Alright, we’ll start with a big death.  Graham Greene died the other day.  I’ve only seen him in a few things myself but I remember him being a dry wit and a classic straight man.  Two things I’ve always respected and appreciated.  What’s really interesting is that I heard about his passing in the fifteen seconds I spent on Twitter the other day and not through an AP notification on my phone.  Do with that information what you will.

     Now then, as you may know, I’m a huge fuckin’ nerd.  One thing I’ve always enjoyed is Quantum Leap.  I watched that show all the time when I was younger.  It perhaps initiated my interest in time travel.  I mean that and Back to the Future, obviously.  I was happy to hear about the new series a few years back but I didn’t have the means to watch TV live then.  Or I was distracted, in either case, I didn’t make the effort to watch during its initial run.  I finally watched the new Quantum Leap the other day.  I really enjoyed it.  It’s effectively a sequel to the original series.  Continuing the story instead of retelling it.  I was expecting a cameo at some point, running into Sam Beckett mid-leap or something but they didn’t do it.  Ultimately I think I prefer it that way.  I think I need to watch through the original series, one show I haven’t watched beginning to end yet but I will.  There were references to the original series that I want to follow up.  Long story a little bit shorter, I really enjoy the new Quantum Leap series and am a little sad it only got two seasons.

     One more thing.  I can start fully promoting my Panel at LA Comic Con this month.  So, now that the new app for LA Comic Con will be released today I can start telling you that Podcasting for Beginners will be twelve noon on Sunday in room 402a.  Come on by, it’ll be fun!

     If anyone was concerned that I’ve run out of shit about which to bitch, good news!  My god damn car shit is starting again.  A few weeks ago I paid upfront some of the money to rebuild the engine in my Mini so, of course my Accord starts acting up driving it back and forth to San Diego and then after driving to Bakersfield I finally remember to top off the oil and then it dies on the side of the highway.  I have some ideas of what could be wrong and ideally it’ll be just one of those things.  At most just all those things.  What I’m thinking right now are all things I can fix myself, even with my Haynes Manual still sitting in a tote in storage.  If the problem is more than that, I’ll possibly have to find a shop.  And there are few things still alive that I hate more than trying to find a mechanic.  I’ve been fortunate so far to that point but I’d rather not push my luck.

     Alright, here’s some good news so I don’t hear shit from my friends like “You’re so negative.” or “You only get out of something what you put into it.” or some other thoughtlessly regurgitated pseudo-optimistic trite.  Also, don’t tell my old English teachers that I just used the word trite in a sentence.  I’m getting more and more excited for LA Comic Con next month!  The panels are scheduled, those schedules are close to being locked in, and we’ll be able to start advertising that schedule when the app gets updated for this show.  Possibly as soon as next week.  What I can say right now is that if you’re looking to start a podcast and you’re going to LA Comic Con, I’m hosting the panel Podcasting for Beginners.  Come on by and we’ll get your podcast started.  If nothing else, it should be fun watching me simultaneously half-ass both a live performance and borderline educational lecture.

     This week I went out to a couple of meet ups.  Meeting some new people who happen to be doing I’d like to be doing professionally and of course, not exchanging contact information with anyone.  If nothing else comes from this, I have a couple new places I like to hang around.  The Messhall and The High Low.  Both in Los Feliz, both on Los Feliz Blvd., and both have great cheeseburgers!  They each have really cool atmosphere and a neighborhood bar aesthetic that I’ve always been interested in growing up watching Cheers.  I’ve only seen these places on slow nights with these scheduled events but I recommend not waiting for the weekend to check out these places.  They’re absolutely worth the time!

I meant to do this for Tuesday but then I was lounging about after my work trip and then realized that I had to get ready for another work trip for this week.  I guess we’ll see what’s worthwhile in Bakersfield.  Other fun stuff.  I’ve seen a tentative schedule for the panel programming at this year’s LA Comic Con, we’re not permitted to advertise the schedule but it’s feeling far more real for me now.  I can’t wait until next month!  I do believe I am still allowed to say that the topic of my panel is Podcasting for Beginners.  I’m still preparing my remarks and looking for suggestions from anyone and/or everyone who want advice or motivation to start their own podcasts.  Reach out to me with whatever thoughts you have on the topic.  I’m wracking my brain retracing my experience podcasting to pick out tidbits I wish I’d known and done sooner.  It’s been awhile so I’m not sure if I’m recalling everything that can be useful.  I’m covering things like tech and gear, concepts and formatting, execution and motivation, and I’m fairly confident in the material I’ve got so far but I swear there’s something I’m missing.  Ultimately the question is “Everyone else has a podcast.  Why not you?” so, I guess I should touch on why people don’t have a podcast when they find themselves wanting to do one.

     Anyhow, I think it’s time to check up on Bottle Cap’s progress.  I don’t recall the exact date when we started this but it hasn’t been more than two months.  Bottle Cap has come quite a bit.  His stats at the start of this training were *0:13/00/09, that’s how I designate my pokémon to easily compare stats in the main screen.  Zero stars, Att: 13, Def: 00, HP: 09.  And now, after his training over however long his stats are *3:14/14/13.  Almost done now.  As of writing this, he just needs to be in the party winning eleven more raids.  Catch 1,467 more pokémon. And then, hatch seventeen more eggs and earn ten candies exploring with my buddy.  We have 311 days to complete these tasks.  I’m confident we’ll get this done but until it IS done, ya know.  I can’t wait to have my four star shiny charizard, I’m so excited!!!  And I’m thinking I need to do something different about getting a girlfriend.  Another conundrum for another day, I suppose.  I haven’t gotten to meet Janina Gavankar yet but I haven’t given up on that dream yet.  But now my Accord is acting up so, who knows how things are going to play out for me at this point?  Blurgh, this is exactly what I need.  And now, photos of Bottle Cap…

So, there was a more deliberate choice to not post yesterday as opposed to my general laziness.  I scored a pass to see Nobody 2 and I was waiting to post so I could throw out here my review.  And here it is.

     Speaking of my laziness, I still haven’t watched Nobody.  I know, I’m terrible piece of shit for having not watched it yet.  I will.  I’ve always enjoyed Bob Odenkirk in the things I’ve seen of him before but this film made me truly a fan.  He portrays this character perfectly.  Playing the the middle-aged, unconfident father against the hyper violence of the covert cleaner is a tricky dichotomy to balance and he pulls it off.  The other big thing is the violence specifically.  In the establishing fight scenes, they were just enough slapstick to keep the flow of the action interesting without relying too heavily on just escalating the violence.  Honestly, I was thinking the whole time just how reminiscent of Jackie Chan’s films these fight sequences are.  Dynamic and amusing, and THEN you realize that someone just got dismembered by the shrapnel of an exploding car.  But then with the final conflict, the violence gets perfectly escalated.  There are number of very creative kills in this sequence.  Truly an homage to the now classic climaxes of the great summer smash action movies that I grew up watching in the eighties and nineties.  The setting and the story of this film are by no means cliché.  Setting this film in an amusement park speaks most specifically to many of my childhood fantasies of fighting ninja on flume rides and crossing blades with pirates on ferris wheels.  All in all, this is a fantastic film!  Fun and entertaining, technically well executed, and now it’s one of my favorites.  And if this is the last thing Christopher Lloyd does before his absolutely deserved retirement, I believe he has now officially done it all.  Long story short, I very much enjoyed this movie and strongly recommend it to everyone with sufficient constitution to watch this degree of violence.

     I’m on another work trip and will be in San Diego for a few days.  It’s looking like by Tuesday I’ll have another update on Bottle Cap’s progress.  And for new readers here, Bottle Cap is my shiny charmander on my primary Pokémon GO account to whom I gave the new bottle cap item.  We’ve been making good progress training him up to four stars or as some would register it, 100% IV.  In short, that determines the maximum potential of a pokémon in GO.  I wrote on all of this a few weeks ago when we started this endeavor.  At any rate, new update on our progress next Tuesday.

     Also, I’m still looking for suggestions of topics to discuss in my panel for Los Angeles Comic Con.  The title for my panel is Podcasting for Beginners.  I’m looking to answer to any questions anyone has about starting up their own podcasts.  If any of you have any questions about podcasting, feel free to send those questions to me via e-mail, timflood@comedyshedradio.com.  Any questions I get I’ll answer on mic in the panel.  I’m planning to record the panel and release in the Redstone Diaries feed.  The organizers haven’t released the scheduling yet but ideally we’ll be able advertise that information soon.  I can’t wait!  This is going to be so much fun!

I was going to talk about something but then I forgot what it was.  So, last night I played in a weekly D&D game.  And when I say my character died, I mean my D&D character and not an aspect of my psyche.  My character, Uk’as Twirleyes, a tabaxi rogue-ish fighter…or a fight-ey rogue…I haven’t decided exactly yet.  Anyway, Uk’as Twirleyes died last night.  Disintegrated by a beholder, on an asteroid I think, you know me and fantasy stuff.  He died heroically with fighting alongside his allies, Akryn Whitemantle and Erdrick Dotsler, while defending a giant or something.  Again, fantasy.  Uk’as stood up to oppose a necromancer, named for a character from something with which I’m not super familiar.  And when his friends were consumed by a mysterious dark magic, as Uk’as secured himself to the ground with his short swords.  Seeing his party mates drawn into the darkness and thinking more quickly than Tim, he tied one end of his rope to an anchoring sword and tied the other end around his waist whilst jumping into the unknown.  Finding there his allies and a beholder, shooting eye lasers or something, I don’t get it.  After a couple of successful attacks Tim started shitting every bed with his Dexterity saves…DEXTERITY SAVES, GOD DAMN IT!  For context, Uk’as has +7 for DEX saves!  How shitty were my rolls to blow that?!  At any rate, the beholder tagged him with a disintegration ray…this isn’t half assed sci/fi, how?!  So, his teammates striving to hold their feelings to mourn once the danger passes, fill their pockets with Uk’as dust with the hope of one day resurrecting their fallen comrade, and trap the beholder wherever it was that it needs such a wacky elevator.

     Uk’as will be missed but it’s all magic I guess so, he might come back and apparently leveled up.  Gaining a level posthumously is no less honorable but certainly much funnier.

     That’s pretty much all I’ve got right now.  Stay tuned, I’ve got some things coming up…oh wait, I already wrote about my panel at Los Angeles Comic Con.  Yeah, that’s pretty much all I got now.  Later.