Empyrion Duology (Review)

Been a long time since I've read this series. In fact, Dad read it to us when we were kids and I haven't read it since! it focuses on Treet Orion, a journalist who is hired to go on an assignment with a few others to investigate a colony on another planet that started 5 years ago. 

They travel through a black hole to get there but when they arrive, it's in the far future and the colony have changed and forgotten earth since then. 

Though the time travel is never explained in the book, the story is engaging and did make for a fun read though I probably won't read it again. A little too "simple" for my taste. It almost reads like a young adult novel at times with it's simple yet smooth story telling. 

Enjoyable none-the-less!

 

I hate the zoo

 As if they could get any worse.

Most of the exhibits are closed. Every time we visit it feels like you've been charged a tour through an abandoned city, where one or two animal mull around in the background. 

Why would anyone want to go here anymore when they have NOTHING to show you?!

If it were up to me, I wouldn't visit the zoo ever again. Complete waste of money. 

Massive Hide and Seek

 Another game we played as kids was a massive Hide and Seek. Where one kid would seek all the other kids on a hunt that went all around the block. 

If you were tagged, you became a seeker as well. The winner was the one who outlasted them all. I remember one Saturday I hid so well that the entire neighborhood spent the better part of the day trying to track me down. 

I ended up making it back into my own house without anyone seeing me. 

After an hour I remember my brother coming in to tell my parents they couldn't find me anywhere only to discover I was there watching football with my Dad and grandfather. 

Those were the days when you stayed outside until the sun went down. Good days!

Have a good weekend folks!

Water Wars

 

Hot days like these remind me of the time when I was a kid and all the kids in the neighborhood would participate in a massive "water war"

I remember us having several over the summer. This was before Super Soakers, so everyone was armed with a cheap squirt gun while certain folks hung around their houses with the water hose to hit someone with a gusher of water while not paying attention and straying too close within range. 

Fun times I remember. Too bad kids don't do that anymore today. 

Piercing the Darkness (Review)

 The sequel to This Present Darkness, takes place in another town and focuses on new characters, though Hank and Marshall from the first book to make appearances in the novel. As do some of the angels and demons from the prior book. 

I thought Dad read this to us as a kid but upon re-reading it, I'm not sure he did. This one goes to a few dark places, one of them being a child who is possessed by a demon. Not sure I remember Dad reading that to us and there's a few other topics (child abuse accusations and a hidden Coven in town that practices witch craft) that make me think Dad may have passed on reading this to us as kids. 

It's good but not as good as the first in the series. 

I found out there's a 3rd novel in the series called Prophet but I think I'll pass on it since this one wasn't as good. 

This Present Darkness (Review)

 It's been since I was a kid when my Dad last read this to us. So one of the other series I decided to grab from his collection was this one and re-read it. 

I love the way Peretti writes. Lots of dialogue and fast paced action. It really flows as you read it and with angels and demons battling unseen in the world of men it makes for an engaging story. 

The story revolves around 2 characters who are new in town. One owns the local paper and is uncovering a conspiracy the encompasses the whole town while the other is a pastor with a small church who is dealing with demons trying to break up his congregation and drive him out of town.

I heard at one point this was considered to become a movie. Too bad it never happened. It would have been interesting to see. 

The Journey of Wishes (Review)

 There's also an 8th and final book in the series that actually plays as a prequel to the series as it focuses on John's grandfather and his first encounter with Spirit Flyers.

It was better than I thought it would be and I actually enjoyed reading thru the adventure. It doesn't reveal anything you didn't already know in the series but does establish certain things previously revealed. 

Overall, its a fun series that I might read to my girls when they get a little older. 

We only had the 1st 4 books of this series growing up. When I found out there were 4 more I bought them immediately so I could finish the entire series. 

Glad I did. 

The Perfect Star (Review)

 The 7th book in the series concludes the main story line, it focuses on the sister of the newer bully in town (that was introduced in the 4th book) A star is approaching earth and getting closer and closer every night. 

The villains are worried as they know it signals the final battle soon to take place and as the girl accepts Jesus in her life....I mean the "Kingson" she's able to convert her entire family except her brother who is oddly left alone in the town after everyone else....goes to heaven?

Yeah. It's an "end of times" ending that pales in comparison to "The Last Battle" by Lewis, but its still a decent story overall. 

Have a good weekend folks!

The Runaway Parents (Review)

 The 6th book in the series ties up a loose end from the first book in that it reveals the truth of whatever happened to John's parents. John is once again at the center of the story and for some reason abandons his love of the Spirit Flyer bikes to look for his parents. 

It feels a little out of character after what all John's been through but I guess since it's dealing with his parents he forgets everything else in a desire to find them again. I get it. Still, it feels a little bit stretched since he's made so many wise decisions before then. 

To be honest, I totally forgot about this story arc until reading this book. Bibee doesn't remind you of it after the first book so you're expected to remember it. I like that he made his audience pay attention and not remind them in every book about the disappearance of John's parents. 

Anyway, nice novel to move the series to its eventual conclusion. 

The Last Christmas (Review)

 In this 5th book in the series, Barry (the bully from the previous 4 books) is now the focus of the series as he undergoes a change that leads him to become a Christian....I mean Spirit Flyer rider. 

The series takes a darker tone since the world is at war with one another and lockdowns and marshal law is in effect for most towns. In fact, Christmas has very little to do with the story with most of the characters not even dressing in warmer clothes for the season. I'm guessing either they all live in Phoenix or South Florida but the book tends to hint at them being from the mid-west. 

Barry was already being replaced by a "newer" bully so I guess Bibee always had in mind to bring Barry to repentance. 

After this book, Barry's hardly ever mentioned again unless its an off comment about riding with other Spirit Flyers. So essentially, this is Barry's last story arc in the series. 

COMPLY

 Dave Dorman is the man. 

This sums up the evil that Fauci truly is. I hope there's more of these to come from Dorman. 

Bicycle Hills (Review)

 The 4th book in the Spirit Flyer series shifts its focus yet again on another new girl in town, Amy and how she's already popular in town but is having questions of the types of friends she's made. 

Mrs Happy (the villain from the last two novels) is now gone and another new nemesis has taken her place. Uncle Bunky the Clown. 

There's also a new place to play called Bicycle Hills where underneath the surface is another game for kids called Caves and Cobras. 

This is the book that made me want to re-read the series again. I remember Dad reading this to us as a kid and my brothers and I thought the concept of Caves and Cobras was so cool. It was like paintball but underground and inside of a bunch of dimly lit caves. We couldn't get over what that would look like!

Surprisingly it isn't featured in the book as much as I remembered. Only 2 chapters. I guess it made more of an impact on us as kids the first time around! 

The Only Game in Town (Review)

 The 3rd book in the Spirit Flyer series once again shifts it's focus to a new kid in town (Daniel) and a new "game" in town as well, where all the kids are ranked from worst to first. Since Daniel's a Christian, he gets the unfortunate title of "Rank Blank" and is shamed by every other kid in town....except for the Spirit Flying Cramer kids who try to welcome him into their flock. 

This book is showing the difficulties of young Christians trying to fit in to a secular world that doesn't accept them. It does a pretty good job with the premise and makes for an overall interesting story as you hear about every kid jockeying for a better position on the board. 

Eventually Daniel will see the truth and realize the "Game" isn't as important as walking with God....I mean, riding a Spirit Flyer. 

Like I said, these get real hokey at the end but it's okay because the overall story is engaging. 

Happy Pride Month!

 I just heard it's Pride month! 

I think it's awesome we set aside an entire month and observe and give respect to all those lion families out there!

Here's some fun facts about Lions!

1) Males can weight up to 570 lbs

2) Adult Females in a pride are typically all related

3) Male cubs leave the pride but stay together as a group until they can take control of their own pride

For more fun facts about lions check out the internet and Happy Pride Month!

Still can't figure out how waving flags with the same emblem as God's promise to man not to flood the world again, has to do with lion prides but oh well! That's something to celebrate as well!

Happy Pride month everyone!

The Toy Campaign (Review)

 

The 2nd book in the Spirit Flyer series focuses on John Cramer (a little) but more on his cousin, who was a minor character in the first book. 

This one's about John being obsessed with toys and wanting more of them. (who didn't as a kid) but his love for toys has clouded his judgment and relationship with the Lord....I mean his bike. 

The bowler hat wearing villain Mr Grinsby from the first book is gone (being burned into ashes after the first book) and is now replaced with a sweet old wicked looking grandma named Mrs Happy, who is the new owner of the toy store in town. 

The book takes place a few months after the first one ended on a cliffhanger (or sorts) which isn't dealt with until midway through this book when we find out what actually happened to John earlier that year. 

Kind of odd to not resolve the cliffhanger at the beginning of the book (especially for a kids novel) but it is what it is. 

This plot's a little lame considering John's tempted so easily by toys this time around when in the first book, he wasn't tempted by a brand new bike, but I guess it works in the long run. 

Have a good weekend folks!

The Magic Bicycle (Review)

 A few months ago during the snow storm here in Monroe that lasted a week (that's odd to think about now) I went and borrowed a ton of books from my parents house to read. 

One of the series I took down within the span of those first two weeks was the old Christian "Spirit Flyer Series" of young adult books. 

Our Dad used to read them to us when we were younger and I remember enjoying them and wanted to give them another shot. 

The first one focuses on John Cramer and a bicycle he finds in a dump which he fixes up and can fly. 

It's perfect for a kid who grew up in the 80's and remembers how important it was to have your own bicycle back then to get around. 

We lived in a small town and could go anywhere on our bikes just about, so I remember connecting to this story a lot. 

There's of course of lot of Christian symbolism in the book, equating the bikes to our relationship with the Lord. Some times it gets a little ham fisted (especially towards the end) but overall, John Bibee wrote an enjoyable world I was happy to revisit again. 

And I did just that in his next book that I'll review tomorrow. 

The Last Blockbuster (Review)

 After forgetting about this documentary for a while I finally got around to watching it a month ago and I have to say, it's interesting. 

I don't have fond memories of Blockbuster, nor do I miss them but it certainly is a remarkable story to see if you're interested. I enjoyed it a lot. 

It appears the owner's love for the store is really the only thing keeping it going. since video rentals are a thing of the past. Though I will admit, if we had a rental store close by, I'd probably check it out every once in a while to find movies that aren't streaming online. 

I never wanted to see these stores die out but with Blockbuster.....I didn't care. 

All in all, it's still a good documentary to check out!

Bye bye Rhado

 No one in the board game business has convinced me to buy more games than this man. However, he's become way too political in preachy in his videos over the past few months that I finally had to just unsubbed from him and stop watching his videos altogether. 

It wasn't an easy decision but he's made his videos a pulpit to push his platform and political views where its not needed. 

Bye Rhado. It's been fun.  

Fake cases exposed

 Man it feels good to be on an "We were right" streak. 

States are now reviewing past COVID cases and admitting that some of them weren't related to COVID but faked for numbers (and $$$) sake. 

I think we'll see a LOT more of this information to come in the following years as we look back at how inflated these numbers really were. 

 His emails have exposed him for the fraud he is. The fact that he remains in his position is an insult to the American people. 

He should be fired and put on trial for his gross mishandling of the pandemic and outright dishonesty with the general public. 

New YouTube channel I subbed to

 If you love baseball....this one goes behind the mound and talks about topics surrounding the sport and off the field. Great stuff. He posts about once every 2 weeks but it's a solid video each time. I highly recommend it. 

BANG: Purple Kiddles

 I finally got to try a flavor exclusive to military bases (or so I'd heard) but it was at my local gas station. 

Oddly enough it taste like purple Flintstone vitamins, but I didn't mind it and would probably try it again. 

Now I have to look for the other military exclusive "Strawberry Blast"

Have a good weekend folks!

The Buttercream Gang: Secret of Treasure Mountain

 Finally got a chance to see the sequel to one of my favorite movies as a kid. It's been a while and I remember it not being as good as the original. 

It wasn't. 

But then again, it wasn't as bad as I remembered it being. It focuses this time on Eldin (from the first movie) as he and the Butter Creamers as trying to save the shop and home of someone in their town by finding a lost treasure. 

As with all the Family Focused Films it comes with a lesson at the end of the movie but they could've done so much more with it that it makes this movie a let down. 

The first one isn't cinematic gold but at least it had heart, while this one feels mostly contrived. 

But if you liked the first one and wanted to see its sequel, it's available on YouTube and isn't that long so may be worth it. 

I'm glad I saw it. 

Delish Strawberry Kiss

 Got to try the newest Bang flavor a few months ago and forgot to give my review!!

It's much better tasting than the former strawberry flavor "Frose Rose" so for me, it's replaced it. I love how they continue to come out with new flavors, though I'm not sure how popular they still are today. 

Earl Weaver Baseball

 Holy crow I sued to play the heck out of this computer game when I was older. They had this awesome spinning graph that gave you statistics and results that you would put into the computer to receive an outcome. 

It's been so long I don't remember exactly how it worked but we played the heck out of this game when I was younger. 

If it were possible, I'd give it a try again. SO many hours spent playing this game!