Podcasts and TV

Today was all about Podcasting and Catching up on TV. First thing I did this morning was watch MASH S2 episodes 17 to 22. I was recording the next six episodes of my MASH podcast and I had yet to watch the episodes. I mean I've seen all the episodes but it's nice to watch them a few days before to refresh your memory. So I did four episodes before I took a break and watched the mid season finale of Doctor Who. I was going to watch it with my bestie Chris. We both held off watching it until we both had time to watch together, though I'm in Cali and he's in Montana.. we make it work.

This was the last episode that would feature the Ponds as his companions. We've known since this season began that they were leaving in this episode. But we didn't know what to expect. Were they going to kill them off or have them just forget or what. I have to say I was not disappointed. I also cried like a baby several times, especially at the very end. It was a very bitter sweet ending for the Ponds.

After Who I watched the premiere of Star Wars The Clone Wars season five. It was a good start to the season. I didn't think it was an OMG amazing episode but it was good. I'm looking forward to my weekly dose of Star Wars for the next few months.

Then I finished watching the remaining two episodes of MASH right before I jumped online to record a further six episodes of my MASH 4077 Podcast. Meds and Al, my co-hosts joined me and though we had some major skype issues I think the shows turned out pretty well. It's going to take some creative editing but that's not uncommon for this podcast.

After I finished the podcasts I ran out to grab a bite to eat. When I got back I watched some more TV. This time I watched an episode of Hot Set. It's a new Syfy competition show with production designers. My friends Greg Aronowitz and Red 5 were featured as one of the competitors and they actually won $10,000. Besides Greg being my friend his set/concept was leaps and bounds better then his competitor. It's a fun show.. I'll continue to watch.

And finally it was time for the second season premiere of Once Upon A Time. This IS my favorite tv show on right now. I watched it with my bestie Chris since we use to watch it together before he moved to Montana. So now we watch it together and text back and forth. And like with Who it was a blast watching it with him. We'd texted each other with questions or OMG or reactions to what just happen. It's amazing how close you can feel to someone when you're watching the same thing 1000 miles apart. Loved, loved, loved the opening of season two. Interesting twist and I can't wait to see how this season plays out.

So it was a full day of podcasting and TV.. good times where had.

Protect your Mobile Data with these Best Practices

Protect Mobile Data

  

We are living the mobile age.  We like to do everything on the go.   We have laptops, smart phones, tablets, USB flash drives, and even digital cameras can be used to store data.  However how do we protect this data?

There are two key risks you take when storing data on a mobile device.

• You could lose that data if the device is lost, stolen, or damaged. This could include contact information, important files, email messages, and more.
• The other larger risk is that any sensitive information on the device may be exposed to the public, possibly exposing your family, friends or clients to identity theft or other forms of attack. Such incidents could be covered in social media, or even the news press, becoming an embarrassing nightmare.

When using a mobile device follow these best practices:

 

1.  Always use a strong password.
2. Only place sensitive information on a mobile device if it is absolutely necessary, the device can protect it, and the device is approved for business use.
3. If you must store sensitive information on a mobile device, consider encrypting the data, which is a way of electronically locking it.
4. Backup key data stored on mobile devices regularly and store that data in a secure location.
5. Be on guard for shoulder-surfers (people to peek over your shoulder at your data) and consider a security cover that prevents screen from being read from the side.

http://fearuncertaintydoubt.wordpress.com/

6. Watch out for thieves looking to steal your mobile device.

7. Enable remote location or  device kill and data deletion allowing administrators to clear all data and settings on lost or stolen devices (where is my iPhone)

 

 

Paramore review

It’s not often that Paramore takes the long journey across the Atlantic to visit us Scots, but when they do, they certainly make it a night to remember. 

Much has changed since the alternative rockers last visited the country back in November 2010, the most notable being the loss of guitarist Josh Farro and his drumming brother Zac. Although Paramore haven’t released a new album since their 2009 release ‘Brand New Eyes’, the trio took to the stage with several new tracks and a new found energy  to give the audience an experience that they could carry with them forever. 

The main reason that the show was such a success was the fans, most of whom had been queuing up outside the Edinburgh Corn Exchange since 9am in the morning. The majority of fans were already acquainted with each-other thanks to social networking sites such as twitter and tumblr, meaning that the entire day, from queuing up outside to leaving the venue after the show, was filled with relaxed vibes and a friendly attitude. A lucky few of these hardcore fans had won meet and greets and were whisked away before the doors opened to meet the band. Very few bands and artists of Paramore’s popularity bother giving their fans an opportunity to come and meet their idols, so the fact that the band ensure that meet and greets are available for their fan club members on every single date possible is a testament to just how much they love their fans.

Pure Love may be a new band on the alternative rock scene with only a few singles to their name thus far, but they have already supported rock royalty Biffy Clyro, before being offered to open for Paramore. The band is made up of front-man Frank Carter and guitarist Jim Carroll. Most of the audience seemed noticeably tentative about Frank Carter’s jump of genre, seen as the majority knew him as the Gallow’s hardcore front-man, rather than the relaxed rocker that they saw before them. Carter battled through the audience’s doubts however and proved to us all that he has been masking wonderful vocals with his screaming for all these years. The singer wasn’t content with staying on stage however, and had jumped into the audience before the band had even finished playing their third song. It was refreshing to look at the stage and be able to focus on band members other than the singer. Carroll’s expertise was wildly apparent to the audience, as was the touring members’ joy to be playing in front of the sold out crowd. 

Pure Love played nine songs in their set-list, including singles ‘Bury My Bones’ and ‘Handsome Devils Club’ among others that will be released when their album comes out later this year. Although the band managed to win over most of the crowd with their catchy songs, a love for the Gallows and an annoyance over a technical difficulty (some complained that it was hard to make out Frank Carter’s vocals amongst the rest of the instruments) caused some fans to boo Pure Love during the later songs on their set-list. They received mixed reviews post show, but there’s no denying that this band has some serious potential.

Fast-forward half an hour or so and it was time for Paramore to take to the stage. The excitable crowd gave out a loud cheer when the iconic box made its way to the stage. It’s black with the band’s name stencilled in white on the front and is seen is just about every professional live photo of the band. Judging from the crowd’s reaction to its arrival on stage, you’d be forgiven for mistaking it for Paramore’s fourth member. The three actual members could be seen side stage, bodies merely silhouettes against the blinding stage lighting. As the drummer (touring member Hayden Scott) took to the stage and began pounding out an infectious beat, you could see lead-singer Hayley Williams and guitarist Taylor York standing by the ladder up to the stage, looking out towards the crowd in a moment of calmness amidst all the chaos happening behind the barrier. As the drum beat carried on, driving the audience into an anticipated frenzy, Hayley began teasing the crowd even further as she started singing “ba da ba ba da ba ba da”, ensuring everyone in the audience that after this epic intro had finished, the band would open with their ‘Brand New Eyes’ hit, ‘Brick By Boring Brick’. And sure enough, they did. Listening to Paramore on your iPod is great, but nothing compares to their live shows. The way they can manipulate the crowd’s emotions with something as simple as an intro or outro is nothing short of extraordinary. The band went on to prove this for the second time of the night by following their opening track with new song ‘Renegade’, fit with an acappella intro that brought the crowd to their knees. 

Even after the first couple of songs, it was obvious for all to see just how happy all of the members looked to be back playing live shows again. Hayley took several opportunities during the show to thank everyone supporting the band, every word laced with honesty and a mutual love for the fan base that have supported them from the word go. Taylor looked especially joyful, and it proved a task to catch him with anything less than a huge grin on his face. Bassist Jeremy Davis was a powerhouse in his performance, with the now famous ‘Pressure’ flip (in which Jeremy does a flip over Taylor) proving to be one of the many highlights of the night.

The band played eighteen songs during their setlist, a solid mixture of songs from each of their three studio albums and the entire collection of last years ‘Singles Club’ songs, available exclusively for download from the band’s website. With the exception of tear-jerking ‘In The Mourning’ (fit with integrated ‘Landslide’ cover), the songs on the setlist were upbeat head-banging hits, a celebration of everything the band have overcome in the past few years, and a small taster of what they will go on to achieve next. The amount of energy each of the three members put into the performance was tiring to merely watch, with the heat radiating off of our bodies proving unbearable for some, who had to be carried over the barriers to safety. But through our synchronised headbangs and blurred boundaries of personal space, there was an overwhelming sense of belonging and unity as a fan base. The way everyone screamed the band’s name back at Hayley when she did her nightly ritual of shouting “WE. ARE…” at the crowd made for a beautiful moment, the orange-haired singer thrust her arms back and threw her head towards the sky, becoming completely lost in the moment before the band played one of their biggest hits, ‘Decode’.

The thing that amazed me most about their performance was the way that they mixed comedy antics (such as Taylor tapping an unsuspecting security guy on the back of the head, giving him the shock of his life, and then just grinning at him as he wondered over to the other side of the stage) with mind-blowing displays of musical talent. Taylor laying his guitar on the ground to play a masterfully abstract solo, Hayley’s acapella ‘Renegade’ intro and Jeremy’s playful bass solo for ‘Hello Cold World’ all managed to astound. Each of the members had their moment to shine, there was no petty attempts to grab attention from another. Hayley even took the time to introduce touring members Hayden Scott, Jon Howard and Justin York. And seen as it is a Paramore show, there was no prizes for guessing that they would close the show with arguably their most famous song, ‘Misery Business’, in which they take one lucky audience member up on stage to sing the final part of the song with them. Hayley chose Jodie, to the delight of the rest of us. Hayley exchanged ’the key to the universe’ (i.e. what she occasionally refers to her microphone as) for Jodie’s Elvis Presley mask. As Jodie sang the bridge to ‘Misery Business’, the audience spurred her along and the members of Paramore merely smiled at the scene taking place before them.

When the show was all over and done with, Hayley took to twitter to describe the night as "absolutely perfect", and I don't think that I could sum the night up any better if I tried.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! 中秋節快樂！

Today is the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, which is also celebrated by other Asian countries such as Korea and Japan. A lot of Chinese people will be celebrating tonight with lanterns (electronic and traditional ones) - now where did I put my ones...? Heheheh, I'm a bit old for that stuff!

There are many different stories surrounding this festival, so I've included a Wiki link here for people to have a read instead of me having to reiterate the stories. :D 

I took this picture last night before midnight... The moon was so bright and pretty sitting out there all alone. ^^

A full moon - bold and bright!

And here's the original picture...

Original shot of last night's full moon

Don't forget to eat mooncakes tonight!! ^^ 中秋節快樂！

Secret Projects, Workouts, Xanadu & Family

Woke up this morning and the first thing I did was apply for unemployment. I don't know if I have any left after my nine month stint with it last time but it never hurts to see if I can get any more assistance. I don't know how long I'll be out of work this time around. I have funds to help keep me afloat for the next two months. But there is gonna be a lot of belt tightening.

After that I was in the mood to work out. I haven't worked out in months and months but for some reason I felt like getting out there. I only did 20 minutes on the elliptical before the heat got to me and had to stop. It's a start.. not a great one but a start. I hope to continue to work out and finally get in shape.

Was visiting the family today. Haven't seen them in about three weeks which is far to long to be away. On my drive I started talking to my bestie Chris about our "secret project" and missed my exit, then again a half hour later I almost missed another exit. So instead of taking the 210 east I jumped on the 5 south and then the 60 north east before finally getting back on track to the 71, then 91. That little mistake added an additional hour to my commute and instead of a 2 hour drive it turned into a 3 hour drive. It all wasn't bad as I did get to talk to Chris the entire time and work on a project that he and I are so excited about.

Finally got to see the family and they were having a BBQ with friends. Soon as I walked in my niece got one look at me she started to scream bloody murder (she hates me). Kenobi was being shy for some reason so I didn't get to spend any time with him either. My brother showed me his finished Star Wars Toy room.. it was pretty EPIC.. I had some BBQ hamburgers and then took my dad out shopping. We went to Target because I was looking for the new Ultra Edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows parts 1 & 2 Blurays. They were an exclusive at Target. While there I got some socks, the HP blurays, along with Avengers bluray and a cool E.T. shirt. Unknown to me my Dad was paying for all this as he said it was for my birthday...yay!!

Got back to Mike's place and the party was in full swing. I hung out for another hour before saying goodbye as I had to meet my buddy Christopher in LA to see a play. I left at 5:15 with plans to meet Christopher for dinner before the play. Unfortunately traffic was horrendous so I had to cancel dinner and was hoping I would make it to the theater in time. I did get there by 7ish, found an El Pollo Loco and grabbed a quick bite before meeting up with my buddy at 7:30pm.

We were going to see the stage play Xanadu. I love the movie and both Christopher and I saw a version of the play 10 years ago. Chris had gotten preferred seating which was fantastic. For the next two hours we laughed, cheered and sung along to one of my favorite musicals as a kid. It was a great night.

Play was over we said our goodbyes and I headed home. It was a full day of crazy fun. Time for bed.

I do not drink, but I am not Captain Straightedge.

I don’t go around saying that alcohol is bad for you. I’m not trying to get people to stop drinking. And I’m not going around pretending that I’m better than anyone else because I don’t drink. I don’t do it because, in all honesty, it doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest… at the present moment.

Almost all of my friends drink, in varying amounts. I’m perfectly fine with that, why the hell wouldn’t I be? So it confuses me when people aren’t perfectly fine with my desire to remain sober. Some ask me why I choose not to drink, confused as to why an eighteen year old has no desire in getting drunk. Others try to convince me to take a drink. I don’t mind that so much. The people I really get aggravated by are the ones who try to pressure me into it.

I just don’t understand why someone would want to force someone into drinking if that wasn’t their wishes. If you are out with a group of people, and the majority of that group are drinking with you, then why would you try to get the one person who isn’t interested on joining in on that particular aspect of the night to do so, against their wishes?

I am aware that I am not a typical teenager. I rarely switch my phone on, I don’t drink or do drugs and the whole clubbing scene sounds like my worst nightmare. But if I do decide to come out with you, it’s because I care about you. And when people try to force me to drink, I begin to feel terribly rude and that causes me to become depressed. I feel as though I’m being boring by not accepting their offer, and begin to come to the conclusion that by not giving in, I’m somehow dragging their night down a bit. And that feeling seriously sucks.

But I refuse to take a sip of alcohol if it wasn’t my decision. I’m not saying that I’m never going to drink in my life, but I am saying that when/if I do, it’ll be on my terms. Not anyone else’s.

I respect your decision to drink. All I ask if for you to respect my decision not to.

LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out

Just watched the second LEGO Star Wars special. LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out and it was AWESOME!!! These shows are so poorly promoted that I had no idea this was even created until listening to a Forcecast podcast a few weeks ago. And even then there was no airdate. Suddenly the day before it aired I caught wind of it... lucky for me.

I loved the first LEGO special LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace, they are fun Star Wars goodness and this one was the same. The first one took place during the prequel era and the latest one takes place during the original saga era. So this one had Luke, Leia and Han. Though the first on had Han as well but he was a kid. Lot's and lots of laughs. I wish this was a regular TV series, but if they keep surprising us with specials every now and then that would cool.. they just need to promote these better. Check out the trailer below.

Suddenly Unempolyed Again!!

Today at 4pm the executive producer of the current show I am working on gathered everyone together to announce that the show is going dark (meaning being shut down). Which meant as of that moment I was out of a job.

Now let me back track a few days.. On Monday my supervisor asked me to go for a walk (meaning he wanted to talk to me). He said that I should get my resume in order as there are rumblings of this show being shut down. He wasn't sure when or if it would happen but he wanted to give me a heads up. So I've been kind of waiting for this to happen all week. Then today at around 2pm he asked to go for a walk again and he told me it was happening today.

Firstly the show did not get cancelled, the creative people behind the show and the network couldn't see eye to eye on how they wanted this show to play out. We've been working on this show for three months and have yet to finish a single episode and in fact are far from finishing a single episode. The production company was hemorrhaging money and needed it to stop. Their best course of action was to let everyone go. Work on re-tooling the show so that the network is happy and then start up post again. This could be weeks, months or years.

I'm actually happy to be done with this show and I think this is exactly what should have happen. Am I upset that I'm jobless again.. of course. No one ever likes to be jobless, but the 4 hour commute (there and back) was killing me and the stress of not getting cuts out on time was horrible.

I had a great three months with them and me being me I saved up a little bit of fund to survive a few months if needed. So I'm good, at least for now. Gonna take this opportunity to clean up my house (going to be selling soon) and catch up on editing some podcasts. Just because I'm out of work doesn't mean I can be lazy... okay maybe I can be lazy a day or two :)

Happy 25th Anniversary ST:TNG

25 years ago today Star Trek The Next Generation premiered (September 28, 1987). There were mixed reviews from fans who saw this new Enterprise with no Kick or Spock as a wanna be Star Trek. Who knew that this series would go on to be the fan's number one Star Trek series. 

I am a Star Wars fan, I saw the original Star Wars when I was 7 years old and it molded me into the geek that I am today. I do remember watching the older TOS (The Original Series) on TV and enjoying it but it didn't grab me like Star Wars did. I had heard they were going to relaunch Star Trek and saw the commercials for this new series. But because I wasn't a huge fan of the original Star Trek I missed the first few episodes of this new series. I began watching around episode five or six and all it took was one episode and I was hooked. Unfortunately back in the day we couldn't go to the internet to find missed episodes, so I had to wait months until they repeated the first five over the summer.

I was devouring anything and everything Star Trek. I became an instant fan thanks to TNG. I remember just sitting there and being glued to my TV each week. I had never seen any science fiction program like this before on TV. Every week I got to go on a cool adventure to some far off alien world. I would record these on my VCR and watch the episodes over and over until I wore out the VHS tapes.

TNG actually made me appreciate TOS and the movies even more. I instantly bonded with Picard, Data, Riker, LaForge, Troi, Crusher, Worf, Yar and Wesley.  They became part of my geeky family and I looked forward to seeing them every week.

And though 3 more series followed Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Voyager and Star Trek Enterprise. Star Trek The Next Generation will always hold a special place in my heart for opening my eyes to this fantastic universe.

Hello, my name is Andrea and I'm an Insomniac.

Hello, my name is Andrea and I'm an Insomniac. 

 

(that's where you say "Hello, Andrea")

 

You know how they say opposites attract.  That couldn't be more true for my husband and I.  I believe we are alike in many ways... however I am convinced that my husband suffers from narcolepsy, and I suffer form Insomnia. My husband falls asleep anytime he shuts his eyes.   I on the other hand just lay there, tossing, turning, thinking, tossing and turning.

For years now I've had trouble sleeping-- falling asleep and staying asleep.  It usually lasts one or two nights and then I'm fine for a few weeks and then I'll have another rough one or two nights and repeat.  About two years ago my 1-2 nights turned into one or two weeks.   After a few weeks with minimal (if any) sleep. it was taking a toll on my life...my focus, patience and my happiness.  After a visit to my doctor and a 2 week prescription for ambien I started to find my regular sleep cycles again.

 

I still suffer from occasional insomnia however I've learned there are several causes that trigger my insomniatic episodes. (is that a thing? if not it sounds nice so I'll keep it)  I've found that my sleep cycle was disturbed by various triggers. If there is one thing I've learned from studying my own sleep cycles (and visits with my doctor)-- is that insomnia is usually (but not always easily) treatable.

 

The reason is that the key to treating insomniac periods lies in changes to your daily and/or nighttime routine.  Many of these are connected which is why I've had to try to do them all.  Here are a few pointers that I've received from doctors, friends, the Internet and my experiences.

 

1. Make your bedroom comfortable for sleep. Close your window, blinds,  bedroom door for darkness and quite.  If that doesn't work try to create a subtle background noise, such as a running fan, or light music to help drown out other noises.  Don't keep a computer or TV in your bedroom.

This photo isn't mine. I borrowed it from the Internet.

2. Hide the bedroom clocks. Set your alarm so that you know when to get up, but then hide all clocks in your bedroom, including your wristwatch and cell phone. The less you know what time it is at night, the better you'll sleep. Thankfully my ihome has a dimmer with various shades including basically "off".


3. Stick to a sleep schedule. Keep your bedtime and wake time consistent from day to day, including on weekends.  This is extremely difficult but made the biggest difference for me.

4.Avoid trying to sleep. The harder you try, the more awake you'll become.  Get out of bed when you're not sleeping. Read or watch television in another room until you become very drowsy, then go to bed to sleep.

5.Find ways to relax. A warm bath before bedtime can help prepare you for sleep. Having your partner give you a massage also may help relax you. Create a relaxing bedtime ritual, such as reading, soft music, breathing exercises, yoga or prayer.

6. Use your bed only for sleeping (or sex.) Don't read, watch TV, work or eat in bed.

7. Limit or Avoid caffeine, alcohol, nicotine and food before bed.  These things can make you restless or cause frequent awakenings or urge to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.

8. Exercise regularly.  Even if its just a ten minute walk around the block.  Releasing built up energy or stress from the day will help you relax at night.

9. Check your medications. If you take medications regularly, check with your doctor to see if they may be contributing to your insomnia. Also check the labels of over-the-counter products to see if they contain caffeine or other stimulants.

10. See your Doctor.  You could have a medical condition such as sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome where insomnia is actually an effect.   Your doctor may recommend other types of treatment or therapy or maybe even some type of sleep aid.

By the way in case you were curious this blog was written at 2am last week.  I was afraid to publish it in its "raw" state although I am sure I still have misspellings and grammatical errors. But its the Internet so who cares. Oh and if you were wondering what this blog has to do with technology... I plan on purchasing a device that will monitor my sleep quality.   More to follow on that at a later time....

My Poem - Magic

I use to write lot of poetry in the 20's.  I thought it might be fun to share some of it on my blog. So I'll be posting various poems that I wrote over the years. Some deal with looking for love, some deal with being a father, some I wrote for friends. and some dealt with being alone. Each one was written from the heart and says alot about me as a young man during a very trying time of my life.

I thought I would start with one of my love poems, it wasn't written to anyone in particular. I was still in the closet, confused and alone. I desperately wanted to find that one person who could make my life complete. This is what I imagined true love to be like.

MAGIC

It was written in the stars way up above,

That you and I were destine to fall in love.

Right from the start you stole my heart,
I knew right there we would never part.

When I dream at night all my thoughts are of you,
But to live the rest of my life with you in a dream come true.

You have a hold of my heart and all I feel is amore,
It’s an unbelievable feeling that I have never felt before.

When I touch your sweet face and hold your soft hand,
Life can’t get any better, any better for one man.

There is a feeling inside that will never go away,
A bonding of souls that will always remain.

Love at first sight has always been a myth,
Until I meet you I could not resist.

Your eyes are so beautiful and your voice is so sweet,
My life if full of joy and all I can do is weep.

I'm thankful everyday, everyday I spend with you,
For what is life without love, the love shared by two.

KM8/20/96

The world has truly gone Gaga.

Some people (and by 'people', I mean the heartless media) have been commenting on the amount of weight that global sensation Lady Gaga has been putting on recently. Allegedly.

Now, I don't really pay much attention to the fluctuating weights of celebrities. Maybe I'm one of the dying breeds of fans that care more about the music that a celebrity creates rather than their personal looks, or maybe I just don't like seeing anyone, regardless of their social stature or wealth, being needlessly insulted, whether it's for their weight, height, ideas... you get the point. But I sat up and took notice when they media started picking on Gaga, not because I felt sorry for the poor woman (even though I truly do), but because of this photo:

She posted this on her site Little Monsters with the caption "Bulimia and anorexia since I was 15".

You've got someone who has been struggling with eating disorders for eleven years, with the world's media shouting at her, not to mention anyone else who will listen to them, that she has put on weight.

And not only that, but her record label have allegedly told her to "quit gorging on her favourite foods" in an attempt to stop her from putting on more weight.

People who say that she should just deal with it, that she is in the public eye and therefore her appearance is bound to be judged? I don't think you understand that celebrities are human. They hurt like the rest of us. They have flaws and insecurities, they go through heartbreak and betrayal, just like you or I. The only difference is, they have the world judging them every second, or every day. Obviously, for someone who has issues with eating disorders, this must be a very hard thing to cope with, and must be even harder to come out and admit.

Endless respect to Gaga for not only admitting to her insecurities, but encouraging millions of people to post pictures of theirs, and embrace them. It's a wonderful way of turning a negative situation into a positive one.

But really, there shouldn't be a situation at all. The media, in addition to a few inherited behaviours, have made us into a bunch of obesophobiacs. It starts from a young age. Have you ever seen a fat princess get a happily ever after? No. How about a character on your favourite kids TV show, is the chubby child ever popular? Don't bet on it. From childhood, we're gradually learning that being overweight limits your chance at finding happiness in personal situations. 

As we get older, we begin to notice advertising and become involved in celebrity culture. Think back, when was the last time you saw an overweight model on the front of Vogue? I can't recall seeing one. Billboards? Stick insects. Films? Seemingly flawless individuals. Photographs? Photoshopped beyond all recognition. The media does not want to glorify overweight human beings. Hell, they hardly even want to glorify average human beings. They want to show you the 'elite' of society. After all, self love and feeling comfortable in your own skin will not help them boost the sales of weight loss programs, exercise equipment, make-up...

You're beautiful, whatever shape you are. Embrace that and ignore the messages that the media are trying to send you. They act out of their own self-preserving greed, make sure you act out of everything else but that.

Jeep Woes, Glasses, Hobbitses & Buffy

Today I headed over to Jiffy Lube first thing in the morning. Yesterday when I got in my car to head to work I noticed that there was this liquid inside the wheel well of my back driver side tire. At first I thought it was water but when I touched it I noticed that it was some sort of lubricant. A few weeks back I took my jeep in to Jiffy Lube and they serviced my rear differentials so I thought maybe a tube or something came loose. After checking they couldn't find anything wrong and have no idea where that fluid came from. Since I'm not a big car person I have to take their word.  Guess will have to wait and see. I've been wanting to get a new car for a while now (something with better gas mileage) and I think the time is now.

On my way into work I stopped by Lencrafters as my new glasses were ready. I was in and out in no time and now have these new geeky glasses and I love them. I hated the progressive lenses so I asked for bi-focals.. man this is going to take some time getting use to.

Work moved along a nice pace.. wasn't too crazy or stressful. While at work I got word that the new Hobbit figures were now up for pre-sale. At first I went to Amazon and started adding them to my cart. I have several gift cards I could use. But being the good consumer that I am I checked to see if they were up for pre-sale anywhere else for a better price and came across Toys R Us. And there prices were $2 to $5 cheaper. So I ordered everything they had... They have released 13 figures so far, but one of the figures pre-sale was already sold out. So I would up getting only 12 of the 13.  I'll need to find that one somewhere else. So I spent about $200 on Hobbit figures and I can't wait until they are shipped out. Talked to my brother and he offered to pay half of that for my Birthday present... woo hooo.

My night ended by going over to my buddy Robert's place for our weekly Buffy Rewatch.  I got out of work a bit early so we were able to watch four episodes tonight. We also tried something new for dinner Chinese.. it's wasn't bad.. we started with S2 "Surprise" which changed everything between Buffy and Angel. Next was "Innocence" part 2 of the Angel goes bad story. Third was "Phases" were we find out that Oz is a werewolf and to end the night we watched "Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered" which I think was a great episode to end on. I've never seen Robert laugh so much at an episode of Buffy. As per usual I crashed at his place. We stayed up another hour or so chatting before finally calling it a night.  All in all a good day.

Dinner with a Long Lost Friend

Tonight after work I made plans to have dinner with my buddy Christopher, He's a friend I've known for over 10 years. He was one of my first "gay" friends after I came out. We actually went out on a date but came to realize that we were better friends. Anyways our friendship has been kind of on and off as of late. Nothing really came between us, we were both busy and never could find the time to hang out. The past few years we would see each other every few months and swear that we won't let another three months pass us by without seeing each other but then three months would pass by and we make the same commitment. Well it's been another three months and we finally got to have dinner tonight. We meet up at CPK (California Pizza Kitchen). We spent the next few hours catching up on each other's lives. We even talked about our friendship and not seeing each other as much as we'd like. He hasn't been doing so well lately and I feel bad as if I let him down. I got caught up in my own life with podcasting, work and "my geek mob" friends I let the few friends I had prior fall by the waste side and I am sorry for that. I must try harder to keep in contact with all my friends. Even if it's just a quick text or email. Lucky for me I'll be seeing Christopher this Saturday as we are doing to see a stage play of Xanadu... can't wait.

Failed Omurice Attempt

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Me fail at cooking?!

Uh yes. I failed at making omurice... (a Japanese dish and very popular in Korea!). It's not my fault, I used too much egg maybe. Or maybe it's because I used the wrong rice ¬_¬""" ... Running out of excuses people! 

So what did I use? I used leftover long grain rice (I know it's the wrong rice :P ), Iceland's cooked chicken breast, frozen veggie, ketchup and 4 medium eggs... 

Fried rice, chicken breast and veggie in ketchup

4 Scrambled eggs

Chicken breast from Icelands! It's tasty and doesn't smell of cheap chicken!

And this is what it ended up being...

Finished version with the ketchup on top ^^

Even if it fell apart it was YUMMY!!!!

The egg fell apart as I was trying to fold, but I think I definitely used too many eggs to do this! Well at least it tasted nice for lunch today! ^_^ Mr Bear who doesn't like ketchup didn't think it look great at all! Ack too bad, (and he says he loves Japan!).

There are so many recipes out there. I suggest you just browse through, and try to mix and match with what suits you. 

I will do my best next time (with the correct rice and less eggs)!! Fingers crossed and Good luck! がんばって！^^

Goodbye Chris, Hello Robert

Woke up this morning, got ready for work and a half hour before I left I woke up Chris so I could spend my last half hour hanging with him. I was going to be taking him to the airport but last night Jen contacted him and said she would drive over and pick him up and take him to the airport. So we just hung out in the morning, watching some TV and talking about the weekend. I was suppose to leave at 8:30 but instead left closer to 9am as I didn't want to say goodbye.

I don't know if it's me getting use to saying goodbye to him or the fact that I know will be seeing him again soon but saying goodbye to Chris no longer brings tears to my eyes. So I said my goodbye got in my jeep and headed to work.

Work was work but instead of going home tonight as planned I went over to my buddies Robert's place. He was in the middle of a situation and needed a friend and I was happily that friend. We had Italian for dinner and just sat around his apartment chatting. I ended the night by crashing at his place.

My Birthday Party Weekend - Sunday

It's my Birthday !!! I'm 42 years old today. After last night I was determined to make this day AWESOME. Got up around 8ish and the majority of the folks were up. I started breakfast, this time eggs, sausages, bacon, potatoes and toast. I made a ton of food hoping it would be enough to feed everyone and alas it did not. But on the upside all my guests ate breakfast, on the downside I did not. I was the one person who didn't get any so I quickly made some pancakes for me.

After breakfast we wanted to head to Vasquez Rocks before it was too hot outside. That was alot of fun. We had several folks who had never been to Vasquez Rocks which is always a treat. About 2/3's of the group decided to start the hike off by climbing the "main" peak. It's a tough climb but once you get to the top and take a look around, it's well worth it.

After that we meander around for an hour and a half. It wasn't crazy hard and the entire group stayed together, which made it even more fun. We did a big loop back to the cars.

We normally go out to lunch after our Vasquez hike but since we went a bit earlier we decided to head back to my place to open gifts and eat some cake.

Once back at my place I gathered the gifts around me and started to open them. I got DVD's, clothes, a book, Star Trek salt and pepper shakers, and a bunch of Harry Potter scrap booking material. Lots of cool things. Thanks everyone.

After presents it was time for a cake. I had asked Jes if she could possible make me my Birthday Cake. I know she's a great baker and I knew she would make something yummy. What I didn't expect was what it would look like. Chris covered my eyes and lead me to the cake. When I opened my eyes I couldn't believe what I was looking at. Jes made me a Hobbit Hole Cake. It was incredible. And the best part was that the Hobbit Hole was made of some sort of plaster so I could keep it, (it now lives on my fireplace mantle). Everyone sang Happy Birthday to me, I made my wish and blew out the candles. The cake was, as expected, very delicious.

While we ate cake and ice cream we put on another fun movie A Knight's Tale (again this seemed to be a favorite of many folks). I only recently watched the entire movie with Chris and loved it.

After the movie,  many of us headed out to Baja Fresh for a late lunch, early dinner. After this we said our goodbye to Jes and Olivia who has to drive back up north to the San Fransisco area.  The rest came back to my place.

I put in our final movie of the weekend, and one of my most favorites.. Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring. During this movie we continued to lose people. Soon it was just a handful left, we ate taquitos and what was left of the cake for snacks. Once the movie was over the remaining guests hung around an hour or so before our final guest left around 10:30pm , but before they left we put my house back together ( I always appreciate when everyone helps with that).

Now it was just Chris and I and I was soooo tired but since Chris is a new Whovian I wanted to watch the latest episode.. and that's what we did. We sat down in the TV room and watched the latest episode of Doctor Who "The Power of Three". It was another good episode and I have to say that so far season seven has been a lot of fun.

After Who Chris and I chatted for a bit before we said goodnight and went to bed.

So today was a really good day, other then running out of breakfast and not getting any, the rest of the day was a blast. It was a great way to end my Birthday Weekend Extravaganza.  Other then the little rough patch on Saturday evening this weekend was full of good times, great movies and best friends any guy could ask for. Thanks everyone for joining me to celebrate my 42nd Birthday.

Thank you Jes, Jen, Will, Josh, Justin, Jennifer C., Jennifer L, Matt, Jared, Adam, Anthony, Patrick, Kim, Robert, Rupert, Scott, Kevin, Doug, Luis, Troy, Olivia, Jessica, Brett, Dallas, Aaron and of course a special thanks to Chris for making this 42nd birthday extra special.

Grims Trolls... CHAMPS!!

Well, this last Friday we had a little summer rampage event.  I brought my small force of Trolls and this bad boy unit of Champs doled out some major pain.  I was so impressed with what they were able to do I had to jump up and get the finished up real quick like!

Anyhow here they are:

And now for the Individual shots:



Hero:

Champ Leader:

Champ B:

Champ C:

I have heard some people say that they think these figures are UGLY... well I hope that my paint jobs may have helped to changed that mindset a bit... if not... well... I think these sculpts are pretty darn sweet my self.  :)

Still waiting on our 50th follower so we can start handing out the Gor's to our awesome followers!  Remember to tell your friends!

Thanks for watching!

-Grim

P.S....  Panda that will be 9 pts added to my trolls... getting close... just need to figure out what light beast to paint next.