Category Archives: Random Ramblings

Random posts not falling under any particular category

What the Heck is NaNoWriMo?

So a couple of weeks ago, I saw someone post a question on their Facebook page. They asked, “Who is doing NaNoWriMo this year?” I had no idea what that meant, so I was pretty sure I wasn’t doing it. The curiosity, though, was getting to me. What the heck was NaNoWriMo? I had no idea, so I went to the all-knowing internet and googled it. I found out it was National Novel Writing Month, and it was happening in November. So, I did something impulsive and crazy. I signed up for it and committed to writing a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. That works out to be between 175 and 250 page novel.

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My Thoughts on Supergirl

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This past Monday saw the premier of the latest DC television series, Supergirl. The series is brought to us by the same folks who brought us Arrow and The Flash, so expectations were pretty high. I was curious to see if the quality would be just as high as those two shows, or if this would be just a “girl version” of a superhero show. More on that later. It seems like the reception for the pilot has been pretty positive, which is a big deal. Make no mistake, she may wear the “S” ( I know, it’s not really an S) on her chest, but this was still a really big risk for DC. Historically speaking, female driven superhero titles have not been huge sellers. Partially, that’s because female superhero title haven’t been very good, historically speaking. Well, I have watched the pilot for Supergirl now, twice, and I have to say, I have a lot of hope that this series could rewrite history for the genre.

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Fun Halloween Films: Ghostbusters

I love Halloween time. It is one of my favorite times of year. Maybe it’s because it is in the Fall, or maybe it’s because of all the candy. The point is, I really enjoy it. Having kids, I have enjoyed it even more. It is a lot of fun planning costumes with them and seeing how excited they get to dress up and go trick or treating. Another thing I like about Halloween is watching the occasional “Halloween Film.” Like Christmas, there seems to be films that I watch only at this time of year. The only problem is, I can’t stand horror films. There are probably lots of reasons why I don’t like them, but maybe the most simple is that I just never got into them. They’re just not my jam (that’s right, I’m hip, so I can say things like “my jam”). So what movies do I like to curl up on the couch with that special someone and that special bowl of popcorn and watch during this time of year? This week, we will be giving you a list that you can turn into your very own Fun Halloween Movie Marathon.

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The 90s Kid brings us Gamtasia

Remember that Disney masterpiece, Fantasia? Our good friend, J. Leonard Dietz, aka The 90s Kid, has decided to try his hand at creating his own version. Instead of combining classical music with hand drawn animation (because, really who has the time?), he has combined classical music with gameplay from classic video games. He calls it Gamtasia, and his first video is perfect for Halloween as he combines the classical work “Danse Macabre” with the classic game Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. Check it out below:

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10 Favorite Cartoons

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I think our kids live in an amazing time as far as how they watch and what they have available to watch. Streaming has changed the world of content consumption, mostly for the better. I was thinking about this as my daughters were sitting down to watch yet another episode, in a row, of Doc McStuffins (Ugh…I guess I’m just not the intended audience). They can watch this show any time they want, thanks to services like Hulu and Netflix and Amazon Prime. It’s amazing. But, you know what they are missing out on? Saturday morning cartoons. Was there anything better than waking up on Saturday, knowing there was no school and then sitting down and watching something totally epic? I submit that there was nothing better than that. Of course, there are cartoons and anime films out there that are geared towards adults, like the kind of thing you might find on a website such as cartoonporno.xxx for example. The market for this is very expansive, and for every Rick and Morty out there there are countless others, like Horse Bojack and Bob’s Burgers. And of course, the questionable versions of them on animehentaivideos.xxx. But today, I want to talk about some of my favorite cartoons from growing up, so I put together a list. This list. This is not a ranking, so they will not be numbered (trust me, there’s 10), and it is by no means a comprehensive list. In other words, your favorite may not be on here. Share with us what your favorite was, if that’s the case. Mostly, this list was just for fun. I am not saying these were the best. These were simply 10 cartoons I have fond memories of, hopefully you do too.

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Bad Super Hero Movies that are Better than The Fantastic Four

In honor of the release of The Fantastic Four last weekend, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at some really bad superhero movies. Actually, what made me think of this was seeing that Batman & Robin was available on Netflix. I saw that and thought it would be fun to go over a list of bad superhero movies, maybe a list of the 5 worst superhero movies. Then FF came out and the whole mindset of this list changed. I have put together a list of really bad superhero movies that are better than FF. Better according to whom? Rotten Tomatoes, of course. If you haven’t heard, Fantastic Four is sporting a not so fantastic (yes, I went there) Rotten Tomatoes score of 9%. That is so horrendous that I felt like we needed to give some context. I went through a quick list of really bad comic book flicks and found that quite a few of the ones that are generally considered just awful actually scored better than FF. The only one that I thought of that didn’t was Catwoman, which tied  at 9%, so it wasn’t worse. Let’s begin the list and you’ll get the idea as we go along.

Amazing Spider-Man 2

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My first thought was to include Spider-Man 3, the original killer of the franchise, but it turns out this sequel was lower on the tomato scale, coming in at 53%, less that Spider-Man 3’s 63% (really?! 63%?  Wow.). Both films suffer from way too many bad guys and not enough good story or character development. Amazing 2, however, was the one that finally forced Sony to consider working with Marvel, instead of against them. This film was bewildering for me. Was Electro the bad guy, or was it the Goblin, and why was Rhino even in it at all? I give them credit for “going there” with Gwen Stacey’s death, but it wasn’t enough to cover up everything else that was wrong with the film. It was too bad, because I thought the franchise had so much potential. As bad as it was, though, it almost 6 times better than Fantastic Four. Honorable Mention: Spider-Man 3 63%

Elektra

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I really wanted Daredevil to be on this list, but as I went through these movies, I remembered that there was this quasi-sequel that probably belonged more. Daredevil was a bad movie, scoring only 44% on Rotten Tomatoes. You know what makes an even worse movie? When you make a kind of sequel to a horrible movie starring one of the side characters. This was a bad idea from the start, and when I look at the reviews and the images from the film, I am just thankful that Daredevil and all the characters that go along with him are back in the Marvel fold. The score for this movie is 10% on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s still 1% better than Fantastic Four. Honorable Mention: Daredevil 44%

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

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There was a time in the late 00’s when Fox was just done with the X-Men. First they made X-Men: The Last Stand, which was almost laughably bad, then they decided to take it even further by trying to ruin all the coolest X-Men characters and one of the better origin stories, all with the same movie. That Masterpiece of disaster was X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I don’t know how this movie gets made. The pitch had to be “We want to take Wolverine’s awesome origin story and just ruin it completely. Then we want to take Gambit, who everyone has been waiting to see on film, and just make him totally lame. Then we are going to throw in Deadpool, you know, the Merc with a Mouth? Get this, we are going to take aways his mouth. In the end , we are going to have a big pile of garbage, but it will make lots of money.” I figure they must have had something pretty good on Hugh Jackman to blackmail him into coming on board for this film. Despite all that, it was 4 times better than Fantastic Four with a score of 38%. Honorable Mention: X-Men: The Last Stand 58%

Superman IV- The Quest for Peace

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It’s a bad sign when a sequel is given a subtitle and none of the other films in the series has one, that is typically a bad sign. Run away from that movie. That was the case for the needlessly named Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. It is the worst of the four Superman films and the reason why we didn’t see another Superman movie until he returned in 2006. Now, I have gone on record as saying that I have a soft spot for this movie because I remember seeing it in the theaters. I was 5 at the time, and all I cared about was being my favorite superhero, Superman, and I saw him so the movie was great. I can fully recognize, now, that this is a wretched film that should be avoided. Just trust me on that. Despite all of that, the film scored 12%, which is still higher than Fantastic Four. Honorable Mention: Superman III 26%

Batman & Robin

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Batman fanboys seem to believe that Batman can do anything. Well, apparently the one thing Batman couldn’t do was save this film. It is so painful to watch, yet you can’t seem to turn away. It is probably one the most universally disliked films ever, unless you are Arnold Schwarzenegger. Pretty much everyone agrees that the performances in this film were just awful, unless, again, you are Arnold Schwarzenegger. This took everything that was wrong with Batman Forever and magnified it and made it worse. And then there’s the issue of bat-nipples. Why? This nightmare, however, beats Fantastic Four by 2%, coming in at 11%. Honorable Mention: Batman Forever 41%

Finally, a film that most people probably didn’t know existed. A film that at first glance looks like the worst one on this list. A film that proves that this latest Fantastic Four movie may be the worst Fantastic Four film of all time. I am talking, of course, about 1994’s unbelievably bad Fantastic Four, which scored 33% on Rotten Tomatoes. In other words, this is better than the high budget, “blockbuster” that was just released last weekend:

Even Doctor Doom looked better in that one. What do you think? Are all of these movies really better than the new Fantastic Four? Has the new FF  set the new low for superhero movies? Let me know in the comments, or contact me directly at [email protected].

My Crazy Superman Theory

In today’s world, it is hard to just look forward to a movie without finding anything out about the story. In fact, you don’t have to scour the internet to find out a lot about most of the big blockbusters. Leaked footage and photos come out on a daily basis, and random Hollywood reporters are siting anonymous sources with this story detail or that. Sometimes they prove pretty accurate, like when everyone knew that Benedict Cumberbatch was Khan. Other times they are way off. The point is, the only thing that seems to stir up more excitement and speculation on the internet than the latest superhero films is the next iPhone.

So, I have two choices. I could sit here and rant about how perturbed I get when every detail ever is already leaked about a movie, or I could join in the speculation fun. I am joining in the speculation fun. If people can postulate that Jared Leto’s Joker is actually Jason Todd, then why can’t I sit here and ponder on a Superman theory for the upcoming Batman v. Superman film? Now, all of this is speculation, but it could potentially be right on, so read with caution. If you are trying to avoid spoilers at all costs, maybe think real hard about reading any further. After the picture, I am going into my theory…

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For those of you that are still here, let’s have some fun. Well, maybe fun isn’t the right word for it, considering the nature of my theory. Calling it my theory is probably not totally fair either. To be fair and honest, I have adopted this theory and raised it into my own, after hearing it on the Superman Forever Radio podcast, episode 92. In the episode, the host, Bob Fisher, mentions the rumors that Doomsday may be in this new film. We know, according to the plot synopsis that some kind of threat rise relatively quickly and we see that they are doing something with Zod’s body, and that could mean Doomsday. As Mr. Fisher points out, Doomsday was created in the comics for one reason, and one reason only: To kill Superman. His fear, then, is that Warner Brothers is planning on killing Superman at the end of Dawn of Justice. Which he is audibly upset about. So was I…until I thought about it some more.

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The more I thought about, the more it started to make sense, and it started to grow on me. For those of you who don’t know, Superman is my favorite, always has been. For me to say that any movie that ends up with Supes dead is going on me is a big deal. I don’t want this to be the case. I want to continue to see him on the big screen, or I did, but now I am all sorts of confused. What if this really progresses the story better? What if the Justice League will be better because he died, than they would be if was part of their ranks? These are all the questions in my head right now. I’m not even thinking of the business side of things. The practical side, like the fact that there is no stand alone Superman sequel scheduled yet, and it’s not even rumored until 2020, after everything else comes out. That date isn’t even close to official, either. It’s all rumor and speculation at this point. If Batman and Superman were going to continue to be the two pillars of this new cinematic universe, wouldn’t we see a Superman film sooner? Unless there are no plans for a sequel because Superman dies. I’m not even thinking about that in my theory. I am just thinking of it from a story standpoint.

At the end of Dawn of Justice, we should be seeing the beginning of the Justice League. We should be seeing them come together and starting on the path that will m,make them a team greater than any other. At the beginning of the movie, we see Batman and Superman at war. Somehow, we need to get from there to the beginning of the Justice League. I don’t think just introducing a major threat like Doomsday is going to do it. At best, they may work together to beat the monster, but the team dynamic would be stressed at best after that. Somehow, somewhere in the battle, they are going to need some kind of defining moment, something that stands out that brings them together and makes them so unified, that they become the Justice League, that they see they have to stick together. They need an Agent Coulson moment. If you remember back to The Avengers, they were a mess right after the hellicarrier scene. Loki had ripped them apart, and they were better at fighting each other than the bad guys. It did not look good. When Coulson died though, it was a turning point for them. They started coming together and working with each other, because Coulson died. They saw his sacrifice and knew they had to get past their differences and become a close-knit unit. For the Avengers to become the Avengers, Coulson had to die. That’s why Fury doesn’t tell the Avengers when Coulson doesn’t stay dead.

DC may be thinking that the Justice League needs a Coulson moment, but they have to be different from Marvel. One thing that has made it hard in the Marvel movies is that it has never felt like any of the main characters have ever really been in danger. Maybe it’s because we already know that they have all signed on for so many movies, or maybe in the back of our minds we remember that we are really just watching a Disney film, where the good guys never die or lose. That’s ok, I am all for happy endings, as I have mentioned before. DC and Warner Brothers may see this as an opportunity, though, to be different. They may decide they want to get our attention and let us know as an audience that in this Superhero world, the heroes can die and they will be in danger. That could make for more interesting stories coming up.

None of this, as I thought about it, really convinced me that I liked this idea. I still would have rather had Superman live, than die, but then I thought how the story could progress, if WB doesn’t mess it up. Superman battles Doomsday. Batman and Wonder Woman clearly recognize that he is the most powerful, so they leave him to battle Doomsday, plus Batman probably figures out that there is some tie between Doomsday and Superman, so he blames Superman on some level. This battle between Doomsday and Superman goes very differently than the end battle of Man of Steel. Superman has learned from that battle, from his mistakes, and now he is much more controlled and he is controlling the fight so as to protect as many innocents as possible. As Batman witnesses the fight, and realizes that Superman is the real deal, he decides to try to engage. Wonder Woman too. As they get to the scene of the battle, Doomsday delivers the deathblow, and Superman goes down. He is weakened now, so Wonder Woman and Batman (and possibly Aqua-Man and the Flash) are able to engage the monster, and together they take him out. The result is that the world sees the heroes come together and unite, and they see the greatest her fall. Batman realizes that not all the metahumans or aliens are dangerous. He helps Wonder Woman form the Justice League in Superman’s memory. It could be a very powerful moment. It could be a death that means something. If done right, Superman could become the most important member of the Justice league. It’s one thing to say you are willing to give it all you have, and Batman might think it is especially easy for someone like Superman, but it is another thing to go out and give everything, all you have. When Batman sees Superman do that, he gains a whole new respect for him.

Or, Warner Brothers and DC could just blow the whole thing. That is also a possibility. What do you think? Could we see the end of Superman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice? Or am I just taking crazy pills? Let me know in the comments below or on Facebook, or email me directly at [email protected].

My 10 Disneyland Favorites

 

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This may be a little bit of a departure in the geeky category. Disneyland may not be overly “geeky,” or at least mainstream geeky, if there is such a thing. However, I would argue that Disney fans are some of the biggest geeks around. You will not find a fan base that is more passionate about their franchise, and that’s what being a geek is all about. I happen to count myself among the Disney faithful, but more specifically, I love Disneyland. Some may call it the happiest place on Earth. I don’t know about that, but I do know it is my favorite place to go on vacation, especially with the family. It’s been my favorite place for a long time. We were never a family that went every year, or every other year, but when we did go, it was awesome. Those were the best years and the best vacations. Both of my parents have always had a love for the Magic Kingdom, and they passed that down to each of us.

This month, Disneyland turns 60. It is pretty amazing that it has not only lasted 60 years, but that it is still as popular as it is. After the grand opening, it was miracle that the park lasted longer than two weeks. The fact that it has, and that it has become an example of customer service and organization, is a testament to Walt Disney, who always found a way to keep going, even when he failed. There is just something special about Disneyland. If given the choice to go to the land or the World, I would choose Disneyland every time. There is just a great feeling in the park and the history is everywhere, and I love history. Plus, the magic. You can’t overlook the magic. My wife had only been to Disneyland once before our trip in 2011. She wasn’t convinced that the trip was going to be worth the money when we went. It is expensive, for sure. On the last day, though, as we were riding the parking tram from the garage to the park, she mentioned to me that we needed to come back sooner than later. Why? Because of Magic. She saw how much the kids enjoyed it, and she enjoyed watching them enjoy it. I wish I could say we have been back, but we are planning on going next year, and it is going to be epic. If you’re planning on going soon, my best advice to you is to book early. You can check this out to buy tickets in advance, which should help you to choose the dates that you want and avoid being disappointed.

In honor of Disneyland’s 60th anniversary, I thought it would be fun to share with you some of my Disneyland favorites. A couple of rules for this list. Rule number one is that it has to be something currently in the park that I have experienced before. It has been almost 5 years since I was there, so a lot has changed in that amount of time. There is a lot of new things that I haven’t seen, like the new Star Tours. I can’t count those things as my favorite, since I have never experienced them. Rule number two is that it has to be something in Disneyland. Disney’s California Adventure doesn’t count. That park is not turning 60 this year, so I’m not going to take any of my favorites from there. When DCA turns 60, I will write another post and list my DCA favorites. Rule number three is that these are my favorites. I am not trying g to say they are the best, but they are the things I enjoy the most. Your favorites may be different from mine. That’s fine. After all, Walt Disney said Disneyland is your land, meaning it is for everyone. So, let’s get to my favorites.

Favorite Land: New Orleans Square

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If I had been asked which land was my favorite as a kid, it would have been Tomorrow Land. I would not have even hesitated. My wife suggested this category for this post, and I had to think about it. Tomorrow Land is not that great anymore. I like all the other lands just fine, but it was hard to pick a favorite, until I realized that three of my favorites for other categories are in New Orleans Square, plus Club 33, which I will get into someday. For grown-up Jake, New Orleans Square can’t be beat.

Favorite Snack: Churros

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I know, I know, this is an easy choice, and I should have tried to think of something more original. The truth is, I really like the churros. I never go to the park without having at least one. I mean, one per day while I’m there. Maybe two. I have a sister who loves these even more than I do. She once spent $100 just on churros during one trip to Disneyland. She definitely had her fill on that trip, and she earned my undying respect.

Favorite Walk Up Restaurant: Hungry Bear

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When I think of hungry Bear, an old favorite phrase of mine comes to mind: “There’s some good eating’ there.” It is just straight up good food, and the atmosphere can’t be beat. Sit and enjoy your meal along the coast of the Rivers of America. This isn’t a fancy restaurant. It’s pretty plain and simple, and sometimes that is perfect. Don’t let that fool you, though, because the food is great. In my opinion, it is the best place to get a burger in the park.

Favorite Sit Down Restaurant: The Blue Bayou

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Sometimes we pick a favorite based solely on high quality and other times we pick a favorite based on other things completely. The Blue Bayou has a bad reputation as of late, although I hear that the food has gotten better. For me, it was never completely about the food. The atmosphere is great. How often do you get to eat inside an iconic attraction? I know it was a highlight for the kids as well. This was one of our favorite memories from our last trip, so Blue bayou gets a bump for that reason. The food was good enough. By the way, that’s my boy, Johnny, in the pirate’s hat, hamming it up for the camera.

Favorite Show: The Jedi Academy

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Start the emails now. I know that this is probably not at the top of anyone’s list of great shows at Disneyland. I told my wife I was picking this, and she questioned whether this was even considered a show. I admit it, this “show” doesn’t compare to Fantastic of the nightly fireworks. It isn’t designed to even compete with those spectacles, but see that little boy with the blue lightsaber? That’s my son, Johnny, and he just defeated Darth Vader, and to this day he still believes he’s a Jedi. All thanks to the magic of Disney. Jedi Academy wins, your argument is invalid.

Favorite Kids’ Ride: It’s a Small World

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Besides being a reason for me to include this incredibly awesome picture of me at Disneyland with my two boys, It’s a Small World was one of our favorite rides with little kids. The biggest reason why is the boy in the red hooded jacket. Jak. He loved it. Yes, it is overstimulating with all the colors and lights, and the song is so obnoxious that it has been considered torture in some countries, but the kid loved it, so we went like 4 times. To this day, Jak says that It’s a Small World is his favorite ride. Also, looking at this picture he may have been breaking some rules by having no shoes on. What a rebel!

Favorite Family Ride: Pirates of the Caribbean

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So, the song is all about drinking rum, pillaging and plundering, and the ride features an auction selling off women, but I stand by my classification of this ride as a family ride. This was probably our second favorite ride to go on all together. I think our whole family fit on one bench when we went, so we all could to experience the fun together. It’s a little more thrilling than It’s a Small World, but not too much that the little ones can’t go.

Favorite Dark Ride: The Haunted Mansion

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It may be at this point in reading this post that you are thinking that I am just coming up with different ride classifications so I can include or sneak in a list of some of my favorite rides. To that thought I would respond that this is my blog. When you write a post like this on your blog, you may write however you would like. I have always loved the Haunted Mansion. It is a must experience for me every time I go to the park. I loved going on this with my oldest who was 4 at the time. He thought it was great, and wanted to go again. I was so proud of him. My nephew, who was the same age, survived his experience, but decided once was enough for him.

Favorite Thrill Ride: Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye

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Yes, another ride category. Spoiler: the last thing will be another ride as well. I really enjoy this ride. It is newer, so I didn’t grow up with it, but I did grow up with Indiana Jones, and this ride puts you right in the middle of one of his adventures. The music is authentic, or feels authentic, the action is similar to the original three movies and the queue is one of the best out there. Yes, without a fast pass you will wait, but the wait is almost as much fun as the ride itself. Plenty of thrills. This is one of my wife’s favorites as well, although that might be because this was one of the few rides where we got away from the kids for a minute.

Favorite Ride: The Matterhorn Bobsleds

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Ever since my dad told me this was his favorite ride, it has been my favorite ride. You can say what you want about the jerkiness of the sleds and that the ride system should be smoother, but I still love this ride. I can’t wait to see it since Harold has gotten a makeover. One of my happiest moments recently was when I asked my son, Johnny, what his favorite ride at Disneyland was, and he said it was Matterhorn. The tradition lives on! Now he just needs to pass it down to his son.

All of those things are some of my favorite things at Disneyland, but by far, my absolute favorite thing is just the magic the kids experience when they are there. One thing that demonstrates this more than almost anything else is the way the kids get to interact with their favorite characters. My kids had no fear when they went and they met all their favorites. It was during these experiences that we discovered that Eliza is a champion hugger. Don’t believe me? Check out these pics:

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We weren’t sure if she was ever going to let go of the Fairy Godmother, who even commented on how good a hugger Eliza was, and I figure she has seen a lot of huggers.

Whatever your favorite things about Disneyland might be, I hope you have the opportunity to experience its magic. Here’s to the next 60 years!

What are some of your Disneyland favorites? Let us know in the comments, or you can email me directly at [email protected], or visit our Facebook page and comment there, or tweet me @thegeekymormon or find me on Google +. All those buttons are found under the “Let’s Get Social” section. Thanks for reading.

The Geeky Mormon 1 Year Later

On June 18th, 2014, I published my first post as the Geeky Mormon. I can’t believe it has already been a year. I feel like a lot has changed and happened over that year. It’s funny to go back and look at that first post. I didn’t even know how to embed a YouTube video. I think this first year has been a year of change and development as I have tried to figure out what my brand was going to be. Just look at the blog header for some great examples of that change as i have been trying to develop that brand:

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This was basically my first header. It was simple and laid the foundation for my brand and the look of the website. From the beginning, I knew I wanted the basic color scheme to be black and white. I have always liked how those two colors look together. They just seem to be really sharp and make each other pop. Most of my early blog titles were similar to this, as I developed categories and had a similar header for each category, almost all of them were white writing on a black background.

The Geeky Mormon Header

 

Next, I learned how to make photo collages, and my life, and posts, would never be the same. You can see here that the old header is still there, in the bottom corner, but the pictures all represent different geeky things I like. I still do a lot of collages for my featured photos, trying to lure you, the reader, in with lots of pictures.

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My next step was to work with my designer to come up with a logo that would represent the site and be quickly recognizable. When you are working with a designer, you should always have an idea of what you want so that you can explain it to them and they can just perfect it. If you’re ever unsure, using the templates from somewhere like GraphicSprings is a great place to start. You’ll see me mention my designer frequently, and she has been more than wonderful to work with. We have a very tight working relationship. Tight like unto a dish, if you will. My designer is my wife, who has quite the eye for aesthetics. I wanted to continue to do the white on a black background, and kind of described for her what i wanted the logo to be, and she came up with this. These two headers were ideas that we ended up rejecting. Why? My wife smartly pointed out that the white log just didn’t look right. I hesitantly agreed. I was really anxious to keep it white on a black background. In the end, though, I love my wife more than anything and I trust her judgement. So she helped me come up with this:

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The black logo on the white background just looks a lot better. This is why she is my designer, because she knows what looks good and why. This header and logo was one that we had for a long time, and it was my favorite, until I went and did something crazy. I shaved off my beard. All of a sudden the Geeky Mormon was beardless, and I was beginning to get questions on whether I was going to change my logo or not. I decided it needed to be changed and asked again for my wife to help me with it. She was really sad to see this logo go. She really liked, and with good reason. It was really cool. However, that led to our current logo, which can be seen above on our header. This new logo has grown on me, and I like it even better than the Beardy. You can see that it is still black and white, but the white is more prevalent, and I like how it looks in contrast to the black of the blog.

I have tried to write about a variety of topics on the blog, and some posts have been more successful than others. For example, our first ever Geek-Craft Post, featuring a pattern and instructions for a crocheted Ninja Turtle pencil bag. This is a post that was written back in August of last year and just exploded in popularity. We continue to get hit on it to this day. If you haven’t checked it out, then take the time to do that right now:

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Star Trek always seems to be a popular topic for the site, and whenever I write about it, it seems to get a lot of attention. One post, in particular, led to our biggest day ever hits wise. It was when I recently ranked the Star Trek series from my least favorite to my favorite:

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So, what does this next year hold for the Geeky Mormon? For starters, my brother, J. Leonard Dietz (the 90s Kid) and I are trying to get our new podcast off the ground. It is a really simple concept. Basically, it’s two brothers who are just sitting there talking about geeky stuff. We call it the Geekopolis Podcast,and I think it’s pretty good. We just released our second episode, which was all about some of our favorite fictional fathers, and it’s worth a listen:

We hit over 1000 Facebook likes this last year.

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That was just awesome, but my goal is to get it over 3000 over this next year, as well as focusing on getting more followers on other social media sites like Twitter and Google+.

I have also been toying with the idea of bringing on some guest bloggers, and maybe even creating a stable of regular contributors. It has become a lot of work to keep up the blog by myself and the podcast and devote some time to my children and wife (they are so needy). If you regularly read this blog and would like to contribute, either as a one time guest blogger or a regular contributor, please let me know. I would love to hear from you. Let me know what ideas you might have for contributions and what your areas of expertise might be. Right now, there would be no monetary compensation for said posts, and I don’t know if that would change down the road. It would be some good exposure, and your posts would be tweeted out and Facebooked through the Geeky Mormon sites. Plus if you have a site of your own, I would be happy to promote that site through the same avenues (what goes around comes around). If you are interested, please email me at [email protected].

If there are things you would like to see me cover or discuss on the site in the coming months, please let me know. I am always open to suggestions.

Finally, thank you for reading. The fact that there are people out there who may or may not be related to me who read this blog ever just astonishes me, and I am very grateful for it.

 

It Always Comes Back to Star Trek

For another project I have been working on, I have been thinking a lot about myself and how I got involved with my first fandom. I don’t consider myself an exclusive member of any one fandom, but a card carrying member of numerous fandoms. I can carry my own with the Whovians, the Star Wars fans, the Marvel fans, the Lord of the Rings faithful, DC fans, and yes, Star Trek fans.  My first love, however, was Star Trek. That was the first show I remember being obsessed with as a kid. The first convention I ever went to was a Star Trek convention. Star Trek was the franchise that launched me into a life of geekdom. For me, when I think about all the things I enjoy today, about all of my geekiness, it all comes back to Star Trek.

Why Star Trek? The short and simple answer is that Star Trek is the greatest Science Fiction show to ever air on TV. Pretty straight forward. It is hard for me to think of any show being better than Star Trek. There was just something totally immersive about the franchise. To be clear, when I say Star Trek, I am mostly referring to TNG, but I was blessed to be an adolescent during the ultimate Star Trek age. Think about it, in the fall of 1996, Deep Space 9 was going into its 5th season, Voyager was going into their second season and First Contact was playing in theaters, which was the best of all the Next Generation movies (probably my favorite Trek movie). It was a great time to be a Trek fan, and that is probably why Trek was more than just my first passion. It’s always my favorite. It always comes back to Trek.

I loved the message of hope that Star Trek represented. This wasn’t a dystopian future where we totally murdered each other and blew up the planet. This was a future where we faced trials and came together as a result. Knowledge and tolerance won out in the end, over hate. That was an important message for me as a teenager. I wasn’t ever popular in school. I always had my own little group of friends, and some of these friends are the best people I have ever known, but i was never homecoming King material. Looking back, that’s totally fine. I think in the end, we geeks have inherited the Earth, or we are at least on our way. Back then, though, it was rough. Star Trek always offered me an escape from a tough time. I was the fat kid who didn’t grow up in the neighborhood and who didn’t quite always fit in. When I watched Star Trek, I felt at home. I felt like I belonged. I know that sounds cheesy, because it was just a TV show, but it is a reality for a lot of kids. The only place they really feel like they belong is when they are part of whatever fantasy world they love. Star Trek was always that for me.

I know it doesn’t have all the same kind of action and adventure that other Sci Fi franchises have, but that was appealing as well. It wasn’t a shoot first galaxy in Star Trek. It was galaxy that valued diplomacy and peace, using the weapons as a last defense. The Enterprise, the largest ship in the fleet was not a war ship. It was an exploration vessel. That was their mission, not to conquer new worlds, but to explore and discover. What a cool thought. When I was a kid, I remember watching that, and Picard was awesome because he could end a conflict with his words instead of fighting. I wanted that skill. If only I could find a way to get the mean kids at school to leave me alone just by talking like Picard did. He was like a superhero.

As I have gotten older, those lessons have always stuck with me. I manage a team at work, and sometimes I find myself thinking about how Captain Picard would react to a certain situation, and then I try to do it. I’m still the fat guy at work, but that’s ok now. I have learned how to work with all sorts of people who are very different than I am, because I learned from Star Trek that those differences make your team stronger. I learned, from Generations, that the most important thing i could have is my family. Both Picard and Kirk gave up the opportunity for a family for their careers, and regretted it in the movie. I won’t make that same mistake. These are the kind of lessons I learned from Star Trek, and how they apply to me.

I don’t know why it started with Star Trek instead of something else, like Star Wars, but somehow, I am glad it did. As I look at who I am and what I enjoy, it all comes back to Star Trek, and frankly, I am glad it does. I think that’s why I get a little upset with the reboot movies, and Paramount who is pushing them to be less and less Star Trek-y. What’s wrong with being Star Trek-y? I have spent my whole life being somewhat Star Trek-y, and I’m better for it.

What about you? It may not be Star Trek, but what was your first passion? Which one from your childhood resonates with you still today?