The Wonderful World of Podcasting

So if you know me, I've been talking about starting a podcast for a while. My friend Julian and I came together over Spring Break to record a couple and really liked what we had done, but we didn't have the funds in place to begin.

So when E3 started last week, we knew we wanted to talk about it. So all of the pre-work began from there. Right now we have a friend working on a logo, we have a web designer working on permanent web space and we actually have some financial backing. Things are looking pretty good out of the gate and I'm very excited.

I'm not thinking of this as a "financial support" dream, but as something fun to do while I increase my internet audience, even if it's by a small margin.

I would also like to thank Jenni Powell and Kenny Mittleider from the Knights of the Guild podcast for being an inspiration to a true fan and community experience and I hope that The Watch can attain even a fraction of the awesomeness that they produce.

So I would like to introduce the first of many episodes of "The Watch"

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Not a Joke, Not a Dork, Not a Failure

I know I vlogged about it, but MAN DID I HAVE AN AWESOME WEEK! Yesterday was the beginning of the next one and so far, not too shabby. Yeah, it's Monday morning, rather early I might add, but what the hell.

As the road to (possible) graduation leads to the meeting I am going to have in an hour, I can't help to look around and wonder what is next. I have a steady, if not lack luster, job and the promise of production work makes my heart a-flutter with joy that I'm getting closer and closer to mainstream New Media work. Of course I want to write my own material to have produced, but with my brain all jangled with necessary school thinkings, it seems less than possible. I have been trying to come up with pitches for a project that I can't really talk about that includes the rest of Soapbox, but I having had good enough time. I have a short that I am really proud of that I want to shoot, but I want more people to check it out and give me opinions to see if I should make a third draft. It's dramatic and shiz like that and Wilder said that it was good, but one of the most depressing things that he has ever read. That makes me proud.

Aside from that, the Soapboxmen have a few sketches in the pipe that we are going to shoot as soon as we come together again. Julian is back in June, Wilder is back in May and Ezra is just a freeway away. Yes, Dragonslash is still happening, but HOW is the question. *WINK* To tell the truth, I'm still giddy that Greg Benson liked the show. Oh snap dragons is that awesome.

Julian and I have recorded three podcasts, but the language of Podbean was misleading, so we have yet to raise the funds for a paid account. I think this means to wait until he comes back and until I get better hardware for recording. (Rock Band mics for the win!)

Oh GameStop, how I love thee, but thee are getting meh. So we have a new district manager and he does not like our performance. So now, each employee has to get two or three game reservation and one GameInformer subscription per shift. This means that we have to forgo our usual customer service and change into the money grubbing assholes that the internet hates. I have been trying to get any friend that wants to get games that are coming out to come in, but to no avail. Yet I still managed to hit my quota last week, I have two longer shifts this week, so my expectations are rather high. I guess the problem I have is that we've always had great customer service and we get complimented for it. The problem with THAT is that it doesn't reflect on our numbers, so corporate can't tell that we exist. Wonderful conundrum.

Also, I can't WAIT for my first trip to Don the Beachcomber's next Saturday for the Tiki Bar TV 5th-niversary.

Bottom Line: Life is starting. Hooray?

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The Fire Still Burns

It's now less than a month until finals are to be completed. I have too many projects to count in what seems like not enough time to do it in. The hardest part will be staying sane throughout it all. The less sleep I get, the more loopy I'll end up. Yet the more I dive into my directing project of Abe Lincoln in Illinois, the further I delve into my own psyche, it seems. Also on my recent trip to San Francisco, he followed me. I saw several Lincolns staring back me as sort of a way to either remind me about my project or remind me of who I should be. I have taken a lot of his words to heart, as seen in a previous post, and I wish to achieve what I set my mind to with good intentions.

Also, my psyche has been affected by the music in my head, not the voices this time! I kid of course, but a lot of what I have been listening to has been related to liberation and freedom. So in this mindset, I'm rather rebellious in my limited capacity. There's really only one area of my life in which I feel "oppressed" is in, you guessed it, my Computer Fluency class. For a tiny rant, I will say this. Every time I do an assignment, I write what I want to first and then alter it in order to fit his specifications. When I get the paper back, I get graded down despite writing to his specifications and feel like I'm not being treated fairly. I think he knows of my fury for this class and is now grading as such. I have one hope left, my term paper about New Media. I want to write something I'm proud of, but I don't want to fail this stupid course.

Also, I told my mother about the possibility of having to stay for an additional semester. She doesn't want me to walk if that's the case. I don't think that's fair. Just because I have to come back for ONE MO EFFIN UNIT, she doesn't want me to walk. My department changed its curriculum in the middle of my schooling and as a result, my schedule got messed up and my requirements may not be met despite my being "on course". I have the units to graduate, but my requirements may need some saving. If I have to stay another semester, needless to say I will be very upset. In the tumult that is education, especially at my school right now, taking a student space away from someone who needs to get more done than I do is just plain stupid and I don't want to force my parents to pay a huuuuge amount for tuition just for 1 unit. After taking a look at my possible outcome, I would only have to reroute two requirements in order for big success, seems a lot more possible than I expected.

With what short time I hope I have left in college I don't have an urge to "leave my mark", excuse the pun. I want to save that for my future. I already have another production job in June and will hopefully have one at the end of may. A few people know this, but I set a personal goal for myself at the beginning of my college years. I set to get a job in the entertainment industry before I graduated. I feel like I have achieved my goal and it's an amazing feeling. Aside from that I have a job at GameStop and I also have a job that I can always go to doing tree work. It's a physical day job that I have been in and out of for a few years. It's a good days work and a good days pay so if anything, I plan on establishing myself financially.

Bottom Line: It's New Frontier time. Hold on tight.

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Wrestle-MEH-nia

Another year, another Wrestlemania. This years theme seemed to be mediocrity. Overall, it was an okay show, but nothing really too special. There weren't any huge entrances and the one that seemed big was both very anticlimactic and something that TNA did on broadcast TV. The show order was clunky and some of the matches were embarrassing. Sitting on the couch next to two of my friends who actually are wrestling professionally gave an even deeper perspective to my lifelong fandom and analyzation. The following is a match to match quick blurb, in order.

Starting off with a tag team title match featuring a recently formed tag team as the faces seemed odd, but again the WWE shows it's half-hearted attempt to push R-Truth. It was a strong opening, but Big Show seemed really sloppy. When he took Truth to the corner pole, it looked like he just dropped him and his K.O. punch was half-assed. It was a quick match, but I guess Show just wanted to get to the bar.

The triple threat match with Legacy had the makings to be a good match and it kind of was. The betrayal happened at the right time and Orton was a crazed maniac. They were all bad guys, so to hear them the most sadistic, Orton, was a bit surprising. I mean, yeah, DiBiase and Rhodes picked on him technically making him the face, but he was still acting like an asshole. The Double Middle Rope DDT was awesome and called by Hanes Classic. Good match, but too predictable.

Money in the Bank with too many young kids compared to people who could actually win it. If the company wants us to believe that any one can win, stop putting the younger kids (and Shelton Benjamin) in the match. Coming into the match, Christian, Kane, Matt Hardy and Drew McIntyre seemed like the most likely winners compared to everyone else. Kofi, Benjamin and Bourne were in there for the high spots and the rest were just fodder for those spots. Kofi attempted to repeat Sheltons spot from a few years ago on Kane, but botched only to be powerbombed by Kane on to the ladder he climbed. Evan Bourne needs to do more. That man is insane and has constantly been having good showings in every match he's had. Pulling a Shooting Star Press from essentially the middle rope was just plain awesome. The highlight of the amazing was Kofi using the two halves of a broken ladder as stilts to get to the middle of the ring. It was a little bit more than a spot fest, but it was a great match for the event. And then the ending happened. Jack Swagger knocked my boy Christian off of the ladder and took literally 20 seconds to get the case down. Schmuck. I want him to be the first person to fail when he tries.

Following that with the Triple H and Sheamus match was a kind of good way to keep the high going. Considering that this was a Student vs. Teacher match, it was rather clean. Not really much to talk about here, but it was a good solid match with Triple H coming out the victor. Good end to a good match, but it was surprising to see that it was the undercard compared to the following match.

Every year, Rey Mysterio comes to the ring dressed in a fantastical way. Usually it's a Superhero, but one year he dressed as an Aztec warrior for his World Title match. This year, in his match against CM Punk he came to the ring dressed as a god-damned Na'Vi.



I don't like it. I don't know if too many people know this, but I actively chose NOT to see Avatar in theatres because everyone was telling me what kind of an experience it was. If it's a good movie, I can watch it at home and enjoy it. ANYWAY, the Punk and Mysterio match went rather well with a clean match from Punk. He hasn't been too clean or varied since he came to the company, but I always had respect because of his Indy background. At Wrestlemania it seems like he finally stepped up and will be rather consistent. Mysterio picked up the win after cleaning out Gallows to a great pop. Good match, my brother is actually starting to like CM Punk. Good work.

At this point, the talk of the 10-Diva tag match kept coming up as the card was getting even more epic. Up next was the Bret Hart and McMahon confrontation. It wasn't a match, it was a no holds barred fight. Okay, so in WWE's mind, a fight 13 years in the making is LESS important than a 10-Diva tag match. Okay, I'll go with it.

Bret comes out in jean shorts and a T-shirt, this is definitely not going to be a match. Vince comes out and brings the rest of the living Hart family with him, including the New Hart Foundation, and says that he paid them to be his lumberjacks. Also, Bret's brother Bruce was going to be the special guest referee. First off, if this was something so important to Bret, the family wouldn't side with Vince. This hunch seems to be true as it was a double cross! What follows is a gratuitous beating from the Hart family. Not only the Foundation, who gave what looked like a terrible bump to Vince on the outside, but the rest of the family got some hits in. Bret teased the Sharpshooter early on to a lot of cheers, but didn't do it. McMahon ended up grabbing a pry bar that was under the ring (for some reason), but got it taken by Bret and used on him. After at least 10 shots to random parts of McMahon and teasing the Sharpshooter again twice, a chair was brought in. Some shots were clean, some were taken by McMahon pretty brutally, even after the banning of Head Shots. After a shot to the legs, Bret slapped on the Sharpshooter and won, and the crowd was relieved. The massacre could stop. The fans were happy? What a match?

Up next is the World Heavyweight Title Match. I guess the Divas match was cancelled. The champion comes out first, in an odd change. Also, Edge won the Royal Rumble, didn't that mean that he MAIN EVENTS Wrestlemania? Being the third to last match kinda sucks. After building up the Spear as the decider in the match, a good one never got off. Jericho won after a title belt to the face and a Code Breaker. "Clean" finish to a pretty good match, but it wasn't over for Edge. After making a joke earlier that Edge would spear Jericho through the Announcers table, it kind of happened! Edge on one table, Jericho on the other and Edge speared Jericho through the Time Keepers table. Pretty good end and Edge will be back for the title later.

So it's time for the WWE....wait what? What are the Divas coming out for? They're actually having it? So in the mind of the WWE, a Royal Rumble winners "Main Event" title match for revenge and the 13 year in the making revenge fan service are and undercard compared to the 10-Diva tag match featuring Vicky Guerrero. Who the fuck made that decision? Now before the match even started and without making a comment on how the match played out this is automatically a bad decision. How did the match play out? Everybody did their finishing moves and Vickie landed what was called a "Hog Splash" to win the match. The match was quick and I have something to say later about the Hog Splash thing. This should have either started the show or been left out, it was a waste of time.

So the WWE Title match was supposed to save us from the ridiculousness that was the previous match, but it was an absolute botch fest. Batista was very sloppy and Cena wasn't doing enough to garner a positive reaction. Just being a face and going through the motions isn't enough for the top title match. The story behind the match wasn't as strong as the Edge and Jericho Match, so it's placement seemed like a pure fan service. It ended with the STFU, which is one of the worst STF's I've ever seen. At least Cena has a sense of humor as after he won the title, he went ringside and celebrated with a group of fans wearing "We Hate Cena" shirts with a big ole smirk on his face. Good show Cena.



It was somewhat surprising to see the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels match as the main event. Hell, Flair didn't get the main event for his retirement match. Needless to say, this match shows why these guys are the best in the business. Taker is taking some time off to get surgery and heal and Shawn is taking a break to watch his kids grow up. Some great surprises including me calling a moonsault from the ring to the Announce Table from Michaels. Michaels never say die attitude and is somewhat "FINISH THE JOB" attitude at the end of the match were really epic, though it didn't top his "I love you. I'm sorry." from his match with Flair.

Conclusion: Very weird choices with this years Wrestlemania. A lot of heels won, which is weird for a Wrestlemania.

The tag match had a short build, but should have made up for it with a good match.

Orton is going to be doing this for a long time and the rest of Legacy will probably be top billed in a few years.

Money in the Bank was a little underwhelming, but makes the case for more of the smaller guys to be in the spotlight.

Sheamus and HHH will probably keep going, soon there might be a title in the mix.

Punk is getting better and Rey looks like he'll keep going strong for years to come.

Hart got his revenge, McMahon is taking a vacation and the Hart family got paid really well.

I hope that one day Jericho proves how much of a heel he is by Tweeting in the ring during the match.

Pay Vicky and let her leave.

Cena needs a looooooong vacation from being the Champ.

Taker and Michaels are da best.

Last thing I'll mention is that both Rey and Vickie got onto the top rope and pointed to the Heavens to reference the late, great Eddie Guerrero. The problem that I had with it is that Rey goes for a Frog Splash and misses and Vickie did something that was referred to as the "Hog Splash". Eddie Guerrero was not only a great entertainer, but a great wrestler who will be always remembered. He was the first Mexican-American to win the WWE Champion and had storylines that varied from silly to creepy. I just think that they could have handled it better. Rey didn't have to win with the move, but hit it and if Vickie wasn't a heel, she could have called it something more respectable.

Bottom Line - I miss the good ole days of WWF.

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Obsession?

Disneyland has done a lot of things for different people. It presents a world where you can forget yourself and just be whatever you want to be. Sadly, a lot of parents take this opportunity to get into an attitude of "I HAVE TO MAKE MY CHILDREN ENJOY THEMSELVES, OTHER GUESTS BE DAMNED!" That's another story for another time.

For me, I found inspiration in a place that I would have never expected. Recently, a staple of Main Street USA opened back up. Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln was a presentation that was a combination of a tech demo of Audio Animatronics technology and Walt's love for Abe Lincoln. The speech has changed from being a "Best of" to the Gettysburg address and back again.

I went in with the notion of checking out the future of the technology that makes Disneyland classic rides awesome and found myself floored by the words of our 16th president. Now don't get me wrong, seeing it come from the man himself is strong enough, but I went back in for a second viewing even closer. It has now become a must-do on my Disneyland Annual Passholder Visit list. As Abe puts it, his words "aroused me as I had never been before." (Stop snickering)

Since this first visit, I haven't really been able to get away from him. In my cultural geography class, an article about Disneyland written by a nihilistic, emo bastard (my pet name for him) discussed the most negative thoughts about this attraction. Seeing as I had just been moved by our former presidents words I could not stand this man's accusation of it "creating an alternate reality where Lincoln never died." As a result, I read the entire speech from the attraction in front of my class and got a strong reaction of support for the attractions existence.

That same week, one of my new favorite websites, TeeFury.com, had a Lincoln related shirt. The idea behind TeeFury is that it has a shirt available for a day and then that's it. It's only about 11 bucks with shipping, so it's a great deal. The shirt I proudly wear can be seen below.



It also goes without saying that I eagerly await to get my hands on a copy of "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter", especially after seeing this promo for it.



Aside from that, I feel like my obsession with this great man has come in the form of one of the things that I love most, theatre. I'm in a directing class this semester, which is one of the necessary classes to graduate and usually one of the last. We had our choice for the scene, but I had a lot of trouble trying to find a scene to do. I didn't come into the department with a vast knowledge of shows, only the ones I had done and others by similar writers. I was about to go back to my drama teacher from High School to catch up and talk to him about borrowing a copy of "The Odd Couple", but then I remembered that I had a book of plays that I borrowed that belonged to him. I looked through the book and guess what I found? "Abe Lincoln in Illinois." I found a great scene to do and I am currently pending approval from my professor, but within the course of two months, I have surrounded myself with the awesomeness of our 16th president.

I don't know where it's going to go from here, but it can only get more awesome.

Bottom Line - Lincoln FTW

ThEnd

The Fire Burns Hotter at the End of the Highway

So I'm sitting here in my Computer Fluency 300 class, pondering suicide.

If I could describe the man in front of me without going into a violent rage, I would.

I may be over shooting my discontent with this man, but he isn't a good teacher. The things that I have learned in relation to this class haven't come from anything that he spoke about in class. He has bad social skills and I can't begin to tell you how minute every detail of every assignment has to be. I love writing. I get to express my opinions to a person that won't remember me a month after the class is over. To get a reaction out of that person is an amazing feeling.

This semester, for another class, I have to write a paper every week. I thought it was going to be hell, but the way my teacher presents the topics is very interesting and spurns an intelligent discussion about culture. I gladly sit in front of my computer and write 5 or 6 pages until the wee hours of the morning for this guy that I barely know because I have a lot of respect for him. He has earned my respect by being a teacher. Plain and simple he did his job. He engaged my brain to think about the different topics covered and as a result I am learning some great things.

I don't feel engaged in my computer class. My teacher stumbles and shows technological advancements that happened a year ago. In an industry that is constantly changing, you need a person that can adapt with it. I want to write about New Media and Web TV for my term paper, but I need to find an academic source about it. It's an emerging market! It started gaining huge press within the last few years. Does anybody have access to an Academic Journal that can write a note for me?

Here's the thing (Diggnation has affected me), every time I want to expand on what I know or write about what I am passionate about, I get stopped. I know it's my last semester, but I didn't think I'd be placed into a box. Isn't this the semester where I'm supposed to culminate what I learned? Aren't I supposed to apply my accumulated knowledge to finally break the cusp of childhood and prepare for "life"?

Bottom Line - WTF

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