finally and move on with Kennedy. I mean I loved Willow and Tara but Kennedy is very sweet as well. She'll be good for Willow. And finally Spike gets that stupid chip taken out of his head. I didn't like Giles reaction to this news. Buffy did the right thing. I liked that Xander, Anya, Dawn and Andrew headed to the desert to capture Giles, who they think is the 1st evil.

And our final episode of the night S7 Ep 14 "First Date" Principal Wood asks Buffy out to dinner, to which she accepts partly because she likes him and partly because she is intrigued as to what he really is. Xander also agrees to go out at night with Lissa, a girl he meets at a tool demo somewhere in Sunnydale. Things go very differently for them. Buffy finds out Robin Wood is in fact the son of a Slayer, while Xander's date turns out to be a demon. Willow receives an SOS text message from Xander and she and Spike round up Buffy and Wood to rescue Xander. Wood finds out Spike is a vampire. Later, The First shows itself to Wood in the guise of his dead mother and tells him it was Spike who killed her.

Lots happen in this episode, the reveal of Principle Woods being the son of the New York Slayer and him finding out that Spike it the one that killed her.. bit stuff. Xander and he bad luck with women continue, I like that Andrew didn't let the 1st talk in into being bad again.. Andrew is really trying to be a "good guy".

We're more then halfway through this final season. I'm happy that it's almost over as we get to move on to something new but I'm also sad to see it end because it's BUFFY!!! I think our next series to watch is going to be Smallville, which I'm excited for as I only saw the first two and a half seasons.

House Woes

Owning a house is great most of the times.. but man sometime it just sucks.

I continue my slow and steady painting of the window trim around my house. I have lots of windows, it takes so long just taping off everything, painting and then re-painting. I figure it's going to take me at least another week to finish all the trim including the top trim around the house and the trim around the garage.

A new house issue showed up today, while painting I realized that my plants and trees looked a little bit more brown then they should be during summer time, come to find out that my watering system isn't working. I don't know how long it's been out but from the look of my plants and tress it's been a while. :(

First thing I did was grab the hose and begin watering everything... that took about an hour (I have lots of plants and trees). I then went on to search for where the main control was for the watering system. I know we have two in the back of the house that water the back area, that we really don't use. They run on batteries so my idea is that the batteries must be dead for the front sytem.. my only problem is I don't know where the control is.  

I emailed Harry as he dealt with the water system in the past and he told me where to find the device. I checked it out and and come to find out that it's powered through electricity so that crushed my plan to fix it with a battery. I should have known it wasn't going to be that easy. I re-started and re-programed everything and tried to run some tests but I couldn't get it to work. I looked up the company who made it and they are still around so it looks like I'm going to have to call and have someone come out to take a look at the entire system... which of course means more $$$ that I don't have being jobless. So for now I'll continue watering everything by hand. It's a pain in the butt but I have to revive these plants and trees.. everything's gotta look great for when I put the house up on the market.

Family Time

Today I got to spend the day with my Dad for Father's Day. We originally planned to hang out a few days ago on Saturday but that didn't work out and I was booked on Sunday so we opted to hang out on Monday.

Got to his place around 1 and we headed out to lunch. My dad wanted to take me to this steakhouse that he really enjoys called Lone Star Steakhouse. And with most steakhouses it was fantastic. I got BBQ chicken and steak.. very tasty.

Afterwards we headed to the movie theater. My dad rarely goes to the movies so this was a treat for him. We were going to see Man of Steel. I saw it a few days ago and loved it and I figured my dad would love it as well since I got alot of my geeky love of things from him.

As expected my Dad loved Man of Steel, said he loved it as much as Dark Knight (and he LOVES Dark Knight, so that's saying something). I enjoyed Man of Steel even more a second time and I can't wait to see it again, hopefully in an IMAX theater.

After the movie we went to the store to pick up some things my Dad needed before heading home. Once home my brother, sister-in-law, nephew and niece were home so I got to visit with them. Lora and Molly shortly left after I arrived so I spent most of my time with my brother Michael and Kenobi. Dad went to lay down and rest.

I love playing with my nephew Kenobi, he's four and it so much fun to do things with. We played with cars and then mega blocks. He put on his Superman onsie pj's that I got for him for his birthday and flew around the house for a bit.

Around 8pm I said my goodbyes and headed home. It was a great day spent with my Dad for Father's Day and and extra special day as I got to spend some time with my brother and his family. All in all it was a fantastic day.

D&D, Dinner & Dad's Day

First of all Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dad's out there.. I hope to join your ranks in the not to far future. I was suppose to hang out with my dad yesterday but he forgot and made plans. I could have seen him for a few hours but the fact that it takes me two hour to drive there and 2 hours to get home I didn't want to be on the road longer then I would be visiting. So I made plans to hang out with him tomorrow. 

Today was D&D (Pathfinder). We planned to start early as it's our friend and fellow player Luis' birthday and we planned to do dinner and cake afterwards. So I got to Dallas' place around 1:45, well ahead of the 2pm start time. Unfortunately not many others showed up on time. I don't think we actually got started with the game until around 3:30 (which just happens to be our normal start time).

Lot's of battling was happening and I was having a blast until I rolled a 1 and my very nice and fancy Quarter staff was snapped in half (btw that is my main weapon, being a Wizard).  I then rolled another 1 and had a critical fail which in turn made me stab my own hand with my dagger. Of course I couldn't roll a 1 again.. I mean three times in one session is impossible.. well not for me. Luckily nothing broke this time.. but the fact that I tried to throw an enchanted coin away from the group and instead it bounced off the wall and went right back into the middle of the group wasn't good.

The worse part of this session was being attacked and took 14 hit points. My hit points for my character are 8 and I was down one from the hand stabbing earlier..so this hit brought me down to -7. I was unconscious and near death for about an hour (well in D&D time it was about 10 hours). No one was able to heal me but lucky for me they were able to stabilized me so at least I wasn't going to lose 1 hit point per round.. but I wasn't out of the woods yet. So I laid there dying while everyone else fought. Calvis avenged my near death stabbing by killing the person who almost killed me with one blow.  Everyone rested and soon they were able to heal the wounded. I was healed back up to 0 and finally back up to 7 before we took on the big bad. This session ended on a cliffhanger and I can't wait to play in two weeks to see what happens.

That was a close call for Dash, I don't like the idea of a character in D&D actually dying and not being able to play them again. I mean you put all this work in a character and they can actually die. Not a fan of that rule.

Anyways at around 7:45 we finished D&D and headed over to Pitfire Pizza for dinner. It was fun walking over there as it's a good mile or so away and there was a group of 12 or 13 of us. We got there ordered and ate for the next few hours. We haven't done a big group outing like this in a while so it was nice hanging with everyone. When we were done most of us headed back to Dallas and Jes' place and we surprised Luis with a yummy Birthday cake. We sang Happy Birthday, ate cake and chatted for another hour. Finally around 11pm I called it a night and headed home. It was another awesome D&D session and a fun dinner with friends. Thanks all. And Thanks for not letting my little Halfling Wizard die.

Fixing up the House and Pests

Nothing much happen today.. I continued painting the trim on the side of the house. Did the whole on and off again thing, took an hour to tape it all off (my least favorite part), then break, then painted half of it, then break, then painted other half, then break then second coat and touch up and that was it for painting today. Did I mention it was in the high 90's. But again I'm doing it a little at a time. I'm hoping to have all my window trim done by the end of the week. Then there is a trimming of around the roof and finally the main color going all over the house. Oh then I get to do it again on my garage. But slow and steady wins the race or in my case, newly painted house and garage I'll have.

Living rural I tend to get pests in the house, mostly rats, mice and ants. Luckily I haven't had many rats or mice in a good year or so but I feel like ants are getting worse. Today I got up and there had to be a hundred of them in my kitchen pantry. They ran down the wall across my dining room floor and into my guest bathroom. I quickly grabbed the raid only find out that it was empty (I tend to use it alot). I then grabbed my keys and drove to my local supermarket and purchased a can of way over priced raid. I got home and for the next ten minutes sprayed every inch of my pantry across my hardwood floor in the dining room and into my bathroom. Lucky for me none of the ants got into any of my food, not sure what they were going for... I hate ants, especially as it gets hotter as they tend to move inside the house more.

Speaking of nuisance I have prairie dogs/gophers/ground squirrels (not sure exactly what they are) but they are digging up my yard and between them and the rabbits they're creating so many holes in the ground. The worse part is they are starting to damage my trees and plants. I've spread small animal repellent dirt around the yard but that's not really working. I guess I can go with poison but then with my luck they will all die under my house and it will smell for weeks.... Ugh!!!

I love living out here in the middle of nowhere but I really can't wait to get this place fixed up, on the market and sold!!!

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.