Tax Refund

We got our California Tax Refund today.. love getting unexpected deposits in my checking account. And I'm surprised I got it so quickly with the state budget being an issue. But I'm not complaining. This money will go towards are new fence around our property.

V - Returns

Whoo hooo.. after a three month hiatus, the re-imagined "V" on ABC has returned. This is episode 5 and I think they story is moving along. I was excited to see it come back. I'm a HUGE fan of the original and I have to keep myself from comparing the two as they are very different. I'm enjoying the new V but not loving it yet.. I especially enjoyed the final scene with Anna showing her true self. Need to see more of that.

Wait... What!!!!!

Well today was a pretty good day.. oh with exception of me almost quitting my job. It's a long story that I won't go into here in my blog.. needless to say that the Show Runner (production) and I (post-production) don't see eye to eye on some issues. He actually ended his email with " So I put it back to you...either man up, handle my very reasonable requirements, or find another place to work. "

I would have left that moment but I wouldn't want to put the strain on my boss Darla or my day AE Brian. Plus if I quit I can't collect unemployment insurance. Now if he wishes to fire me.. I'm all for that as I could collect insurance then.. so I guess will see what happens.. either way this is a very unhappy work environment.

Success

After calling around to a few stores I found a Bed Bath Beyond in Studio City who had some of the clearance wall sconces so after lunch with my friend Jeff I headed over to Studio City and exchange the sconce (of course I checked it in the store). Can't wait to get home and finish that wall.

Lunch with Jeff

Today a Guildie friend from the East coast met up for lunch. He was down here for a wedding and going back tomorrow so we got together for lunch at Islands. Jeff is an online friend who I met through The Guild and also met in person and hung out with last years at Comic Con. It was great seeing him and we have a very enjoyable lunch. Looking forwarding to hanging out with Jeff again at this years Con.

More Decorating

Today we finally put up the clock and wall sconces that we purchased a few weeks ago. The Clock went up with no problem and it took some work to get the sconces arranged just right but while doing the second sconce we noticed that part of it was broke. The bad thing is it was a clearance item so the chance of them not having another is possible. So I guess I'll be calling around tomorrow and trying to find another Bed Bath Beyond who might still have them in stock.. which me luck.

Harry's Present

For Harry's birthday he asked for a second monitor for his computer since he does alot of editing and having a second monitor makes it so much easier. But he has an IMac and I had never heard of a second monitor being hooked up to an IMac. So I did a little research and found out that the newer IMac's (like Harry's) does have a port that you can hook another monitor too.. well with the help of an adapter cord as well. So we were off to Fry's

We checked out the monitors, then decided to see if they had the adapter first so with some help we found the adapter and picked one up. We then went to find him a second monitor. He wanted something at least the same size as his Mac screen (which is 20") We found some other 20" but actually found a 21.5" (Acer) on sale so we wound up going for that one.

As soon as we got home we hooked it up and it didn't seem to be working. He then went into his system preference and clicked on display and voila it found the second monitor. Now he is the proud owner of a second monitor.

Harry's Birthday Dinner

This has become a tradition over the past few years. For Harry's Birthday we go out to Outback Steakhouse (one of his favorites restaurants). From time to time we have friends and family join us as well. This time around we invited some of our closest friends; Tom and Ervin, John and Moises and Bruce. We had a great time catching up and just enjoying ones company. The food was as usual AWESOME.. we discovered their Aussie Cheddar Fries which were to die for and of course the Steak was wonderful as usual.

It was a fun night..

Yard Work

After finishing my podcast with Jenni and headed outside to help Harry with some yard work. Since all the rain we have gotten a boat load of nice looking weeds but they are pushing up through our rock gravel and we just haven't had time to take care of them so they are starting to overtake everything. So we attempted to pull as much as we could. Harry had been out there for hours.. but I lasted a few hours before we had to go in an get ready for Harry's Birthday Dinner with friends.

Recording KOTG Ep. 15

Today Jenni came over around 11am and we recorded episode 15 parts 1 & 2. You can watch the "live" video on Ustream at http://bit.ly/5cLYwj (password KOTG)



It was a fun show.. at least for Jenni and I. I don't think we got too much information out but we had a great time recording it. Ep. 15 part 1 will be released on April 15th and part 2 will be a few weeks after. You'll need to listen to the podcast or watch the video to understand the two picture.

Knights of the Guild Ep 14 pt2

Show Notes: http://knightsoftheguild.com


Here it is Episode 14 part 2 of Knights of the Guild. We hope you enjoy it.

Today’s show features:

• * First up we have a Vorkism.
• * We are recording this weeks podcast live on Ustream from our beautiful studios in Agua Dulce
• * We discuss Behind the Scenes of Episode 2 Season 3 - Anarchy
• * We have a special treat with not one but two crew Interviews. TJ & Denise
• * We have a brand new section with Sean Becker (Director/Editor)
• * We thank our donors.
• * We have this months End of Month Contest
• * Then Business Time and Goodbye

This podcast was recorded live, you can watch the video on our UStream channel - http://www.ustream.tv/channel/knights-of-the-guild You do need a password to access it. The password is KOTG

Thank you again for all your support, we do this podcast because we are fans and more importantly for the fans.

Kenny & Jenni

• Knights of the Guild Feeds/Downloads http://knightsoftheguild.com
• Knights of the Guild Daily Blog http://knightsoftheguildpodcast.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday Harry

Today is my husbands 39th Birthday... I had to work some long hours but when I got home we headed out to El Torrito for some yummy Mexican food. Will be picking up his birthday present on the weekend.

Happy Birthday Hubby!!!

The Wonderful World of Harry Potter

I've blogged about this in the past but today they announced the official date that this AWESOME park will open... JUNE 18th is that day. Not sure I want to go on opening weekend as I want to be able to enjoy the park and don't want to be bombarded by crowds.. I figured I'll go later in the year, but I do hope to get out there sometime in 2010, anyone interested in joining me?? You can check out more info about the exciting new park here... http://media.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/

Job Offer in South Africa

Today I got an IM from a former line producer that I worked with. She asked if I was working because she had a job for 10 weeks working on a webseries for the World Cup and it's located in South Africa.

I didn't even really consider it as they wanted me to start soon and I'm currently working until mid July and of course I have my monthly Knights of the Guild podcast and my obligations to The Guild webseries. And to be honest I have never wanted to visit South Africa, now if the job was in Europe somewhere I would consider it.. but to me it was an easy choice. I said thank you for thinking of me but no.

Some folks think I'm crazy for not taking it, they say it's a great opportunity and it might of been but not for me at this moment in my life.

Editing my podcast

Today I spent a few hour editing my next Knights of the Guild podcast Episode 14 part 2. It went pretty smoothly and all I have to do is assemble it when I get home.. should be up in a week or so.

My Podcast Interview

Today one of the podcasts I did an interview for last week was released. It's Scifi Surplus Episode 122.. you can listen to it here. It turned out pretty good.. I don't sound too stupid. Take a listen and let me know what you think.

Family and Shopping

Today Harry and I finally were able to go down and visit my Dad, Brother, Sis-in-law and Nephew. We've been trying to do that for almost a month but something kept preventing us from doing so. But today we made it down there. We first went to our favorite Chinese place, Hong Kong and had lunch with Dad. We when went shopping. We hit World Market first and got a rug for the master bathroom. We then hit Bed Bath Beyond and found some stuff but decided to hold off because we had a coupon at home. We then headed to Ross and we found this beautiful "old" looking clock that we have been wanting to get for our TV room. It's now going to be used in our Dining room since we no longer have room in the TV room. After that we headed to Kohl's and found alot of cool things.. some nice Tshirts, some candle sticks, and a really neat hour glass. We also found the perfect coffee table/ottoman but it was a bit expensive and I had another coupon at home so will go back later to get it. After that we drove over to Walmart to see if we could find some boots for Harry. While we didn't get any boots we did get some bathroom accessories (rugs, and matching toothbrush holder, trash can, and soap dishes).

After that we headed back and hung out with the family and played with Kenobi a bit. Harry also worked on Lora's computer to try and get her pictures off of her blackberry.. which he did.

All in all it was a great day hanging with Family.

WE FINISHED THE HOUSE

Today we "officially" finished the house, meaning painting the inside. I know I said that a few weeks ago but this time it's true.

I finished the Master Bathroom and Harry finished the Laundry room. We may still do some touch ups here and there but the house is 99.9% is done and I couldn't be more excited. Of course we still have to hang pictures and accessories and then move on to the outside of the house and yard. Well all this hard work is so worth it knowing that this place is ours.

What's Going On!!!!

Today like the past three weeks was a very hellish day of work.. It just seems like everything that can go wrong does go wrong and they everyone is on edge and snapping at each other. I sure hope next week goes smoother.. I'm getting tired of being stressed out.

Comic Con Passes

Today I got an email informing me that they accepted my professional status and I was able to get my 2 free passes to 2010's San Diego Comic Con.

This will be my eighth year but this year I had to send in proof that I am a qualified creative professional. This process has to happen every three years and this was my year. They're more strict now when it comes to allowing professionals in for free. It use to be that anyone working on the Entertainment industry could get in for free.. but now that it's uber popular they changed to allowing only "creative" professionals online. And I wasn't sure being a Post Production Supervisor qualified anymore. Well I send in my IMDB page (which is now three pages long) and a note explaining my work on The Guild and a week later I got my email.. whooo hooo.

So I quickly snapped up my 2 free tickets and already booking my hotel last August I am ready for comic con... I can't wait.

My Mornings

Folk often ask me why we live so far from the city.. beside the noise, pollutions and crowds.. this is why we live an hour north of Los Angeles... and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Several Interviews

Today after work I had an online meeting to do an interview for a Browncoat podcast. I have been chatting alot with Michael who is the writer, director, producer of a new fan made Firefly movie called Browncoats : Redemption. Anyways Casey is the guy doing their podcasts and they were interested in interviewing me, because I work on the Guild and it stars Felicia Day who is associated with Joss through Dr. Horrible and Buffy and Joss of course the creator of Firefly.

Now if you are a true geek you will have understood that .. if you didn't understand I'm sorry. I figured it would be a quick interview but when I started I found out that I was actually interviewing for two podcasts. Casey not only does the Browncoat one but he also does one called Scifi Surplus. So this quick interview turned into an hour interview but it was a lot of fun and as soon as they are released I will pass on the info here.

The Underland Chronicles

My buddy Christopher turned me on to this new book series called The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins. He knew I was a HUGE Harry Potter fanatic and mentioned that these books are in the same vein as those and that I would enjoy them.

Well he was right.. I listened to the first book Gregor The Overlander while driving to and from work.. I laughed out loud, I sob, I loved it. The books are fairly short and go by in no time. I knew this series had me when I starting crying.. no balling over a cockroach. Of course as soon as I finished book 1 I had to find the others, there is a total of 5 books in this series. Well I breezed through the second book called, Gregor and the Prophecy of Band and loved every wild minute of it.. I just started the third book Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods and so far, I'm still very early in the story, I'm enjoying it.

When I first started to listen to the first book I said it felt like a kids book, but as it went I got more and more into the story and truly fell in love with the characters. And of course like the Harry Potter books they are getting more detailed and more complex as they go.

Here's a synopsis of the story: "The Underland Chronicles" is a five-part series of fantasy novels written by Suzanne Collins between 2003 and 2007. It tells the story of a boy named Gregor and his adventures in a land, called the "Underland", hidden under New York City. The Underland is inhabited by humans, who live in the stone city of Regalia, along with various giant versions of such creatures as bats, cockroaches, rats, and spiders. According to the author, the series involves many topics relating to war, including biological warfare, genocide, and military intelligence.

Knights of the Guild Ep 14 pt1

Show Notes: http://knightsoftheguild.com

Here it is Episode 14 part 1 of Knights of the Guild. We hope you enjoy it.
Today’s show features:
• * First up we have a Vorkism.
• * We are recording this weeks podcast live on Ustream from our beautiful studios in Agua Dulce
• * We discuss the latest Guild News
• * We have a fun fan Interview with Eric Butterly
• * We find out what the cast and crew are up too.
• * We read listener feedback
• * We announce our contest and winner
• * Then Business Time and Good bye
This podcast was recorded live, you can watch the video on our UStream channel - http://www.ustream.tv/channel/knights-of-the-guild You do need a password to access it. The password is KOTG
Thank you again for all your support, we do this podcast because we are fans and more importantly for the fans.
Kenny & Jenni
Other Important Links
• Knights of the Guild Feeds/Downloads http://knightsoftheguild.com
• Knights of the Guild Daily Blog http://knightsoftheguildpodcast.blogspot.com/

Podcast is done

After being sick and painting I finished leveling , converting and uploading the latest KOTG podcast. I also built the blog page and everything is ready to go for release tomorrow (well at midnight).

Beside that I organized all our Knights of the Guild shwag as well as prepared about eight package for shipping (KOTG shirts and autographs).

All in all it was a very productive weekend.

Finally Finnished

Woke up not feeling so well today.. haven't been sleeping well the past few weeks. I was suppose to visit my Dad, Brother, Sis-n-law, and Nephew but didn't feel up for the drive and didn't want to pass on whatever it is I have. So I opted to stay home

I did feel a little better in the day so I finally finished re-painting the Master Bathroom.. it's done and looks great. Now all I have to do is clean up everything and I'll be done. Been painting since September but both Harry and I are finally done with the painting of the inside of the house.. next up is the outside.

Editing a Podcast

Well this podcast is due in 2 days and I'm finally getting around to assembling it. It's a pretty straight forward edit job.. there were a few things I need to record and cut in but all in all it was a good edit.. now I just have to level the audio, convert it and upload it.. oh and I still need to build the blog page for it.. think I'll do that tomorrow.

More Painting

We have been putting painting the master bathroom off for weeks.. well it's actually re-painting it as our contractor who we paid to paint it did a crappy job. Well today I finally bite the bullet and started. While I painted the master bathroom, Harry painted (again re-painted) the laundry room. Did quite get everything done but will finish for sure tomorrow.

Stupid People

Today I had to get off work early and head to a meeting with our Yucca Hills Neighbors. It sees that one of the guys how owes part of our dirt road (Yucca Hills Road) wants to fence it in, which would of course mean we wouldn't be able to get in or out of our place. Of course this is illegal as the road it our sole source of getting to ours and many others houses. These are called Easements and those are roads that you may own but are used by others and must remain clear.

So we went to a lawyers house who happens to be neighbors with this guy. A bunch of people showed up and I had no idea how much animosity and hatred everyone had for each other. The debates were heated and we weren't even talking about the guy blocking our road. It was very chaotic and in the end everyone agreed to a "wait and see" before pursuing costly lawsuits.

The one good thing about this is we got to meet our immediate neighbors who seemed like really nice people.

So now we wait and see what this crazy guy is going to do. If he puts the fence up will just knock it down and if he does it again.. will continue to knock it down. We have the law, sheriff and fire department on our side.

Off with my Golden Locks

I have been going back and forth with cutting my hair. I haven't had long curly hair in a while since I always worried about the thinning top. Now that I don't care I grew out my hair and was loving it. The thing with my hair is when it gets long it starts to look messing.. not the good messy but the messy messy.. so I highlighted it hoping that would help. I loved the blond tips but it continued to cause me issues. I debated on cutting it all off a few times during the last week but finally tonight enough was enough and I had Harry shave my head. Of course as soon as it's all gone I miss it.. but it's only hair and it will grow back.

Editing a Podcast

Today, unlike the past few weeks, I had some down time at work so I took this opportunity to edit some more of Knights of the Guild podcast as it's due in a few days. This Knights of the Guild podcast is alot work but it's very rewarding work so I don't mind spending extra hours of free time working on it.. now if I could only get paid for podcasting.. I would be a much happier guy.

Taxes

Today at lunch I was able to get over to my Tax guy and sign the forms.. so now they can be mailed in.. should be getting my rebate checks in a month or so.

Happy Anniversary

Today seven years ago I got a response to my yahoo personal ad and my life would never be the same.

Goodies

Tonight when I got home from work there was a package waiting for me.. it was from England and I knew exactly what it was. A few weeks ago my friend Markus from England sent me a link to a TV remote control that looked like a magical wand. Of course I flipped out and he offered to buy it for me for a house warming present. He then wanted to get Harry something as well (even though he doesn't really know him) and suggested various chocolate sold in England. So today I got the package and opened it up.. of course there was an AWESOME wand but then there was a boat load of candy.. so many different kinds of chocolate. Could believe how much he sent.. As for the Wand I can't wait to activate it this weekend and see if I can change my channel with a flick of the wand.

Editing the Podcast

Taking a break for the stress of work and doing a little editing of my Knights of the Guild podcast. Episode 14 part 1 is due in a few days and I figured I can do some editing while taking a break from work. Will see how far I get.

Tron Legacy

I loved Tron as a kid and saw the first movie in the drive in. I still love watching it here and there on DVD and now they are finally making s sequel.. here's the teaser trailer.

Oscars

This was a 3 and a half hour Oscar show. Jenni stayed after the podcast to watch it with Harry and I so we had to watch it live (which I never do). I would say 95% of the winners were as expected so there wasn't much excitement. I'm happy that Sandra Bullock won for Best Actress as I have been a huge fan of hers for years and enjoyed her performance in The Blind Side. I was hoping for Avatar to take Best Picture but wasn't surprised when The Hurt Locker won instead as The Hurt Locker director won as well.

One of the highlights of this Oscars were the co-hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin... both were very funny and entertaining. They had some odd camera angles and the stars didn't seem to excited whenever a camera was in their face. There were a few WTF moments but for the most part it was just an okay Oscars... guess there is always next years.

Recording a Podcast

Today Jenni stopped by the studio (my house) and we recorded Episode 14 part 1 & 2. We recorded live on Ustream.. you can watch the video here. (password KOTG)

It was our first episode after our fun filled 1 year anniversary special. It was alot of fun to get back to our regular format show. Still have a few audio issues with our interviewees and the video stumbled a bit but it seemed that our listeners/viewers enjoyed the show. Going to edit up part 1 and will release it on March 15th. While part 2 will be released on April 1st.

Hope you guys enjoy it.

Being Sick Sucks

Today we, Harry and I, were suppose to go visit family. But I had a horrible sleep last night and I think with all the stress of work this past week my body took a day off. I had headaches, ear aches, body aches, stomach issues and sinus issues. I wasn't up for visiting, I wasn't up for much. I did feel a bit better toward the end of the day.. enough to attempt to paint the master bathroom but only got as far as taping off some things. I know better then to get so stressed out that I make myself sick.. but sometimes it unavoidable.

Horrible Week

This week has finally come to an end.. I knew on Tuesday that this week was bad but I didn't think it could get worse.. well it did. It got so bad that I tweeted " I HATE THIS JOB " and at that moment I did... I had enough!!! If I didn't own a house I would have quit after this horrible week. I won't go into details here but all I can hope for is a better week next week.

Podcasting Network

Like I'm not busy enough I have taken on a very big project. About a year or so ago my friend Jen and I who co-host The Ready Room podcast, ventured out to create our own podcasts. Jen with Anomaly and myself with Knights of the Guild. We talked back then about creating a Podcast Network as we had several friend who also created their own podcasts; Meds with Waffle On, Rick with Take Him With You and Tim with AppyTimes. Nothing every came from it but it's always been in the back of our minds. Earlier this week the fires were stoked and the idea came back up to the for front and things started to happen. In a matter of a few days we have gotten 8 podcasts, 4 webseries, 1 blog and 1 audio drama who are interested in joining "this" network. We also picked out a name for this new group called "The Media Nexus". We also expanded this network to include all things geeky in web media, like podcasting, webseries, video blogs, web comics, blogs and audio dramas. Our next step is to figure out what we want this "Nexus" to include, ie forums, chat room, etc... And then we start to design the logo and main website. It's going to be lots of work but in the end I hope we create a wonderful Hub of Geeky web media.. and in time maybe generate some revenue for those involved. I'll keep you posted.

Perks of Podcasting

One of many perks of podcasting for Knights of the Guild is getting gifts from listeners. Last night I got a package from a very cool guy and listener Adam aka @Belrand on twitter. He send both jenni (my co-host) and I a large box of Swedish Chocolate. Thanks buddy for the wonderful chocolate.

Week from Hell

I know it's only Tuesday but man the past two days have been some of the worst, most stressful days that I have ever had on a job. So much stuff going on and so much of it is beyond my control yet I am part of it. Post seems to always take on all the pressure. We set deadlines for a reason but for some reason "production" can't seem to hit any of them, though they are ones who initially create the deadlines. Some one post get stuck doing something that should take two weeks to do, because we get it late we have to pulled long hours and get it done within a week. It's the same way on every show I've worked on but this one in particular has been really bad. End the end we are all dead for overwork but we manage to get a great show out.. and I guess that's all that matters.. but man sometimes the journey can be rough. and so far this week has been rough.

Taxes

Today on my very late lunch I stopped by my Tax guy and dropped off the last of my house paperwork that was needed to get the $8000 refund from the government for being a first time home buyer... so now all I have to do is go back and sign the paper work when done and my 2009 taxes will be done.

My Buddy Greg

My friend Greg Aronowitz has posted his third part to The Making of Codex's Staff video blog.

The entire thing is hilarious. Felicia and Greg together are priceless.. it's a must see.

You can check out all three parts at http://barnyardfx.blogspot.com/

They are also auctioning off the Staff on Ebay here..

Knights of the Guild Ep 13 pt2

Show Notes:

Our 1 year anniversary continues.. This Episode guests; Felicia, Kim, Michele, Brian, Fernie, Andrew, Will, Mel, Jay, Greg, Jared, Sean, Megan and Ray join in on the fun.





This podcast is an edited version of our live podcast on Ustream. You can watch the entire 5 hours here http://www.ustream.tv/channel/knights-of-the-guild Password for UStream is KOTG

Today’s show features:

• * First up we have a Vorkism.
• * We are recording this weeks podcast live from our studio.
• * We sit down and do a group interview with Fernando Chien, Michele Boyd, Sean Becker, Greg Aronowitz, Kim Evey and Felicia Day
• * Our guest read entries for our “Favorite Moment” contest and we announce the winner.
• * Our friend Jay is back with part 2 of his Epic Unicorn Poem
• * Our friend Will wrote and will preform his Jazzy/Blues song for our 1 year anniversary
• * We then have a Very Special Business Time and say goodbye

Thank you again for all your support, we do this podcast because we are fans and more importantly for the fans.

Kenny & Jenni

Other Important Links

• Knights of the Guild Feeds/Downloads http://knightsoftheguild.com
• Knights of the Guild Daily Blog http://knightsoftheguildpodcast.blogspot.com/