Goodbye 2018

Shocked that's it's already coming to a close. Seriously...the year has flown bye.

This has been a fantastic year for me. Megan and I are starting a family in 4 months, I fulfilled my New Years goal of getting rid of a lot of junk over the past 12 months from the house and freeing up TONS of space. (A goal I will make again in 2019)

I got a lot of board games, I played a lot of board games.

Work's going well and it looks like I'm done traveling with the company, or at least not traveling as much which means I get to stay home more. (a good thing)

So many wonderful adventures and memories were made this year, I have a lot to be thankful for.

So goodbye 2018, it's been fun!

Bird Box (Movie Review)

Another movie I got to see recently was "Bird Box" on Netflix. I'd heard a little about it but didn't know much going in. The world is inhabited with creatures who turn you insane once you look at them. So you have to move around without seeing.

Very similar to "A Quiet Place" where you couldn't speak and I'm sure they've done one about "hearing" things so I guess this is a thing now.

Overall the movie wasn't bad. I give it props for keeping me interested the whole way through. Worth your time if you have a moment to spare.

Happy Birthday to the Mrs!

Today she got tickets to go see Jerry Lee Lewis in 2 weeks! (yeah, that guy's still alive)

Anyway, I hope she has a Happy Birthday!

January Movie Preview!

Let's be honest, there's only one movie worth seeing next month and it's this. Both Split and Unbreakable were fantastic movies, so I'm looking forward to this follow up movie to be just as phenomenal.

In my mins, there's nothing else coming out next month anyway.

Have a good weekend folks!

More pics from the past

 Today I thought I'd show you a few more pics from my past! Look at me in this one! The tallest of the bunch!

 This is from a camping trip in Arkansas. Everyone's giving the "thumbs up" because I had recently cut my thumb using a pocket knife....yeah that's right....mock the cripple!

 Me giving the double bunny ears to both my aunts!

 My brother Jeremy showcasing his love for pound puppies.....can't wait till his kids see this one....

 Me placing a toy fish on my brother Jeremy's head. Fun times!! (I really like this pic)

Megan's seen this looks before...and she finds it just as annoying today as my Mom probably did back then.

That's all for now folks!

Day after Xmas Sale!!

Oh man....let the madness begin....I don't know about you but I'm ready to clean these deals out!!

Merry Christmas!

                                          To one and all, the merriest of Christmas wishes!

X-mas Past

Today I thought I'd share with you some X-mas photos from my past!

 Here's us at our grandmother's house for X-mas. I'm the one farthest to the left followed by my brother Jeremy, our cousin Lenora, my other brother Bray and finally my cousin Glen. It was always cold at my Grandmother's house in Gadston, AL. I remember the stockings were huge (we still have them) and she always placed tinsel on the tree. Good memories!

 This one is at my other grandmother's house in Mobile, AL. These are my two younger brothers Jordan and Caleb hanging out with a giant X-mas teddy bear my grand parents bought for us to play with. It was 6 feet tall and was comfortable to lie on while reading a book. Don't know what ever happened to it though. For that matter, I don't recall the story of how/why they got it in the first place!?

I do love my brothers "What?! I didn't do anything" face.

 My brother Jeremy and I decorating the tree. I clearly remember the lights and ornaments we hung in the picture. I'm standing on a step ladder and my brother on a bench.

X-mas day! Plaing with M.A.S.K. cars and Wuzzles while wearing our glow in the dark Transformer PJ's

AH....good times.

You better wish your X-mas is as magical as mine was in this photo. (I'm in blue my brother Jeremy is tan)

Calvin and Hobbes (Re-read)

My final re-read for the year was the complete set of Calvin and Hobbes.

Megan got this for me for Christmas one year and I've read it through twice! MAN, what a great series! I never get tired of re-reading these.

It's sad comic strips never got any better than this! If you haven't read them folks, this one is worth your time, trust me!

Have a great weekend folks!

Bone (re-read)

Finally got around to re-reading this comic for the 3rd time. It gets better each time! But you've already heard me talk about this one so let me talk about all the adventures that exist outside of this story.

This is the prequel story that focuses on Grandma Ben when she was younger. It lacks the humor from all the other stories, the artwork isn't that good either. Easily the weakest story out of the bunch.

Besides being a standard handbook, it does come with a short comic that takes place within the main story. Skippable in the long run but glad I got it.

In addition to that is another short comic that takes place after the ending of the story as the Bone's are making their way through the desert. Fun, but nothing much. I'm glad I got this one however because it tells some behind the scenes facts about the making of the story, which was fun to read. Oddly enough, I never knew this existed until AFTER I finished my re-read and thought "I wonder if they've made anything since"

Wallah! They had!

Tall Tells takes place after the main story and is just about Smiley Bone telling kids, stories that take place before and during their adventures in the Valley.

Best reason to get this trade paperback is that it reprints "Stupid Stupid Ray Creatures" A sequel story that's pretty fun to read and plays a small part in the next story I'm talking about.

Years later they made a sequel story in the form of young adult books.

Though not as good as the original story as well as not being a comic book, it does have a few familiar characters and areas enough to keep you interested.

If you love Bone, you should give these a try. In the end I thought they were good.

Sure wish they'd make more stories about this world but from the looks of things, I don't think they will. Sad.

So now that the season has wrapped up it's time to give my final thoughts on the season.

Overall, pretty good. John was my favorite payer this season but I knew he didn't stand a chance.

On a different note, the tone of the finale gets more and more "PC Preachy" to me every time. Really don't like it because it feels forced and doesn't go well together with the attitude of the show. 

As for the final 3....

Angelina was horrible. HORRIBLE. On and off the show. Playing the victim, the martyr, the idiot and the moron The last two she played especially well. I couldn't stand her the entire show! She only loves one person and that's herself.

Mike, what did he do special but build fire at the end? The only reason he gained votes was because two spurned women voted for him and Christian.... I have no idea.

Nick played the best game and deserved to win and I'm glad he did.

Next of is "Edge of Extinction" which teases a new twist in the game that I'm interested to hear about. Looking forward to it!

Chronicles of Narnia (Re-read)

The next series I read was one of my favorites as a kid and the more I read it these days the more I love it.

Narnia is a fantastic series and is 2nd only to the Lord of the Rings series. Every time I read through it I find more and more things to appreciate about them.

Amazingly good, I plan to read these to my kids at least twice in their youth. WELL worth your time even if you've already read them before.

CS Lewis Space Trilogy (Re-read)

The next set of novels I got to re-read this year were CS Lewis' Space Trilogy. I'd only ever read it once before and I remember they got better as each book continued the story.

However, after re-reading them I have to agree with my brother that Perelandra is the best. I guess I loved Hideous Strength for its fast-paced story plot but over all the creepy interaction with the "Un-man" from the 2nd novel is unparalleled.

Overall the series was good but I'm doubtful if I'll ever read it again. 

Harry Potter Series (Re-read!)

This week I thought I'd talk about all the books I was able to re-read this year and what I thought about them the 2nd (or 3rd) time through! Today I'm starting with the Harry Potter books.

I'd only read them through once and that was back in the day as the last one had just come out. Now I got to read them again and though they are still good, they're not as great as I remember.

Too many things are possible in the world of magic, it makes it hard to believe they had such a hard time fighting evil when they can literally DO anything. There's ways to make you stronger, smarter, luckier and even time travel! Which is a really ugly plot hole in the entire series because it makes you wonder why they didn't just go back in time and stop this all from happening from the very begining!

That and apparent lack of reasoning to why the "magic" world is so well hidden from the public though in today's world (or the early 2000's when this came out) none of the events could've taken place without everyone on earth knowing about it. (No matter how many memory charms you cast)

But overall, it's still a good series and one I'll probably read to my kids when they get older.

A Christmas Carol (Book Review)

Shockingly, I've never read this book before. But after watching "Muppet Christmas Carol" a few weeks ago it perked my interest on finally giving it a read.

Really good. Short too so if you're thinking about giving it a read it'll only take a few hours to read. I enjoyed it enough to read it again some day in the future. In fact, if I come across a decent looking copy I'm going to pick it up.

Well worth your time for the Xmas season!

Hardrock, Coco and Joe

Christmas Crunch

Megan really wanted this so I tracked a box down at Target and picked it up for her this week. I'm all for seasonal cereals but this one adds nothing new. It's only crunch berries shaped as stars and....poop? Why do they even try to make the shape of a tree if it always turns out looking like bowel movements in the end?!

Festive box, but other than that, nothing new.

The next show

I've decided to be a part of the cast of the next show at the Strauss "Who's in Bed with the Butler?" premiering in late January.

Should be fun!

The Family Man (Review)

My brother's been trying to get me to watch this for years and I never have until this past week. I don't know why I waited so long! Great Xmas film that is a play off of "It's a Wonderful Life" where this guy has no one in his life but is super rich and successful, only to be thrown into another life where he married his college sweetheart and had kid but was not successful or rich because of it.

Another great film that I may even have to add to my DVD collection. Definitely a must-see for the holiday season as well!

It's a Wonderful Life (Review)

This season Megan and I have been watching Xmas movies and this year I saw one that I haven't seen in years!

I don't know why, but every year I forget about this film, as I did this year until seeing it on Amazon Prime. I decided to watch it again and MAN is it a great film! It still holds up after so many years. Amazon had it in color, which I decided to try out and I don't know which is better. I love the classic black and white but color was interesting to see as well.

Put this one on your list of Xmas movies to watch this year. Good film!

The Muppets (Review)

This one I wasn't going to re-watch at first but since it'd been a while, I decided to go ahead and try it out.

It's the best Muppet movie ever made.

Simply put, they get what the Muppets are all about. Sure there's some nostalgia in the film but the call outs to past movies plus the inclusion of a few Muppet Show memories make this movie flawless. Great original music and songs, Jason Segel really hams it up, making the movie an even bigger success and it's packed with so many jokes I'm shocked it came together so well.

So worth your time if you've never seen it before and love the Muppets. Great film.

Muppets from Space (Review)

I remember when this one came out I was excited to see it in theaters. I went and was incredibly disappointed. No Henson and Frank Oz only joined the film in post production and you could feel the lost of both great minds.

There were a few chuckles here and there but overall the movie felt flat. No original songs and a complete deviation from prior films made this movie seem forced and the story ham-fisted.

This is one I probably won't watch again.

Muppet Treasure Island (Review)

The last Jim Henson film. I remember thinking it wasn't that good when I first saw it but watching it again it surprised me with how many jokes it had. The film looks great too! A quality picture to be sure!

Really fun film. I love the imagination from everyone involved to take these classic stories and re-tell them through the eyes of Muppets. This is a practice LEGO does very well today and it's echoed from the Muppet movies of days of yore.

Though not as strong as any of the previous movies, it is worth your time and much better than the next one to come out.

Muppet Christmas Carol (Review)

This is the movie that started me seeing all the Muppet movies over again. Unbelievable performance from Michael Cain as Scrooge who plays the role straight the entire time! And (after reading the novel) it plays very close to the actual book!! I couldn't believe it!

"It Feels Like Christmas" and "Marley and Marley" are just a few of the great songs you'll find on the album. This is a Christmas classic in my opinion and even has a spot on my DVD shelf, which not many other movies do.

It's not too late to watch this one for the holidays. Check it out and enjoy!

Muppet Take Manhatten (Review)

This is one of the best muppet movies out there. Probably my #2 overall. Great story, awesome song "Together Again", lots of cameos and Kermit and Piggy get married in the end. What more could you ask for?

Rizzo, is introduced in this movie and it also has the fantastic hilarious speech that begins and ends with the phrase "Peoples is peoples" LOVE. IT.

Honestly, out of all the Jim Henson era movies this one takes the cake! Incredible film.

The Great Muppet Caper

 The next movie in the series was one my Dad recorded for us years ago on our old Beta system so we watched it all the time. This one has one of the best running gags in the entire series as Fozzie and Kermit play twins that look nothing alike yet they get mixed up by everyone in the movie! Charles Grodin is BRILLIANT in the movie and really makes it all the more enjoyable playing the villain.

Other notable laughs is Lew with his paper towels, Animal chasing women and Janice's awkward conversations as the crowd is shushed. Great fun! Another home run by Jim Henson!

Muppet Movie (Review)

I decided to watch all the Muppet movies again this past week so today I though I'd review each one.

The first movie they ever made was in 1980. Oddly enough, this was the 3rd Mupper movie I ever saw because no one had it on VHS where I lived. I remember back then thinking it wasn't as good as the other 2 movies I'd seen but looking back, it's actually a lot funnier than I remember. Running gags, hokey plot and cheesy jokes (that Kemit groans at) are made hilarious in this film.

If you love the Muppets, give this one a try or re-watch it sometime. You won't regret it!

"Moving right along" is the best song on the album!

Top 5 Pies

My oh my, do I love some pie!  I prefer it over cake even! Here's my favorites!

 1) Pumpkin

Hands down the best thing EVER. I eat at least 2 whole pies around Thanksgiving and as many as I can over the holidays. I can never get enough! I do prefer whipped cream on top of warm pumpkin pie though.

 2) Boston Cream

I think I have mom make this for my birthday every year. It's SO good! And it rarely has leftovers waiting for you the next day in our house. This is everyone's favorite.

 3) Cherry

Hot cherry pie is WONDERFUL! I eat 2 or 3 every year. Don't know when the best time is to serve it...wait....ANYTIME is the best time, nevermind.

 4) Apple

It was a hard choice choosing Cherry over Apple pie but Apple comes in close behind. I enjoy it more plain than with ice cream on top, though I'm all for that as well. Oddly enough, I even eat it with melted cheese over the top from time to time. Sounds gross? Try it sometime, you'll see what I mean.

5) Mississippi Mud

Rarely have it anymore but loved it growing up! Has a little bit of everything you should have in a pie. Wish I had a slice right now!

That's my Top 5, what's yours?

Take 5 Cakes

Time to talk about the sweeter side of things and address what my favorite cakes are!

 1) Zebra Cake

Mom makes this once a year for Dad's birthday and it's one of the most amazing things on the planet. Hard to come by these days since it's so rare to find stores that carry the Nabisco Chocolate Wafers needed to make the cake.

 2) Carrot Cake

I never ate this as a kid but now that I'm older it's growing on me. This is Megan's favorite cake and I'm almost there in aggreeance with her. LOVE me some Carrot cake!

 3) Chocolate

Always say "Yes" to a slice no matter what it is. Death by Chocolate is a personal favorite but it doesn't matter overall.

 4) Pound cake

I like it fried with butter but will take it plain Jane as well. Mom doesn't make it as often as she used to so I don't have it much anymore these days....goodness knows I can't make one either.

5) Angel Food

Used to be my absolute favorite as a kid but since Mom rarely makes it anymore I have to rank it here. Cold and served with Chocolate whipped cream is my favorite way to eat it. Berries are optional.

That's my Top 5, what's yours?