Best M&M flavors!

Today I thought I'd talk about my favorite flavor M&M flavors so far!

5) Love the spicy kick of these. Too bad they aren't made anymore!

4) I love these. Their newer so you can still buy them in stores.

3) I don't get these as much as I want to but love them better than the plain peanut ones.

2) SOOOO disappointed when these didn't win. LOVED this flavor so much!

1) Nothing beats them. If I has a 5 pound bag of them I could eat them all in one sitting....sadly.

What's your top 5 flavors?

Uh oh

More bad news for our "gloom and doom" virus fanatics.

A study in the UK just revealed that only 22% of those infected report symptoms and that the majority of people don't feel a thing. 

How harmless IS this virus anyway?!? You have less that a 1 in 4 chance of actually getting sick when contracting the virus!

Heck, I could have it right now and wouldn't be able to tell! Are you feeling well? You may have it too!

Here we go again with the lies

Remember when they told us that all we had to do was stay at home and everything would go away.

And when that didn't work they switched the narrative to "make sure you practice social distancing!" Because it was "the only way for this to be all over"

Well, that didn't work either, so today it's "wear a face mask. It's the only way for this to be all over"

Um....sorry but I'm not buying it anymore. Come back in a year when this is all over and we'll see which way was right. 

Unfinished Tales (Re-read)

Finished a re-read of the book edited by Christopher Tolkien and it's still a good one! He continues his father's legacy with this book that came out shortly after the Silmarillian in 1980 and was a huge seller. In fact, this was the novel that convinced Christopher to begin work on "The History of Middle Earth" series which lasted 12 novels. (of which I plan to read later this year)

But this book not only shares more stories about the first two ages but also the 3rd age. The two most interesting tales is one about Thorin and Gandolph on how they came to the decision to hire Bilbo for their quest in The Hobbit. Also was one about how Sauraman carefully pieced together information about the Hobbits and why he had their tobacco in his tower as we see in Two Towers.

Some very interesting things about the "blue wizards" which Christopher admits most of the notes were illegible but it appeared not much of them was known.

Really good read for the hardcore Tolkien fan. Glad I re-read it. It amps up my excitement for reading the History of Middle Earth once again!

Fear the AWFUL Walking Dead spinoff

Megan and I tried season 1 when it came out and hated it. She was the smart one and stopped watching.

But I went in for Season 2....it was worse. So I stopped there....but 3 years have passed and I thought (I have nothing to binge watch at the moment, why not try this for a 3rd go around)

Nope! Still sucks! The writing it TERRIBLE and I think it's the big reason, stars have left the series. Even they know what a train wreck the series is.

How bad you ask? Well, Season 3 ends on a cliffhanger and Season 4....doesn't even resolve it. Even worse, it makes it sound like none of it ever happened. I'm talking full reboot!

Passed characters are brought back in to the series for no reason and with no explanation why they've returned and the writers make ZERO effort to bridge the two seasons. It's serious as if they tried to reboot the whole series in Season 4. Terrible choice.

So yes, now I'm done....again....until 3 more years pass and I forget how bad the series is and try it again.

Don't watch this garbage.

Going to be honest here, prior to this year I thought the worst year of my life was back in 1997. Right after New Year's Day I found out three things when returning from vacation. 

1) Dad forgot to pay our tuition and all my classes for the spring were canceled

2) Went to work that day and found out they were shutting down my store in two weeks

3) Got back to my apartment to the news that they raised my rent for the year. 

But 2020 beats this by leagues. 

Between the pandemic and people acting like morons it's easily the worst year so far. Here's to hoping we can salvage something out of it for the last 6 months of the year....though I'm not sure we will at this point. 

Dear Moron's (Part 5)

Let's not forget who SOLD all those slave in the first place! Take out the country responsible for all this. Hmmm...maybe they should even pay everyone back with interest for all the wealth they made from selling their people. 

If you know about books it's not hard to read about. 

Dear Morons. part 4

I forgot about the Colosseum in Italy. Remember the place were slaves died in battle or were outright slaughtered for the enjoyed of the Romans? 

Please destroy those too. 

Thanks. 

Happy 4th!

Remember when you were kids how you'd shoot firerackers at one another?

No?

Then nevermind. Enjoy your celebration.....and don't invite me to any parties where fireworks are readily available....

M&M Fudge Brownie taste test

As you know, I love trying new flavors of classic candies. So when I saw this I had to try it. Not bad. Not the best flavor they offer (Chili, Dark and Toffee are in that category) but certainly not the worst!

Worth your time if you like brownies. It's not as bad as the concept may indicate.

Have a good weekend folks!

Milky Way Salted Caramel

Not really a fan of the candy bar but decided to try this because I like salted caramel. To be honest? Not bad. I think I still like Milky Way Darks better but this one's pretty good if you're thinking of picking it up at the grocery store, I say "Go for it!"

Happy birthday Brother!

My brother/author is celebrating a birthday today! If you'd like to check out some of his books go to amazon and look under "Remy Wilkins" or "H.W. Taylor"

Have birthday bro!

Postponing Move Review Month

Since the movie schedule for the year is so messed up, I'm holding off on these monthly posts until things get better straightened out. Even the studios are confused on what's coming out and what's being delayed right now.

Not that I mind...movies theses days are bad more than good to me.

Flight of the Navigator (re-watch)

Been a dog's age since I've seen this classic from the 80's and oh man... it still holds up. The story isn't much. Boy gets abducted, comes back 8 years later and doesn't remember a thing about where he's been.

He's studied by NASA. Discovers a ship at their base. Escapes and then....tries to get back home to his parents. That's really it is.

But it's pretty interesting in that it never shows the abduction and teases several "UFO" moments that end up being nothing. I love it. Fantastic movie. Glad to have it in my DVD collection.

If you've never seen it before...you're doing yourself a disservice!

The 1%

As corona virus testing becomes more available and millions more are getting tested we're seeing new numbers for serious and critical cases that's an eye opener. 

Just this week that number is now officially under 1%. Only 1% of cases are serious....let that sink in. 

I can't wait to see the upcoming documentaries in the years to come how this whole pandemic was grossly mishandled. 

Typical

Ever notice how all the police brutality cases leading in death happen up north yet the south gets the blame for being the "racist"?

SO tired of hearing that. So now they've blackballed MS into changing their state flag. Mob mentality triumphs again. 

When are people going to learn that violence and evil behavior doesn't come from an inanimate object like a flag, rap music or video game. It comes from the hearts of evil people. 

Ignorance truly must be bliss. 

Heat (re-watch)

I remember loving this movie back in the day and loving it. I decided to give it another watch and noticed a few things I didn't before.

First is that Val Kilmer is hardly in the movie though he's featured predominantly on the posters. The second is...it's slow. Really not much happens throughout this 3 hour film! I was a bit surprised. It's good but not as good as I remembered.

Worth a first watch if you've never seen it before but I now know why people don't talk about it these days. It's been done better.

Have a good weekend folks! 

Leon (Review)

Believe it or not, I've never seen this film before now. I remember everyone telling me how good it was but for some reason I was never interested in seeing it. But I decided to give it a shot and yeah, it's pretty good.

A little off setting about the girl being in love with him. No way a movie like this gets a huge following ever again but for it's time I guess it's excusable?

Either way, the films pretty solid but not a "classic" Worth your time if you've never seen before but not worth a re-watch if you haven't seen it in a while.

Off the Black (Review)

I saw this was back in the day when it came out back when I was trying to watch every movie centered around baseball. I didn't know anything about it but decided to check it out.

The movie stars Nick Nolte (in his best role ever) as an Ump who leads an empty life. After he calls a game that leds to the a team missing the playoffs, the pitcher and a few of his teammates trash the outside of his home.

When the pitcher is caught by Nolte, the Umpire forces him to come back each day until everything is cleaned up (or he'll tell the cops) The boy agrees and over the week the two of them become friends.

It sounds a little hokey I know, but it's a pretty good story that makes sense. The pitcher's Dad isn't all there after being left by his wife so the kid's looking for a father figure in the old ump. I kind of like this movie and think it's just as good as the last time I saw it.

Not a "great" baseball movie but a good one. Worth your time. It's streaming on Amazon Prime right now if you want to check it out.

47 Meters Down Uncaged (Review)

What do you do when a "one and done" movie makes tons of money but doesn't open itself up for a sequel?

You make one anyway! Oh and it doesn't have ANYTHING to do with the events of the first one....aaaand, it's less dramatic, more unbelievable and has zero tension like the original....also throw in Stallone's daughter....there you go. That's the kind of movie you have....crap.

Avoid at all cost....unless you have trouble sleeping....the pace of the film may help.

How to Walk Away when Nobody is Trying

For over 13 long years I've fought hard to get "How to Succeed" on the main stage here in Monroe. 

Last season I pulled out all the stops and even after getting voted down TWICE by the board I continued to push until I got it through. 

There was incredible resistance to the show. Marketing didn't advertise auditions and a lot of people were shoehorned into the cast to make it work. We didn't even have 20 people for a musical but everyone worked hard all the same. 

We were one week out before the virus hit.....one week. Then everything changed. 

What was to only be for a few weeks went on to become the year. Though a small chance exists to keep it as a summer show everyone (and I mean everyone) was against it. 

People starting dropping out of the show or just plain refusing to be in it. No one acted as if they cared what happened, even after all the hard work we'd put into it. 

I was the last one struggling to keep the show together, to push it through. I was the sole person who picked up the phone after one rejection after the other but kept on. Working day and night to find people to be in the show. 

But no one cared. 

Now the show's been pushed back to the fall. I knew if it happened I couldn't be a part of it due to other commitments I had. I even let everyone know that, but it didn't matter. The show must go on....even if you're not a part of it. 

After 13 long years it's finally come to an end. I won't be in the show I worked so hard over. Won't be a part of the bucket list that will be crossed out. 

I can't be bitter about it because it feels petty. Can't be angry about it because I understand people don't care about it. So all I can be is at peace right now. 

I'm out of the show I worked so hard to make happen. So hard, that I have to make the toughest sacrifice of all to ensure it does happen. 

But it's a choice I'm fine with it. I can't change my prior commitments so it's out of my control. It's just the way things are going to be. 

I'm thankful I have several more important things in my life than boosting my ego by headlining a show. 

If you think about it that way, it's easy to walk away. 

Onward (review)

Megan wanted to see it since it was on Disney+ and everyone was talking about it so we gave it a try last month. Have to admit....not bad. Much better than I thought it would be.

I knew it was bombing in theaters before the pandemic and was pulled but maybe that was a good thing. I think more people are giving it a chance than they would've.

It's worth checking out. Surprisingly a better movie than you'd expect!

Dear Morons (Part 3)

Almost forgot, here's another guy that was garbage too. Please send all images you have of Ben Franklin in your wallet to me. I promise I'll get rid of them as fast as I can. 

This is a great idea. Trust me, you don't want to carry around this guy's white privilege in your pocket. 

Dear Morons (part 2)

And don't forget to tear down everything with Lincoln on it as well. You know his father-in-law was a slave trader? Yep. Look it up. 

Go for it.....really....all history must be destroyed. Let's live out the extinction of our society like so many others have in the past....this is a good idea....historians around the world will thank you for it, I'm sure. 

Dear morons,

Since we're destroying history now, I say you folks go after the pyramids. They were built by slaves you know. In fact, x-ray scans can reveal where slaves were crushed by the stones when they were laid. 

I say you go ahead and tear those down too....love to see you try....seriously. Go for it. 

Les Miserables (Review)

It's been a while since I've listened to the soundtrack but as a teenager we played the CD a lot back in the 90's! I finally got around to watching the movie with Hugh Jackman and I must say it's pretty good. Both vocal and visually it's a beautiful film. Can't say you'd like it if you don't know of or don't like musical plays though. It's 99% singing. But still, I wonderful film.  I enjoyed it.

Have a good weekend folks!

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (Review)

He's made great documentaries in both his Super Size Me movies, so I thought I'd try out his other one about how movie product placement is done.

It's a pretty smart movie, showing you how everything is done. I found it interesting though not quite as good as his Super Size Me docs. Would I recommend it? Yes! It's still a good film on it's own. I did enjoy it.

Kinda crazy I never even heard about this one until earlier this year. Didn't make as big of waves as his last one did.

The Grudge 2020 Review

I didn't want to see this when it came out. But when it went to rental I couldn't resist it. Come to find out it's not a reboot. Oddly enough this movie takes place between the first two movies.

Wild.

Oh and it sucks. I mean, bad. Lame characters, cheap jump scares and no substance. I wasn't impressed. It seriously felt like a cheap direct to DVD movie that was made without much effort. Grudge 3 was a better movie by far.

Skip this one.

Silmarillion Re-read review

At long last I was able to re-read this one. It'd been quite a while and I wasn't sure what to expect.

To be honest, it's good. Nothing compared to the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings trilogy of course, but still it's a great guides to the 1st and 2nd ages that I enjoyed going back over again.

If you want to know more about those ages that the upcoming Amazon TV series will cover, I recommend you read this one. It's worth you time!

1917 Review

I'd heard a lot of good things about this movie so I decided to give it a shot.

First off, it has some impressive "one-shot" single scenes that stretch out for minutes. Really nice. Sure there's a few spots where you can notice they made a transition in places but still, I liked the look of the film.

The story is good as well but I think this one was a little over hyped to me. It's a fine film but a "one and done" for me.

Worth your time once but not worthy to be collected on my shelf.

Self Propelled Salvation

For decades I've always wanted a self propelled lawn mower. When I was a kid mowing yards with a buddy of mine we pooled our money to buy equipment. Since he was doing the string trimming, I let him pick out the one he wanted and since I was doing most of the lawn mowing, I was to pick out what I wanted. 

That never happened. I wanted self propelled and didn't care what else it came with but that was a MUST for me. What we ended up getting was a bag mower with big back wheels, everything he wanted. I was pissed. 

When I got married I went out to get a self propelled mower on my own but the salesman convinced me it wasn't worth it and that I should get a new bag mower instead. 

Me: But I don't want a bag! Those things clog up fast without hardly getting any in the bag. 

Salesrep: Oh no! Not anymore! These don't clog up anymore and believe me, you'll love it. 

I bought it. I hated it. Not only did it clog up from the very start but it didn't have a side exit for the grass to come out. So it was bag, or get hit in the leg with grass. I mowed grass for 10 year under option number 2. Ruining several pairs of pants and pj's along the way. 

This spring I was set up to get what I wanted for decades. Self Propelled. And I did. 

I tried the bag it came with once. It clogged up immediately. (as expected) I threw it away the same day and haven't looked back! My self propelled is all I wanted! I don't use it constantly, only for those soft hard patches I have in the yard here and there. But I'm so thankful I have it now. 

Cutting grass is a whole lot easier now.   

Birds of Prey Review

Megan really wanted to see this.....it's garbage. I mean...imagine a terrible episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and then take a few more steps down and you have this movie.

Awful. Dumb. The story goes nowhere and a waste of a perfectly good Batman villain in Black Mask.

Oh and the stinger? It's supposed to be funny...but it's not. Total and complete waste of time.

Have a good weekend folks!

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (re-read)

This one also only takes a couple of minutes to read but is fun for the most part. It talks about Tom's marriage and a few other short adventures before moving on to other poems written by Tolkien that are loosely placed inside the realm of Middle Earth.

If you're a completist, then this is one you should pick up. If not, don't worry. You're not missing too much.

Bilbo's Last Song (re-read)

It only takes a minute to read. Very short poem about Bilbo's departure from middle-earth. I enjoy it. Copies are easy and cheap to come by. Worth picking up a copy just to have with your LotR collection.

I'm thankful for mine!

Players who deserve to be in the Hall of Fame (2)

 Dale Murphy

The Smurph! An All-Star, Golden Glove and Silver Slugger winner, his 398 homers is just 2 shy of being continued to be a contender for the Hall of Fame and I hate that. He was the saving grace for the Braves in one of their most miserable decades.

I remember cheering for him his last year on the Rockies. That he could belt out just two more home runs to earn a spot among the greats. Sadly it looks like it'll never happen.

 Don Mattingly

6-time All Star, 3 Silver Sluggers, 9 Gold Gloves and a .307 lifetime batting average. Just have to ask yourself what a guy has to do to get into the HoF doesn't it?

 John Franco

This man bleed orange and blue for New York. I loved him like all Mets fan do. He holds the record for most games pitched in MLB history with 1,119. 2nd in saves with 424 and a 4 time all-star. What's going on in Cooperstown?! This guy deserves to be on their wall!

Keith Hernandez

Last but certainly not least is my favorite player of all time. 11 Gold Gloves, 2,182 hits, .298 batting average and 2 World Series. He's got to be JUST below the line of qualifications to get in and that's a shame. He was a fantastic player back in the day!

That's my 9. What's yours?

Players who deserve to be in the Hall of Fame (1)

Baseball is in full swing (pun intended) at the moment and I thought I'd talk about some players I think deserve to be in the Hall of Fame!

 Bill Buckner

Sadly he's most well known for missing that grounder in the 86 World Series. A gaff that would haunt him for the rest of his life. But with 2,715 hits, I think he should've been considered for a trip to the Hall.

 David Cone

2 time 20 game winner (something unheard of now) and And with 2,668 K's he's #22 on the all time chart. I think that should've been considered in his bid for the Hall.

 Orel Hershiser

He has a record 59 straight scoreless innings and a lifetime .303 ERA. I thinking if it wasn't for his health issues that appeared after he turned 30 he would've been a shoe in. But when he was good....he was good!

 Roger Maris

He just barely missed the cut in his last year on the list in 1988 but his amazing season on 61 homeruns is legendary. Sure his career tapered off once he hit his 30's but it could've been due to all the stress he suffered back in '61. He's one of the most recognizable players not in the Hall of Fame who's name is most recognizable. (save maybe for Pete Rose)

Will Clark

The THRILL had it going on back in the day! 11 Gold Gloves, 2 World Series rings, 2,182 hits and a .298 lifetime batting average which would've been over .300 if he hadn't have played injured his last two seasons. This guy deserves to see his name in the Hall.

Be back with part 2 tomorrow!

#BLM

Over 7 million aborted since 1970, time to stand up and say something.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Review)

Finally got around to seeing this one. Forgot it'd come out! Tom Hanks plays the legendary Mr Rogers in this movie based on a true story of a reporter who's life was changed while writing an article about Mr Rogers.

It was pretty good but I feel the documentary on the real story would be more interesting to watch. If you missed it and were curious, I'd say go ahead and give it a try....not like there's anything else to watch in the theaters these days!

Have a good weekend folks!

Hershey Kisses Cereal review

One look at the box and I knew I had to try it out. It looks like poop emojis from the look of it but when it's soaking in milk it looks like dog food.

However, the taste it there! Very chocolatey cereal, if that's what you like I can easily recommend it.... I just wish it didn't look like little poops.

Twinkie Cereal Review

The good news about this cereal is that it taste great! The bad news is it tastes EXACTLY like their powered donut cereal which was a bummer. Kind of lazy to use the same flavor and only change the shape and color.

But would I buy it again? HECK YES!

Magnum P.I. (Review)

I had the opportunity to re-watch the old Magnum PI series from back in the 80's. I remember watching it with mom but didn't see a lot of the episodes and I'd heard from my brother (who had watched a few recently) that he thought the show still held up so I decided to give it a shot in-between other shows I was watching at the time.

Now that I've re-watched all 8 seasons I have to say...this show is magnificent! Way ahead of its time in story telling, the show was a real joy to watch. I really enjoyed it all. The stories, the humor and characters, they'll all great.

If you ever wish to make the trek through the entire series let me tell you....it's definitely worth your time!

Gordon Ramsey: UnCharted (review)

I love Gordon Ramsey, so when I saw Disney+ had his Discovery channel show on their streaming service I was interested.

The show features the chef going around the world, tasting unique foods and showing the culture while the whole time he is preparing to serve the locals by the end of the week.

It's ok, but features a "nice" Ramsey which is a little boring as well. The show's so-so and I though I love the locations they showed I don't think I'll be tuning in for season 2 (if there is one)