Thursday, September 24, 2015
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Hello Friends
I'm happy to report that I've been seeing someone for nearly 5 months now and I couldn't be happier. This really awesome person dropped from heaven and into my life and has no intentions of going away anytime soon. This past weekend she met my entire family and they got along famously. I wasn't worried that they wouldn't. She's the first person that I've brought around in a very long time. My nieces and nephew really like her and hopes that she sticks around for a while. I hope that she does too. Xen Speaks is no more, we've all gone our separate ways but fear not for I have started another podcast with my good friend Nikki and it's called X's and O's with Nikki and Peake. So far we have put out three episodes with mixed results. But it's still a blast talking football with one of my best friends. Check us out at www.sportstalknetwork.podbean.com
Man, I don't know what to expect next. So anyway I think I want to try writing again. With work, dating and working out I don't know when I would have time to put in the time to write but I feel like I need to try it just one more time. I want to be a published author dang it. Right now I'm over flowing with positivity and it's starting to attract the right people into my circle. There are still some negative aspects to my life but I've steadily working to eliminate them. I will succeed. Having someone in my life that supports and challenges me at the same time has done wonders for my motivation. Because she is thriving in her career motivates me to do better in mine. And most importantly she gets along awesomely with Sheba. I feel like the luckiest man in the world. Another project of mine is starting to make headway but I'll keep quiet about that one for the moment ;-)
Football season is upon us and I couldn't be happier! I hope that everyone is doing well and remember that we all go through rough patches. It's how we conduct ourselves during those troubling times that reveal who we really are and what we're made of. Be well.
Man, I don't know what to expect next. So anyway I think I want to try writing again. With work, dating and working out I don't know when I would have time to put in the time to write but I feel like I need to try it just one more time. I want to be a published author dang it. Right now I'm over flowing with positivity and it's starting to attract the right people into my circle. There are still some negative aspects to my life but I've steadily working to eliminate them. I will succeed. Having someone in my life that supports and challenges me at the same time has done wonders for my motivation. Because she is thriving in her career motivates me to do better in mine. And most importantly she gets along awesomely with Sheba. I feel like the luckiest man in the world. Another project of mine is starting to make headway but I'll keep quiet about that one for the moment ;-)
Football season is upon us and I couldn't be happier! I hope that everyone is doing well and remember that we all go through rough patches. It's how we conduct ourselves during those troubling times that reveal who we really are and what we're made of. Be well.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Xenspeaks, Podcastors Unite, Pizza got Beer, Xen-Freaks
Hello Xen-Freaks!
I hope that everyone is doing well. I'm doing great. Been busy doing this podcast with Cody, Charles and Nancy, the latest member of our ever growing group. Cody and I do a MMA and pro wrestling podcast, the best performing one on our network so far. He also contributes to the flagship podcast, Pod-Castors Unite. Because Nancy liked our show so much we invited her to come on as a guest. And because she did so well we asked her to become a regular. Athough the podcasting itself has gone well it hasn't been perfect. Finding a good time for everyone, creating a format and sticking to it had proved to be a challenge. Making sure that everyone gets a fair amount of speaking time proved difficult at first but as everyone has settled into their roles and gotten to know each other better we don't talk over each other as much. Then of course there's the rookie mistake I made the other day when I forgot to hit the record button. Two hours of my life wasted-that was a great podcast too. The best lessons are the hardest ones learned. It feels great to be doing something that I've always wanted to do, to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. I also have a new woman in my life which was unexpected. Pleasant but unexpected. Don't really want to get to much into that because there's not much to get into because it's still fresh and new. Back to the podcast, we changed the name from The Talking Life Podcast to Xen Speaks. Summer is here and all of these little hooligans are out of school. I call them hooligans as a term of endearment, kind of. I was once a little hooligan myself and now I'm transitioning into a cranky old man, god I hope not. Beware world. But back to the podcast. We are still in the process of finding our way as a podcast. We've gotten a lot of positive feedback from our listeners and it's provide us with the much needed encouragement to continue generating content. Our podcast family continues to grow as my good friend Nicole has agreed to join the fold. Her podcast with be a sports based one as she and I will discuss college and pro football as well as fansty football. Her knowledge of sports is extensive and you listeners are in for a treat. It's great to be this busy again, doing something that interest me. And the best part is I get to share my interest with friends and family. I can't help but smile as I write this blog. Cody and his friend Leon have come up the a podcast concept called Pizza got Beer. I think it's going to be another hit. Xenspeaks will be known as a hit factory and our fans will be known as Xen-Freaks. I need to trademark this before someone else realizes how awesome it is and take it for themselves. What else do I want to tell you guys about... Thank you for those of you that read my blog. And thanks to those of you whom listen to our podcast. I would love to hear from you guys and gals. Our next podcast will be tomorrow evening. Beatdowns, Moonsaults and Judo Chops. Nicole and I may post her's tommorow night as well depending on how well our runthrough goes. As of now we just plan to play around on Skype and test the connection and sound. I think we wil be fine. If anyone else wants to come on the podcast please let us know. We can be reached at
xenspeaks.facebook.com/xenspeaks
twitter @xenspeaks
my personal twitter @shaneomac35
our website: xen-comics.com
I hope that everyone is doing well. I'm doing great. Been busy doing this podcast with Cody, Charles and Nancy, the latest member of our ever growing group. Cody and I do a MMA and pro wrestling podcast, the best performing one on our network so far. He also contributes to the flagship podcast, Pod-Castors Unite. Because Nancy liked our show so much we invited her to come on as a guest. And because she did so well we asked her to become a regular. Athough the podcasting itself has gone well it hasn't been perfect. Finding a good time for everyone, creating a format and sticking to it had proved to be a challenge. Making sure that everyone gets a fair amount of speaking time proved difficult at first but as everyone has settled into their roles and gotten to know each other better we don't talk over each other as much. Then of course there's the rookie mistake I made the other day when I forgot to hit the record button. Two hours of my life wasted-that was a great podcast too. The best lessons are the hardest ones learned. It feels great to be doing something that I've always wanted to do, to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. I also have a new woman in my life which was unexpected. Pleasant but unexpected. Don't really want to get to much into that because there's not much to get into because it's still fresh and new. Back to the podcast, we changed the name from The Talking Life Podcast to Xen Speaks. Summer is here and all of these little hooligans are out of school. I call them hooligans as a term of endearment, kind of. I was once a little hooligan myself and now I'm transitioning into a cranky old man, god I hope not. Beware world. But back to the podcast. We are still in the process of finding our way as a podcast. We've gotten a lot of positive feedback from our listeners and it's provide us with the much needed encouragement to continue generating content. Our podcast family continues to grow as my good friend Nicole has agreed to join the fold. Her podcast with be a sports based one as she and I will discuss college and pro football as well as fansty football. Her knowledge of sports is extensive and you listeners are in for a treat. It's great to be this busy again, doing something that interest me. And the best part is I get to share my interest with friends and family. I can't help but smile as I write this blog. Cody and his friend Leon have come up the a podcast concept called Pizza got Beer. I think it's going to be another hit. Xenspeaks will be known as a hit factory and our fans will be known as Xen-Freaks. I need to trademark this before someone else realizes how awesome it is and take it for themselves. What else do I want to tell you guys about... Thank you for those of you that read my blog. And thanks to those of you whom listen to our podcast. I would love to hear from you guys and gals. Our next podcast will be tomorrow evening. Beatdowns, Moonsaults and Judo Chops. Nicole and I may post her's tommorow night as well depending on how well our runthrough goes. As of now we just plan to play around on Skype and test the connection and sound. I think we wil be fine. If anyone else wants to come on the podcast please let us know. We can be reached at
xenspeaks.facebook.com/xenspeaks
twitter @xenspeaks
my personal twitter @shaneomac35
our website: xen-comics.com
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Dare Devil on Netflix
When I heard that Daredevil was coming to Netflix I was skeptical to say the least. The Daredevil movie with Ben Alfeck had left a really bad taste in my mouth. As weeks passed I kept hearing nothing but good things about this show. I then had no choice but to check out this show. For those unfamiliar with Daredevil whose played masterful by actor Charlie Cox, the story revolves entirely in and around Hell's Kitchen, New York City. For those of you unfamiliar with Dare Devil, he's a vigilant who fights crime in Hell's Kitchen at night. He really has no super powers or high tech gadgets. What he does have is superior fight skills, extraordinary agility and endurance. Still that alone wouldn't be enough for a single man to fight crime or so you would think. By day our hero poses as a blind lawyer named Matt Murdock, When Matt was 12 he saved an old man from being hit by a truck. Unfortunately that truck was carrying barrels that were full of toxic chemicals. When the truck swerved a barrel fell off the truck and spilled and some of that spillage got into Matt's eyes permanently blinding him. However the rest of his senses were heightened to extreme levels. For example he can hear someone's heartbeat from across the room. Or smell a dog's fart from down the street. By medical standards he's blind but he has sight in a way that's difficult to explain. He described his sight as the world looking like it's on fire. As blind lawyer Matt Murdock, he is the most unsuspecting of heroes. What could a blind person do? How could he possibly be a threat to anyone? It's the perfect cover and he uses that cover so well. This show was very well cast. The fight scenes for all of their excitement are shockingly real. Dare Devil gets his butt kicked plenty during this series. The show does a excellent job of showing the physical and psychological effects of his nightly endeavors. His entire body is covered in healed and fresh scares. I like how he shows up at work with bruises and cuts on his face and when question by his partner foggy and secretary Karen Page play by Elden Henson and Karen Page respectively. It's amazing how well cast this show is. This show waste very little time finding it's footing as it kept it's singular direction for the entire 13 episodes. It was an origin story that didn't beat you over the head about it being a origin story. I've never been a fan of Daredevil but after binge watching the entire series over the course of a few days I want to go out and buy all of the Daredevil comics I can get my hands on. But let me get back to my review. After meeting in college Matt and Foggy become best friends and after graduation they get jobs at a top notch law firm only to discovered that their souls aren't worth the ridiculous salaries they'd both be pulling in as lawyers. So they decide to open up a law office in their old neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen. They're first case comes to them in the form of a young woman accused of murdering a coworker. Matt uses his super hearing to listen to her heart beat and surmises that she's innocent on account that her heart rate remained steady as she maintained her innocence. The one thing this show did so well and I can't stress this enough is that the show isn't weighed down by the will they are won't they nonsense. Unbeknownst to any of them but this will be the start of a 13 episode war with Wilson Fisk, whom we won't meet until the third episode. Now she's the secretary for a shipping company Allied Freight, one of the many business owned by Fisk, she comes across a email that she wasn't supposed to see. Knowing that something was wrong she showed it to her coworker therefore putting both of their lives in danger. Matt realizes this from the get go and decides that the masked vigilant did some detective work of his own. From the get Karen seemed very attracted to Matt, who either didn't seem to notice or just didn't care. Meanwhile Foggy was instantly attracted to Karen but thank goodness they decided not to go that way. Meanwhile Fish is the leader of a kobal that consist of representatives from several organized crime organizations world wide whose involvement ranged from manufacturing and distribution of heroin to prostitution. Wilson Fisk's ultimate goal is to tear down all of Hell's Kitchen and to rebuild it into his perfect image and he will do it by any means necessary. Vincent D'Onofrio is absolutely terrifying as the Kingpin although he has yet to claim the name. As Daredevil Matt goes through the gauntlet of thugs and bosses as he makes his way up the crime chain. With the help of veteran crime reporter Ben Urich played skillfully by Vondie Curtis-Hall, Matt begin to wage war on both fronts- the legal and not so legal front. Matt finds a quantum of comfort in the form of a nurse who patches him up anytime he's badly wounded. Some of the fight scenes that took place I could barely stand to watch because they seemed almost too real. As the series moves forward you realized just how out matched Matt is in his battle against Fisk. Plus he has the added burden of trying to protect everyone that he cares about because Foggy and Karen along with Ben are investigating Fisk on their own. At this point they all know what happens to anyone that gets to close to the truth about Fisk but they still press forward which makes them heroes as well. What they lacked in physical strength they made up for in smarts and courage. Matt comes to the conclusion that he must kill Wilson Fisk but goes looking for a reason not to. Fisk also has people whom he cares deeply for and would do anything to protect. Although he's a horrible person he's still a person, a human being and despite his stated goal of killing him Matt now doubts if he wants to kill Fisk now. When confronted with the chance to kill Fisk he gets his ass kicked. After being so badly beaten Matt spends the next few days recoperating and contemplating his path in life. Foggy, his best friend has found out his secret and is furious at Matt for keeping such a huge secret from him. Those scenes were some of the most powerful scenes in the entire series. The flash backs throughout the series serve a purpose and don't blog down the story, a mistake that plenty of other shows make. Everything that's happened from the very beginning leads up to his final confrontation with Wilson Fisk. By now Matt is wearing the Daredevil costume and it couldn't have looked better. Matt realizes that he could become a symbol of good to the people of Hell's kitchen. His evolution from a masked vigilant running around at night and beating up thugs to a hero was the best sub-story of all. Karen's sub-story was compelling as well making her more than just a pretty face and a possible love interest for Matt or Foggy. I wouldn't allow my 11 year old nephew watch this series I proudly recommend it to anyone over the age of 18. While it was dark and gritty it wasn't too dark and gritty, It struck the perfect balance between both. If you have about 7 hours to kill on a Saturday watching this show wouldn't be a bad way to pass the time.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Ambition
Ambition: a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work.
Truly successful people don't get to where they are by pure luck. They work hard. They work harder than anyone else. My favorite success stories are the ones involving the man or woman that started from the bottom and worked their way to the top. They couldn't have made it without drive, direction and ambition. You'd be surprised at how many people don't know the meaning of the word. These people didn't wait for opportunity, they seized them. I try to surround myself with as many of those people as I possibly can. My younger sister is definitely one of those people, I actually look up to her. She seems to have boundless energy, I wonder if her faith in god has anything to do with that. I'm 40 years old and I know that I don't have a whole lot of time life on this planet and I need to start making the most of my opportunities. It sometimes difficult to maintain my ambition when I'm surrounded by unambitious people at my job. Lack of production is not only accepted but seems to be welcomed which means more work is put on myself and the few others that get things done. I wouldn't mind so much if I was financially compensated for the extra work but I'm not. The slackers make more than myself because they've been there longer. But if I allow myself to give into the slackers I will be no better than them. But I would be a fool to kill myself working harder than I have too. I wonder how the successful people deal with such problems on the job. Firing a lazy employee doesn't seem to be an option anymore thanks to some well intention but misdirected human resource person. And ineffective management. I started talking about ambition and it turned into a self absorbed rant-I'm so sorry folks. Perhaps my ambition should lead me to finding another job. I have grown rather comfortable there and probably should get out of my comfort zone. I'm talk more about it on my next podcast, Xen speaks this Saturday. Have a great day everyone.
Truly successful people don't get to where they are by pure luck. They work hard. They work harder than anyone else. My favorite success stories are the ones involving the man or woman that started from the bottom and worked their way to the top. They couldn't have made it without drive, direction and ambition. You'd be surprised at how many people don't know the meaning of the word. These people didn't wait for opportunity, they seized them. I try to surround myself with as many of those people as I possibly can. My younger sister is definitely one of those people, I actually look up to her. She seems to have boundless energy, I wonder if her faith in god has anything to do with that. I'm 40 years old and I know that I don't have a whole lot of time life on this planet and I need to start making the most of my opportunities. It sometimes difficult to maintain my ambition when I'm surrounded by unambitious people at my job. Lack of production is not only accepted but seems to be welcomed which means more work is put on myself and the few others that get things done. I wouldn't mind so much if I was financially compensated for the extra work but I'm not. The slackers make more than myself because they've been there longer. But if I allow myself to give into the slackers I will be no better than them. But I would be a fool to kill myself working harder than I have too. I wonder how the successful people deal with such problems on the job. Firing a lazy employee doesn't seem to be an option anymore thanks to some well intention but misdirected human resource person. And ineffective management. I started talking about ambition and it turned into a self absorbed rant-I'm so sorry folks. Perhaps my ambition should lead me to finding another job. I have grown rather comfortable there and probably should get out of my comfort zone. I'm talk more about it on my next podcast, Xen speaks this Saturday. Have a great day everyone.
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