SDCC Hotel, Willow and Hobbites

Woke up to an email that informed me that I did not get any of my hotel choices and that I have been "waitlisted" for hotels at San Diego Comic Con. I quickly got online to see if any of my friends got in and the few I talked to the news was grim. I quickly started to panic and jump online to search for hotels around the area.. I just wanted to book something just in case. I did find a 2 star hotel just under a mile away from the convention center. It was going to cost just over $2050 for the four nights, but splitting that four ways made it roughly $515 per person and I didn't think that was bad so I booked it.

As soon as I did that my buddy Robert facebooked that he got into the Westin. That's only 9 blocks from the convention center and at the amazingly low price of $251 a night. I quickly contacted him and asked if my brother, Chris and I could be the other three of the quartet. He added out names to the rooms and quickly booked it. We are still waiting on confirmation but it looks like I got me a pretty nice and close hotel room for SDCC at a very affordable price. I'm keeping the hotel I booked earlier just to be safe. Once we get the confirmation I'll offer it to some friends to see if they want it before I cancel it.

Warwick Davis tweeted that they were screening Willow on the big screen down in Santa Monica on Saturday to celebrate it's 25th anniversary and bluray release. The writer is going to be there to talk about the making of the movie. I really wanted to go to this so I tweeted and facebooked to see if anyone wanted to join me.. so far no takers. I have to decide if I can't find anyone to go with me will I go alone.. I do love Willow and would love to see it on the big screen again.

Hobbit news.. the 3rd movie There and Back Again which was slated to come out the summer of 2014 has been pushed to December just like parts 1 and 2. I think this makes since as The Lord of the Rings came out December 2001, December 2002 and December 2003. So now The Hobbit will be coming out in December 2012, December 2013 and December 2014. I can't wait for part two of this EPIC trilogy.

My WoW Family

      It has been awhile since I have posted, life has been hectic. This topic is one that has been on my heart for a while and I wanted to share. Enjoy! :)

        I have to say one of the things that has impressed me the most with WoW is the community. The first 8 months or so I played I played solo. My husband encouraged me to play but never required or even advised me to play Alliance like he did, or maybe he did and I have forgotten. Regardless, I decided on a Blood Elf Paladin for my first toon. She was so pretty. (I know he never advised me to go hunter, which would have saved my pixilated life at least through the starting zone, yes I died in the starting zone). My previous gaming experience while not nonexistent was definitely limited, and what I did play I was notoriously bad at. I love love love the Zelda series and yeah that was about it. I dabbled a bit in God of War and we would have Mario Party well parties but the concept of what a MMO was or meant was beyond my fragile little mind. I didn’t talk to people, didn’t join a guild and this was before LFD so I didn’t try to PUG dungeons. I waited until I could solo them. I did love the stories in the game that was what drew me in. I was extremely casual, I think it took me close to 8 months to get said pally to 80.

        About the time I got Sparkette to 80 I decided to level a toon on the Alliance side so I could play with my hubby, I was watching him raid and interact with his friends and I was like hmm… now that looks like fun. So I made my Draenei mage, and I totally fell in love. Because I was playing with my hubby at this time I got to see the social side of WoW that I had hidden from for close to a year. I was in a guild and listening to vent, still wasn’t brave enough to talk, well that or I didn’t have a mic. Anyway I was that weird creeper that says nothing yet hovers in vent listening. About the time that Cata was going to launch and my pretty mageymage was getting close to 80 and Hubs decided to switch servers, so off I went with him to a land of STRAGERS!! I was terrified! It was the first day of HS all over again. But with wonderful luck and a fantastic coincidence the second day on the server we found our guild. This guild has been perfect for me, a fun supportive group of friends. And they are true friends. Through our friendship I have learned a lot about myself and how I relate to others. My quirkiness is absolutely ok and is matched by their quirkiness. It is just a great group of people.

        It took me a long while but I finally got it, I got why people log in everyday to do nothing but sit on their mount on the top of a roof in Stormwind and talk for hours, or just run a BG together. I enjoy the game 10x more now than I ever did back then. I still have horde toons on that old server and I want to see content from the horde side so I log on over there and am sooo lonely. I miss my people. I can still be in vent but I want to run dungeons with them instead of the LFD strangers that do not talk. Thus I usually swap as soon as my real ID pops that someone is on on that side. This game is a community, a community of very real people. People need and crave socialization. Many people may claim to “hate people” or that “people suck”; we all desire to find “our people”. Social media and online communities give us another outlet to meet this need. We all hate the trolls, and can all be the trolls yet we still come back and enjoy our time with our friends. This is what I know and believe. I am so happy that I have found this outlet and have the opportunity to get to know people from all over. This community is what we make it, make it amazing!

Let me know what you think! Comment or follow me @Jaygurrl on Twitter

 

Peace and Love

Jay

       

Self harm awareness day

If you notice a surprising number of people are wearing orange or sporting a small heart or butterfly on their wrists tomorrow, then don't be alarmed. They are just showing their support for people who are struggling with the issue of self harm.

March 1st marks the annual self injury awareness day, although few people take the time to help dispel the myths and make others aware of the facts of the matter at hand. I find that odd, because it is thought that 1 in every 10 will self-harm at one point in their lives. If you take your average classroom of 20 students, it is likely that at least 2 of them will have, have recently or will go harm themselves purposefully in order to release unpleasant emotions. 

And you might ask "None of the people I know self harm and I don't self harm either, so why does this concern me?"...

Well, 1 in every 10 are left handed. 

Think about how many left handed people you know.

Now, think that you probably know just as many (if not more) people who have, at one point or another, harmed themselves.

It's a scary thought, isn't it?

You see, despite the popular misconception that self harm is an attention seeking habit, the majority of people who do it put a great deal of effort into hiding their scars/bruises/wounds from their loved ones. Whether it's wearing long sleeved shirts despite unbearably hot weather, refusing to go swimming because they're afraid that someone will notice the marks on their legs or just shutting themselves off completely, it's plain to see that the majority of those who self harm not only don't want attention drawn to their scars, but will try everything in their power to try avoiding their secret being exposed.

And that is where the problem lies.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you all that recovering from self harm is an easy process. It is an addiction, believe it or not, both in emotional and physical manners. Endorphins are released by the brain during the process of self-harming, which help calm down the person in question and distract them from whatever it was that caused them to injure themselves in the first place. It's a coping technique, albeit a highly destructive one. You become dependant on it when you're going through a difficult time, and trying to quit can prove an extremely difficult task. Some have explained that they feel as though they are going through withdrawal, because it has become such a large part of their lives. 

So people who say "just get over it" clearly don't understand. At all. And those people (along with those who deem self harm as a coping technique for "weak people", "emos" or "attention seekers") are the ones that this day will most benefit from reaching. It is a reminder to those suffering that they are not alone, a day of pride for those who are overcoming the issue and a battle cry to the masses that says "these people have been suffering in silence for too long, and now it's time to finally let everyone hear their stories".

Stay strong. Keep fighting. 

Fowey, Cornwall - Day 2 (Part 2/3): Afternoon Tea in Brown Sugar

Day 2 continues...

Miss Pinky has wanted to have afternoon tea for a very long time. But our busy schedules and busy lives mean no-can-do, and trying to find a place that was cheap in London is very difficult.

But finally. Finally. We found a small shop called Brown Sugar in Fowey that did afternoon tea for £4.75. But the only available items were scones with jam and clotted cream plus a pot of tea and milk.

Brown Sugar, Fowey

The menu - probably can't read it in this picture!

The jam was sweet and the clotted cream was thick. I loved it! The scones were warm and easy to cut, unlike the ones you get in supermarkets which are of course stone cold and hard as rock.

Tea, scones and jam ^_^

My tasty scone of sweet jam and clotted cream! ^_^

I enjoyed my scones, and I like the tea. The scones fell apart too easily though... but it was not a problem!

Miss Pinky doesn't seem to like sweet jam, and realised afternoon tea is just like being at home with a cuppa... I think she is now discovering herself and deciding what she likes and dislikes...

Total price was £9.50. So worth it!

My geeky rating: 4.9/5... sadly couldn't order sandwiches at the time we were there. It would have been an even better afternoon tea! :(

Good points:

- Loads of jam

- Loads of clotted cream

- Warm scones

- Good price!

Bad points:

- Was not able to order other food :(

Address: 2 South Street, Town Centre, Fowey PL23 1AR

View Larger Map

The end of Day 2: http://asimplegeekylife.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/fowey-cornwall-day-2-part-33-sams-bistro.html

Scotty's IMC prize WIP: Circle Orboros

Just a real quick update on how the Circle battle box is coming along for my IMC prize.

I was following the studio scheme fairly close at first but as I layed down the black on the armor filigree so the gold could go on smoother, I had to pause for a second, and I realized I really liked the black with the green quite a bit.

What are your thoughts on this, should I continue on and do the gold as originally planned or throw some highlights on that black and call it good?

More updates soon!

Fowey, Cornwall - Day 2 (Part 1/3): The Eden Project

So Day 2 blog post will be in three parts as we seem to have done a lot! ^^

We started the day quite early. There were a lot of birds singing and gulls hawking and boats sailing around already that morning! ^^

I have wanted to go to the Eden Project for a very long time, well ever since Mr Games mentioned it to me a while back when he wanted to go (that's why I invited him because he hasn't been yet!).

As we didn't know our way around that much we asked the bus driver in how to get to The Eden Project. (The bus drivers in Fowey are really nice people). The driver advised us that we could get a day pass ticket for £8.50 each, and we could use that ticket on any Western Greyhound bus service. We could even go to Exeter with it, but that would take us 4 hours to get there... No chance of that ever happening... Hahahah. The day pass lasts up until midnight. So we took the 524 to St Austell. Stopped off at the cinema bus stop, crossed over and took the 527 which then took us all the way to the Eden Project. So in total, it took us almost 2 hours to get there by bus, as it was taking us around everywhere!! Bummer. I think we could have got there sooner if we traveled by car, but it was not to be!

Well the good reason why we went by bus is because we were able to obtain a discount at The Eden Project... So if you travel by bus or train make sure you show your ticket to the ticket seller, and they will reduce the price for you...

Map of The Eden Project

Wow!! It was amazing going there! Felt like being in space...

Miss Pinky and I were so happy. Miss Pinky never ever takes pictures. But she has started to before we go on our bigger holiday in April.

Here's my pictures...

Giant bee statue

The Canteen

So much food ^^

Once we went into the Rainforest Biome my glasses all steamed up, even Miss Pinky couldn't see through hers! It was like being in Hong Kong all over again... Oh how I love that type of heat. I felt like I was in a sauna just sweating everything off (don't worry I was not sweating!). I wondered why they were selling ice cream outside in this cold weather. Heheheheh

Steamy in the Rainforest Biome!

Rice paddy field :D

Cute!

We then went into the Mediterranean Biome. Awww. It was cooler in there. Easy to take pictures too! :D

In the Mediterranean Biome

Scary statues!

Amazing!

Olives anyone?

We went back outside and then explored around before we got to the next area!

Cows sitting on the rooftop XD

The Ice Rink

Shaun The Sheep!

The Core was the final section of the project. It isn't a greenhouse but shows more of the sciences of plants... Botanics...

Outside The Core

Giant Seed!!!! Hard to take a pic of this!

Inside The Core

It was amazing coming to the Eden Project, and a great use of land!

When we were coming back we sat at the bus stop for a good 15-20 minutes. As we sat this pretty, pretty robin came up to us (probably wanting food), but it kept hopping about, and it let me take a picture of it! Wow. This is the first time I got close to a robin! ^_^

Cute little robin ^^

I want to go back now!!

Website: www.edenproject.com

View Larger Map

Day 2 continues: http://asimplegeekylife.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/fowey-cornwall-day-2-part-23-afternoon.html

Work & Podcasts

Got to work and got a call from the EP of the show to inform that how disappointed she was in me by not sticking around work last night (which I did, but she claims I did not). I mentioned that I was up until 4:30am to get the output done but that didn't seem to register with her. Was a crappy way to start my day.

I was happy with it was time to leave work. I was exhausted as I only slept about 3 1/2 hours yesterday so I was looking forward to getting home and doing nothing. But once I was home I realized that I have a MASH podcast that is due to be released in a few days since it's Feb and only 28 days this month. I finished half of it but then ran into some issues with the audio from the version of the show I found online (I mentioned this in a previous blog post about the laugh tracks). I haven't had time so really do anything so I just went with the audio that I had, laugh tracks and all. About midnight I finished and it turned out pretty good. I mean I hate the laugh tracks as I find it distracting but at least this will be the only episode with that kind of audio. I was just glad to be done so I could go to bed and get some much needed rest.

Miniatures Showcase

Here is a showcase of the recently painted commission pieces for our local Pressganger. These were painted by Grimwolf and Scottykhan of Geek Garage. Miniatures featured are from the game Warmachine and faction is Khador.

Soundtrack:

Space 1990 by Kevin MacLeod
(incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By
Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

Hotels & Long Nights

This morning at 9am a group of us got online to register for our hotel rooms at San Diego Comic Con. SDCC gets blocks of rooms for a special low price as the hotels around the convention center normally raise their prices to three times the amount they would normally get. This was my first year trying to get one. The process went smoothly and in about seven minutes my application was sent. Now we wait to hear if we get any of our choices.

Today was a another busy and frustration day at work. We had a meeting in the morning and the EP wanted to talk about the email that I had sent out last night. Now she isn't calling me out by name but everyone in the office knows who she is talking about. She complains about post and how it's run and lack of communication, blah blah blah. It was so obvious that several of the story producers and editors came up to me afterwards and said, "Oh we think you're doing a fantastic job", and "I couldn't imagine all the stuff you have to deal with". What the EP said was hurtful but I've come to expect that from her. I was told that she always has a "whipping" person that gets blamed for everything and it looks like I'm going to be that person on this show. It was great to hear that everyone else thinks I'm doing a great job and they are very impressed with what I have done with what I was given.

We were outputting our show today so I stuck around work until 9am, before I left I made sure everyone was good and didn't need anything from me. I headed home and waited for the email to let me know that the show was ready and that I could send out the link and all. Well I get a text at 11pm saying that they just got the show and that it's in the process of outputting. That normally takes about an hour or so. Finally around 1am I call and asked what's going on and find out that they are having issues with the output and that they are working on a solution. I tell them I need to get some sleep and to call me when it's done.

So I go to bed around 1am and can't really sleep as I'm waiting for this call. Around 3:30am I get a call telling me that it's almost done and that they are sending me the links. I get up out of bed and head to my office where I spend the next hour checking the links and cuts making sure everything is good to go and then sending out the emails to he network. I finally got back to bed around 4:30am. That was one long day.

Fowey, Cornwall - Day 1: The trip starts!

Arrgh! Needed to get away from London for a bit. And I finally found an opportunity to get away from the stresses of life and work and my busy social life. ^_^ A colleague at work had rented a place in Fowey (pronounced as Foy) in Cornwall and there was still time for her friends and colleagues (like me (^_^)v) to use it. I was so happy I contacted Miss Pinky first to ask if she wanted to take up the offer. Yep. She said yes we're going! Book the travelling tickets now! I even asked Mr Games and Mr Sensible to come with us... but timing and their busy lives was all wrong. :(

So in the end I booked a National Express coach from London Victoria to St Blazey. (I wanted to get the train, but Miss Pinky wanted to save money... humph). So our trip started off ok. Our coach driver was ok but a bit frustrated that people were boarding with hot food. 'Any food that is hot is classified as HOT FOOD' he said. Heheh. We had a few stops before getting to Fowey...

So our first main stop was West Buckland. It's a small area for people travelling by coach and car and truck to stop at... I think for those who work there must be able to drive!

West Buckland Pit Stop!

Costa Express machine - woooow!!!

Our next stop was in Plymouth. Haven't been to Plymouth for a number of years now. :)

Was inside the coach and took a pic of a church spire in Plymouth ^_^

Coach stop!

Then finally we got to our final stop St Blazey before getting another local bus to Fowey. 

St Blazey Stop - Polgrean Place!

Unfortunately, we with missed the local bus or it probably never came! So we stood outside the bus stop frozen to death for almost an hour... We were waiting and waiting before we said we should book a cab from a cab service my colleague uses! But the bus came in the end... It was late! :P Single fare is £4! OMG. That's expensive compared to London. It was a scary bus ride. We couldn't see anything along the roads. There were no street lamps either. :S

When we finally got to Fowey, we almost got lost with the place we were staying at. It was also very, very dark to take any pictures... We were hungry and a bit tired... Miss Pinky is really lazy and never cooks when I'm with her (or maybe I find her cooking not up to my standards ¬_¬"")...

End of day 1!

Day 2: http://asimplegeekylife.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/fowey-cornwall-day-2-part-13-eden.html

The Lonely Gherkin

Today has been odd. We're going to ignore the fact that my eye is beginning to twitch out of stress and concentrate on what's been happening today. 

College has been productive as usual. It, once again, resulted in a gang of us heading to the pub at the exact time it opened (because 11am is a completely acceptable time for students to start drinking).

Maddie had a burger at the Old schoolhouse. She left behind no trace of it beside on lonely little Gherkin.

ME: ... Do you think I could write a children's book called 'The Lonely Gherkin'?

MADDIE: ... Probably? 

Challenge accepted.

'The Lonely Gherkin'

"Life on the edge of the plate isn't much of a life at all." Little Gherkin sighed, staring at the greasy spot that the burger he was once a part of had left. 

It isn't easy knowing that you don't fit in. It's not nice feeling as though you're not needed. 

Little Gherkin was used to days like this. People would often order burgers and, upon realising that he was hiding beneath the bun, they would flick him to the side as if he were nothing more than a fly.

They'd groan and throw him at their friends, and he'd do no more than lie there patiently, happy to receive some attention, no matter how hurtful that may be.

Baby Bun would hug Little Gherkin at the end of the day, soaking up his tears.

"One day, you're going to be so loved, they'll name an entire building in your honour." Baby Bun whispered.

"I don't need to be loved, I just want to be accepted" Little Gherkin cried. 

Baby Bun didn't understand what it felt like to be this way. The chef always used her in recipes. He needed her just as fish needed water. 

The chef has a set of ingredients that he uses every single day: buns, burgers, cheese, lettuce... they all snigger, one on top of the other, as the chef wavers his hands over Little Gherkin, considering whether or not to risk wasting him on fussy customers. 

He usually does.

"We're in this together" Baby Bun told Little Gherkin as they were being taken to the customer outside.

But once again, the promise fades as hungry forces pull them apart, leaving Little Gherkin alone on the plate once more.
"Why doesn't anyone like me?" sobbed Little Gherkin.

"It's because we're not the same as everyone else. We're different, and not everyone can accept that" Replied a strange voice coming from across the table.

"Who said that?" asked Little Gherkin.

"My name's Anne. Anne the Anchovy." She beamed back. The Little Gherkin smiled.

"Why did they leave you on the plate?" He asked her.

"They're just not ready for me yet. They can't bear the thought of trying something new." Anne the Anchovy laughed.

"Aren't you sad that they don't like you?" Little Gherkin questioned. Anne the Anchovy chuckled.

"If they don't like me, then that's their problem. Not mine. Everyone is different, and that's okay. People like us won't be suited to everybody's tastes. But there are people out there who love us, and there are people out there who accept us. And those are the people who truly matter." 

Little Gherkin had a long think about what Anne the Anchovy had said in the cupboard that night. She was right. We are all different, and no two people share the same tastes, so we should stop worrying about those who don't like us, and start concentrating on those that do.

So, to answer to my earlier question of can I write a children's book...

Ryan told us about the time his Dad almost got sent down for murder (not going to give you the full details, but SPOILER: he didn't do it). 

Maddie in turn told us about her Dad's crime story, in which he played the hero who caught a teenager who accidentally shot a man in the head with an air rifle after he and a group of his friends had been playing about with one. 

ME: Your Dad is like a British Chuck Norris.

Maddie texted this to her Dad.  He responded initially with something in the region of "what the hell?" but after she explained that she'd just told us the air gun story, he merely responded with:

MADDIE'S DAD: Ahhhh, indeed!

I haven't met her Dad yet, but after all of

the stories I've heard about him,

this is the mental image that springs to mind

The afternoon was spent doing one of three things:

1. Stressing over the fact that I need to cast people by next week or my project will have to be scrapped
2. Hooking up three keyboards to a computer, switching off the display and taking it in turns to write one word 
3. Playing trousers, shorts or jeans

The keyboard word game is infectiously fun for absolutely no good reason. If you want an awesome band name? Just play that game, seriously. Banarama tiramisu and swashbuckling goodness were two of the very few that I can actually remember.

We played that game for twenty minutes too long... in other words, that game amused us for twenty minutes.

And as for trousers, shorts or jeans...

It's basically a game where you look at people and judge whether or not they have 'the right' to wear shorts, if they have nice enough legs for jeans or whether they should just stick to wearing trousers, and you have to say shorts, jeans or trousers accordingly.

You know me when it comes to judging others based on appearance, so I didn't really get involved, but it was all in harmless fun, otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned it.

After college, Maddie and I went to Baskins and Robins because I was craving a milkshake and she needed to break a twenty. I played it safe and bought a mint chocolate chip shake. Whereas Maddie...

MADDIE: How would pistachio almond and coconut go together?

To say the guy behind the counter looked sceptical would have been a huge understatement.

MAN: English toffee and coconut go well together.

MADDIE: Okay, I'll have pistachio almond, coconut and English toffee then. 

It actually tasted really yummy.

I bow down to you Maddie, Queen of cool!

Lauren xxx

I Sell the Dead

I Sell the Dead was a movie that had been sitting in my to watch pile for ages, a friend of mine had told me he really enjoyed it and I got a Blu-ray copy of the film dirt cheap but I just never got around to watching the movie.

As it turned out that was a big mistake, the movie starts out full of atmosphere, it reminded me a lot of the classic Hammer Horror films but before too long it gets kind of crazy, Army of Darkness kind of crazy and that in my opinion isn't a bad thing.

I guess this was supposed to be a horror / comedy but honestly there just isn't much in the way of horror in this movie but what you get is a fun period film about the misadventures of a couple of grave robbers and it really is a lot of fun.

Work Woes Continue

Well it was your typical work Monday, busy, stressful and just crazy. The show is moving along at full speed. It was a busy day but busy is good as it makes the day just fly by.

I got home and just wanted to relax. I didn't feel like playing LOTRO or edit more podcasts (which I really should do). I just sat and watched TV and vegged.

Well at 9:30pm I got a call from work, the person on the other line was extremely upset with me. Earlier in the night I had sent out an email with my update on the status of Post. I send this email out every night. Well tonight's email I mentioned something that, to me, isn't a big deal but to the Executive Producer it was and she was not happy and in turned call this person with her grievances, in which this person called me with her grievances.

I assured this person that I didn't do this on purpose or with any malicious intend. I was being honest in the email and it never crossed my mind that it was a problem.

Needless to say it just further soured my thoughts to this job and after I got off the phone I felt sick to my stomach and went to bed. Of course I didn't see and tossed and turned all night.

Not the best way to start a work week.

New perspective

Do you ever have those days when you feel as though you're seeing the world in a brand new light? 

Because I feel as though I'm having one of those days today.

There have been two things weighing down on my mind all day:

One: That we will never be able to appreciate ourselves as we are seen in the eyes of our loved ones

Two: Just by existing we are altering the future in some small, but significant way, and that the world would not be the same if we were not in it.

It's hard to explain those thoughts, but they've all been hitting me, one after the other, over the course of the day. It's always interesting when you get a new perspective on the world and how we fit in it. I'll throw my hands in the air and admit that self-hatred is something that I've become quite accustomed to, and have often wondered why the people in my life have stuck around.

I suppose what we have to remember is that there are a whole set of people in the world who love nothing more than seeing your eyes light up when you're doing what you're passionate about. And that you'll never see yourself in that way, the way that makes you seem so beautiful and wonderful and alive to your friends and family. 

If you've ever looked around a cinema and saw people tearing up at the action on screen, or someone's eyes widening when they're reading their favourite book, you'll understand what I'm talking about. If not? There's still time. Just open your eyes to the small details.

The second idea was most definitely thought of because of 'Cloud Atlas'. It didn't talk about destiny as such, but the idea that what we do in life affects everyone is key to the film. It's a wonderful thought. That even when we die and our bones are mere dusts, there are still consequences of our actions out there somewhere in the world. Be they children or concepts, artwork or lives that would not exist if not for us, we are here for a reason, and that reason is as individual to us as our fingertips. 

Just a thought.

A Thankful Geek

While hiking at Vasquez Rocks today and walking back to the car, walking in front of me was Robert, Rupert and Brett, next to me was Aaron and Josh and behind me was Anthony and Michele. Robert, Rupert and Brett were joking around and laughing and that sight made my heart smile and it hit me that this band of geeks I have assembled are the outcasts, the odd balls, the lonely and we've come together to form this incredible group of friends (The Geek Mob). I have searched my entire life for a group of friends like these and it took to age 40, but I finally have them and I am so thankful.

I have to thank The Guild & Felicia Day, if there was no Guild I don't know if any of us would actually have met. But that's all it took.. because once we met, I made it my job to make sure we stayed together. In order to see these guys every month I created the Movie Marathon Weekends and they have become so epic, so amazing that folks would drive or fly for six to seven hours just to be part of them.. how cool is that.

It goes to show you that even though you are not the popular kid, or a bit odd or socially awkward that there is a group of people who will love you no matter what and accept you just the way you are.

Thank you guys for accepting me.. just the way I am.

Geek Mob Rules!!!!

Superman Movie Marathon - Sunday

Got up and made some breakfast, this time it was eggs, sausage, potatoes and toast. Ate breakfast and planned out our day. First up was Vasquez Rocks. It was cold in the 40's and the wind was blowing but it's a tradition so we bundled up and headed out. I can say that it's an experience, hiking in the cold weather getting hit by extremely cold breezes. I figured we'd hike for about 15 minutes and then be on our way but once out there folks were actually having fun. It was fun almost being blown over by gusts of winds while standing on the edge of a hilltop. In the end we actually hiked for about an hour and a half... good times were had.

Once back home we continued our Superman marathon, this time we watched something that I had not seen yet. It was the animated movie Superman and Batman: Public Enemies. It was very enjoyable. This is the first Superman cartoon I have seen since the old Justice League. I hope to see many more.

We grabbed some lunch (leftover sandwiches from yesterday) and started watching Smallville. We watched the first two episodes of Season 1. I've seen Smallville season 1 and 2 and the start on 3 but I do own seasons 1 - 9 on DVD and plan to watch the rest one day. Those who hadn't seen Smallville seemed to really enjoy it. Anthony and Michele left after Smallville leaving Rupert, Robert, Brett, Aaron and Josh

We debated on watching another of the Superman movies but instead, and keeping with the theme of superheros we watched Pixar's Incredibles.  That's one of my favorites from Pixar.  After the movie Brett, Aaron and Robert headed home. That left Josh, Rupert and I to watch the Oscars. I normally don't watch the Oscars live but since I was watching with folks we did exactly that.

I actually really enjoyed this years Oscars and host Seth MacFarlene. Maybe it was because I was watching with friends. Something I haven't done in a while. Normally I watch them as mentioned recorded and speed through the boring stuff. But it was fun watching them live and then watching twitter as it exploded every time a category was announced.

After the Oscars Josh and Rupert departed and that officially ended my Superman Movie Marathon.

I'm glad I started these marathon's back up as it was fun seeing my friends and hanging out for the weekend. Not sure when I'll have the next one and I'm not sure how big it will be. I know we have Wondercon coming up in March so I might plan another event for April.. stay tuned.

You can check out more pictures HERE

Superman Movie Marathon - Saturday

Today started like most of my other movie marathons days.. with breakfast. I was making biscuits and gravy for everyone. We debated on watching Galaxy Quest while eating breakfast (this has kind of become a tradition), but instead we opted to just sit around the dining table and chat. After breakfast we just hung out and played a round of Cards Against Humanity.

After noon I started to get food ready. Jes arrived and we started our first movie Superman The Movie. About fifteen minutes in my buddy Josh arrived and joined the fun. As well as my buddy Will and his girlfriend Becca, who I hadn't met yet. After Superman we took a break, snacked and chatted. Our second movie of the day was Superman II. I thought I had the Donner cut but unfortunately I did not, so we watched the original. Superman II is still my favorite of all the Superman movies.

After the second movie we headed out to dinner, for Saturday dinner we normally do Pizza as it's easy but several folks were on special diets so the suggestion that we go to Chipotle was offered up and everyone loved the idea.. so off to Chipotle we go.

After dinner we headed back to my place. We debated on watching another movie or play some games. The majority voted for games and guess which game we played.. yep you guested it Cards Against Humanity. We had a large number of players which made the game last for 2 and a half hours. It was all kinds of awesome.

We said our goodbyes to Will and Becca and started a fire. Like yesterday we just sat around the fire and chatted for about four hours before calling it a night and going to bed. Now that Jes lives so much closer she called it a night and headed home.

I have band hard alcohol at my parties temporarily, which in turns makes for very mellow but loads of fun parties. Do I miss all the craziness, I hate to admit it but I do. Don't get we wrong, it's nice to just chill and hang with friends but getting crazy and wild can be fun as well.

Still have another day chuck full of Superman goodness.

You can check out more pictures HERE

Dragon Age: Redemption

OK I admit I probably never would have given this a second glance if it wasn't for the fact I enjoy Felicia Day's web series The Guild even though I own but still haven't played Dragon Age: Origins.

Basically this is a low budget ( and I mean low budget ) web series based on the Dragon Age video game franchise and it has a certain charm to it I guess but honestly I just didn't really like the writing, the story felt rather contrived in places and at times didn't entirely make sense.

The projects budget I'm sure is to blame for a lot of the stories shortcomings, at times it felt like some scenes weren't completed or shot at all, I bought the web series on DVD and at times the whole thing just felt choppy, the cast all seemed like able and their performances were reasonably engaging.

If you happen to be a Felicia Day fan ( and she sure seems to have a lot of them ) this might be worth checking out but even if you aren't a fan I think you would be better served checking out The Guild instead.

All of that being said I would be interested in seeing what Ms Day and her crew could do with an improved budget and more time but for me anyway Dragon Age: Redemption feels like it could have been great but failed to live up to it's potential.

Panda's IMC Prize WIP: Gorman Di Wulfe

Here is my contribution to our prize support for the upcoming Intermountain Cup!

I've attempted my first piece of OSL on him and am super happy with how he is turning out so far. Obviously my transitions are not the greatest currently but I will be smoothing them out in the future before he's finished.

Mister Bilbo

So my friend Anthony came over with his new wife Michele (who is awesome) tonight. And she came in with this piece of canvas. She turned it around for us to see and I was totally amazed. She painted this for me in two days... how amazing is that, talk about talent. It's a portrait of Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit movie. It's so detailed and awesome. I really didn't know what to say but Thank you. It's a beautiful piece and I can't wait to hang it up in my house and show it off for all to see. BTW she's titled it "Purple Bilbo", seems appropriate.