Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Funflector Review & Giveaway

There are only 23 Days until Halloween and those days will fly by, meaning the costume and candy area of the department stores will be swamped with last minute shoppers.

The top essentials for Trick-or-Treaters are:
  1. Cool Costume
  2. Candy Bag
  3. Extra Candy Bag
  4. Cellphone (for older kids)
  5. Small Flashlight 
  6. Funflector
What is a Funflector?

Funflector is made by glimling.com LL and it is a fun reflective tag to be hanged off your clothes, briefcase, purse, book bags, etc, similar to a reflector on a bike. 

I'm sure candy is the only thing on kids' minds on Halloween, but parents should be thinking only about keeping their children safe, which can be difficult when trick-or-treating. Streets can be come overcrowded with trick-or-treaters, so it is always a good idea to keep an eye on your children. Funflectors can help you keep track of your children or vise versa. Cars are the biggest danger on Halloween night; 7 out of 10 pedestrian accidents occur at night. Wearing some kind of reflector can help save lives.

DVD Review - Power Rangers Super Samurai: A Christmas Wish

Power Rangers Super Samurai: A Christmas Wish
Studio: Lionsgate/ Saban Brands
Release Date: October 8, 2013
ASIN: B00DZP1BJ6
Retail: $14.98
Running Time: 69 minutes
Rating: Not Rated

Review:

The Power Rangers franchise just turned twenty-years-old a few months ago and Lionsgate is releasing a holiday DVD release today titled Power Rangers Super Samurai: A Christmas Wish featuring the episode "Stuck On Christmas," along with the classic Mighty Morphin Power Rangers episode "Forever Friends" and "Alpha's Magical Christmas." Also included is the special feature "Mega Bloks Holiday Toymation."

"Stuck On Christmas" finds the Samurai Rangers battling a terrifying Nighlok named GRED, but during the battle the Megazord malfunctions and they are trapped inside it for Christmas, which they were suppose to spend with their Mentor Ji. The episode includes  flashbacks to previous episodes.


"Forever Friends" originally aired in November 1994 during the second season of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Kimberly and Aisha's best friend Shawna is kidnapped by Goldar, but before the Rangers can rescue her, Lord Zed sends his newest creature, Jaws of Destruction, to destroy them.

Review - Promise to Return by Elizabeth Byler Younts

*This is a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% mine.


In the debut novel Promise to Return by Elizabeth Byler Younts, Miriam Coblentz is looking forward to her upcoming marriage to Henry Mast, but then the unthinkable occurs - the United States enters WWII! On the very day they are to meet with the bishop about their vows, Henry receives his draft papers. Being in combat and killing other is against his Amish faith, therefore he assigned to a Civilian Public Service camp, where he is assigned various tasks, such as digging trenches.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Who or What Is Haunting Your Yard?

The freakish warm fall weather has finally disappeared over the weekend and I finally took my jacket out of storage. Plus, the leaves are starting to fall from the trees. That means Halloween is just around the corner, 24 days to be exact. I've already seen many yards in town have their Halloween decorations up, which I think it is a bit too earlier. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I enjoy carving a pumpkin, decorating the yard and giving away candy to trick-or-treaters, but I don't decorate my yard until a few days before Halloween, as there are a few neighborhood cats and dogs that might knock things down.

For years my decorations consisted of only a blowup Homer Simpson in a skeleton costume and Frankenstein's monster, but last year I bought a tombstone pack from Walmart, two tombstones from a dollar store and two tombstones from a thrift store along with three boxes of Halloween lights, all the items were on sale after last year's Halloween. Additionally, I have made one tombstone from a foam board and ten 29" fences. Which such a big fence, I decided I need a few more decorations.

My local departments stores have a limited quantity of Halloween decorations, so I turned to Oriental Trading, which has a huge supply of indoor/outdoor decorations, candy, and costumes After spending an hour going through their website, I decided to order the LED Skeleton Ground Breaker, the Tombstone with Skull Ground Breaker and the Up & Down RIP Tombstone. I received everything in about a week after I placed my order. The LED Skeleton Ground Breaker arrived first by UPS and the following day I received the other two by USPS.


Stainless Steel Earth Pan Review


 If you are like me, you've probably have owned a frying pan (or skillet), actually you have probably owned several, as many of them don't last long. Typically, the coating goes away quickly and the pan begins to stick. Most traditional frying pans and other cookware have a harmful chemical called PFOA (PerFluoroOctanoic Acid), this chemical is the only way these pans can achieve non-stick performance. The FDA has stated that PFOA is a "persistent pollutant of the environment." 

Last week, I received the Stainless Steel Earth Pan by Ozeri, which has a PFOA-free coating that was developed in the USA. The first stainless steel pan to have a non-stick performance without using PFOA!

The Stainless Steel Earth Pan has an ETERNA coating, which means when under high temperatures it will never release harmful chemicals like other pans do. This pan is environmentally friendly, and has a durable and scratch-resistant coating. Unlike other pans, you don't need to use a lot of oil to fry, sauté, bake, boil or braise!

DVD Review - Robot Chicken: Season 6

Robot Chicken: Season 6
Created by Seth Green & Matthew Senreich
Voice Cast: Seth Green, Various voices
Studio: Cartoon Network (Adult Swim)
Release Date: October 8, 2013
Retail: $29.98
ASIN: B00DNQCH0Y
Running Time: 220 minutes
Rating: TV-MA

Review: 

It’s been seven years since Seth Green & Matthew Senreich invaded the Cartoon Network with their Adult Swim series Robot Chicken, which pokes fun at pop culture, toys, cartoons, movies, comics and anything else they can think of, and tomorrow Robot Chicken: Season Six lands on DVD and Blu-ray featuring all uncensored twenty episodes including the Robot Chicken's ATM Christmas Special.

Season 6 opens with the G.I. Joe taking on a challenge a little too big for them and Wiley E. Coyote finally outsmarts the Road Runner. The craziness continues with the Alvin and the Chipmunks spend a little time with their groupies; the Scooby Doo gang gets a new member; the Fast and Furious sequel gets new wheels, Captain Planet returns; He-Man and Skeletor's battle it out; Dora the Explorer turns 15; and Jason Voorhees and Michael Meyers become pals.

The episodes on the two-disc set are:

Sunday, October 6, 2013

{DVD Review} - American Horror Stories






Just in time for Halloween is the recently released American Horror Stories 12 movie collection from Mill Creek Entertainment featuring several cult classics and drive-in movies that have been long forgotten.

The three-disc set features:

Don't Answer The Phone! - Released in 1980, the film follows a Vietnam vet turned photographer Kurt Smith as he stalks and strangles young women, barely keeping one step ahead of the cops. This is a sick, twisted, and over-the-top film that has received many horrible reviews over the years and there is a reason why.

Point of Terror - Filmed in 1971, but it wasn't released until 1973 after the death of actor Peter Carpenter. The movie was billed as a horror movie, but it is far from it, as it is more of a sexploitation melodrama. Despite slow pacing and a cliché ending, I somewhat liked it.

House on Haunted Hill - I’m sure all horror fans have seen the original 1959 William Castle's House on Haunted Hill starring Vincent Price as millionaire Frederick Loren, who invites five guests to the party he is throwing for his wife. Each guest will get $10,000 if they stay in the locked house overnight. This is one of my favorite horror classics.

A Bucket of Blood - Roger Corman's 1959 tale feels more like an episode of Tales From The Crypt!  Dick Miller stars as a young busboy who accidentally kills his landlord's cat and has to hide the evidence, he covers the cat's body in clay. Oddly, other people see the cat sculpture and consider it art. And of course, to make more art, he has to kill again. It may have a low-low-budget, but it isn't a bad movie.

Horror Express - Horror Vets Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing star in this 1972 film. After finding a frozen monster in Manchuria, Professor Alexander Saxton is bringing the creature back to Europe on a trans-Siberian express, but the frozen creature thaws out and causes chaos. The silly ape-man story is only worth watching for Lee and Cushing.

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Review - Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

Doctor Sleep
By Stephen King
Publisher: Scribner
Pub. Date: September 24, 2013
Retail: $30.00
ISBN: 978-1476727653
Pages: 544

Review:

In 1977, author Stephen King scared millions of readers with the horror novel The Shining, which was about a recovering alcoholic Jack Torrance becoming the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel during the isolated winter months. He lived in the hotel his wife Wendy and their five-year-old son Danny. Of course the hotel was haunted and chaos stirs about. The book was made into a feature film in 1980 directed by Stanley Kubrick and was made into a television mini-series in 1997.

Now, Stephen King has written the long awaited sequel called Doctor Sleep with the opening pages picking up where the 1977 original left off, showing the physical and emotional trauma left upon Wendy, Danny and Dick Hallorann (the chef of the Overlook Hotel). Starting their life over isn't easy as the ghosts of the Overlook Hotel won't leave poor Danny alone. After a frightening encounter with woman from Room 217, Dick teaches young Danny how to put those unwanted spirits into a "locked box" and store it away forever.

After the death of his mother, Danny (known to most as Dan) has become an alcoholic just like his father, but for him the alcohol is the only thing that can numb his shining (telepathic abilities, including seeing the dead). Things get worse for Dan after a one nightstand with a junkie and an odd encounter with her son. He moves every little bit, not wanting to stay in one place for very long, taking any job he can get.

Luckily, things do turn around for Dan, as he finally quits drinking and enters AA. His years of drifting is over and he take a steady job at a nursing home in Teenytown, New Hampshire, where he quickly earns the nickname "Doctor Sleep", as he helps the dying find comfort before their passing.