Grab a book, any book.
Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it).
Post it.
 Add your (url) post below in the Linky at: www.fredasvoice.com
Add the post url, not your blog url.

Opposite them sits a sweet-faced girl with rust-colored hair, dense clusters of freckles adorning her nose and cheeks.

page 56, Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

  My Thoughts

AMAZON

I was constantly reading Stephen King horror novels back when I was a teenager in the mid 1990s. While I still read his books from time to time, I haven't had the chance to read his last three or four books, though I do own them. However, I did find the time read Mr. King's newest title Elevation, which is a very short novella.

Set in Castle Rock, Maine, Elevation centers around an overweight middle-aged divorcee named Scott Carey, who finds himself in a strange situations. According to his Ozeri scale, he is losing two or three pounds per day, but he hasn't psychically lost any weight. Well, at least to the naked eye he he hasn't.

Scott's bizarre weight problem has baffled his longtime friend Bob Ellis, a retried doctor, who doesn't have any real answers to why he's losing weight.

The more pounds he drops on the scale, the lighter Scott becomes, which isn't a totally bad thing at first. He uses his newfound lightness to enter a 12k run, so he can "fix" the rocky relationship he has had with his new neighbors, Deirdre McComb and her wife Missy Donaldson, who own a local restaurant.

While Scott's lifestyle has improved since he started losing weight, he knows his happiness will be short lived, as his ability to stay grounded to Earth will not last forever.

Final Thoughts

AMAZON

While cleaning up a pile of junk from my desk, I stumbled upon a blank cardboard DVD envelope, which I had no clue what was inside until I actually opened it. To my surprise, inside the envelope was a DVD-R copy of Attack of the Killer Donuts that was sent to me by Level 33 Entertainment. I had completely forgotten about having the movie!

My apologizes to Level 33 Entertainment for my extremely long delay with this review!

Directed by Scott Wheeler, the film stars Justin Ray, Kayla Compton, Ben Heyman, Kassandra Voyagi, Fredrick Burn, C. Thomas Howell, and Michael Swan.

Attack of the Killer Donuts centers around a twenty-something Johnny, a slacker who lives with his mother and Uncle Luther, a scientist. He spends his days working at a local doughnut shop with his friend Michelle, who has a crush on him.

One day Uncle Luther comes into the shop wanting to "borrow" Johnny's laptop and accidentally dumps a green substance into the fryer pan. Unknowingly to them, Johnny and Michelle fry donuts all afternoon that have been infected with the green substance, which reanimates the donuts into murderous creatures.

Nothing can stop the killer donuts from munching on the townsfolk, not even the town's two dumb cops (played by  Fredrick Burn and C. Thomas Howell). It's up to Johnny, Michelle, and Howard (played by Ben Heyman) - Johnny's best friend who happens to be sleeping with his mother - to stop the donuts' killing spree.

Final Thoughts

Being released to Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack on January 1, 2019 from Rooster Teeth and Cinedigm is Red vs. Blue: The Shisno Paradox Paradox, featuring all 15 episodes from the sixteenth season of the web series Red vs. Blue.

"The Shisno Paradox has already amassed quite a buzz among fans with 470,00 views on YouTube for just the introduction to the show! The fan base for this series is so dedicated, which is showcased by the fact that Red Vs. Blue is internet’s longest running web series, and we look forward to being offer our fan base the chance to own the latest in chapter in the RVB universe," said Joe Nicolosi, Director of Red Vs. Blue.

In Red Vs. Blue: The Shisno Paradox, a simple trip out for pizza ends with the Reds and Blues scattered and lost in time. Their ridiculous adventures in history inadvertently make them pawns in a war between Gods and Titans, which has been raging since before the dawn of time.

The Red Vs. Blue franchise is based on the best-selling Xbox video game Halo. It has had over one billion total views online and one million DVDs sold. The Blu-Ray® + DVD Combo Pack and digital release will be jam-packed with bonus features including behind-the-scenes, director/writer commentary and crew photos.

Giveaway Details

What Am I Currently Reading?

I'm still reading American Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell by Deborah Soloman. I'm currently on page 78.

What am I reading next?

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @  Caffeinated Book Reviewer!

Good Evening, Everyone!

My Current Reads!

Between rearranging furniture, cleaning the house excessively, and running dozens of errands, I had very little free time to read last week. Hopefully, I will find the time to begin reading Girls of Paper And Fire tomorrow. It's the only book I have on my agenda this week. I should have more time to read once I get past Thanksgiving. 

 

Last Week's Reviews

Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter 2

(book)

Psycho Biddy Double Feature

(Blu-ray)

Born Free: The Complete Collection

(DVD)

Buffalo Girls

(DVD)

18 Wheels of Science Fiction
(Book)

 

In The Mail

AMAZON

Why do I have a fascination about Lizzie Borden?

Ever since I read a kid-friendly Lizzie Borden biography when I was in elementary school, I've been intrigued with what actually happened inside the Borden household on August 4, 1892. While you can easily conclude that Lizzie was the #1 suspect in the murders of her father and stepmother, there was no concrete proof that she was the murderer.

Over the years, there have been many fictionalized versions of Lizzie Borden, such as the LIFETIME movie Lizzie Borden Takes An Axe and the sequel miniseries The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, and this year's feature film, Lizzie. There have also been several fictionalized novels, such as "Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter" by C.A. Verstraete, who gave the Lizzie Borden tale a supernatural twist involving a zombie epidemic in Fall River, Massachusetts. You can read my review for the book here!

A sequel, titled Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter 2: The Axe Will Fall, was released earlier this year. It picks up shortly after the ending events of the the first book. After being acquitted of her parent's murders, Lizzie doesn't get a chance to move on with her life, as she must team-up with her self-defense instructor, Pierre, to stop a zombie outbreak from destroying Fall River. In order to permanently put an end to the threat, Lizzie and Pierre must first find the original source to the outbreak, which does have a connection to her later father's business.

However, finding out what started the outbreak might be Lizzie's undoing!

Mill Creek Entertainment * AMAZON

Just because Halloween is over doesn't mean you have to stop watching slasher flicks!

Does it?

Of course not!!! If you're like me, then you're probably watching horror movies all thru the year.

Last night, I watched a double feature of Strait-Jacket and Berserk!, both starring the late Joan Crawford (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?). The films were recently released on the Psycho Biddy Double Feature Blu-ray (NOT RATED; 189 minutes; $14.98) from Mill Creek Entertainment.

Directed by the legendary director William Castle and written for the screen by Robert Bloch (the author of Psycho), Strait-Jacket (1964; B&W; 93 minutes) tells the tale of Lucy Harbin (played by Crawford), a woman who has been locked up in a psychiatric hospital for the last twenty years for decapitating her husband and his mistress with an axe. After being released, her brother Bill and sister-in-law Emily (played by Leif Erickson and Rochelle Hudson) lets her live with them on the family farm.

Bill and Emily had adopted Lucy's young daughter Carol (played by Diane Baker) after she was institutionalized. Now an adult, Carol is an artist and sculptor. She's an engaged to Michael Fields (played by John Anthony Hayes). Her life is going great, until her mother is released back into her life. Despite their estrangement, Carol attempts to heal her relationship with her mother.

After a series of new axe-murder occurs in the area, everyone points their fingers at Lucy!


Directed by Jim O'Connolly, Berserk! centers around a traveling English circus owned by Monica Rivers (played by Joan Crawford) and her business partner Dorando (played by Michael Gough). At first glance, it seems like just another normal circus, well, until the tightrope walker Gaspar the Great dies during an act. No, it wasn't an accident. It seems someone had weakened the tightrope that lead to his death. Shortly after hiring a new tightrope artist, Frank Hawkins (played by Ty Hardin), Dorando is murdered.

Monica tries her best to calm the nervous of the other circus performers and protect her daughter, Angela (played by Judy Geeson), who just rejoined the circus after being expelled from school. Protecting your loved ones isn't an easy thing to do with a killer on the loose.

Mill Creek Entertainment * AMAZON

Now available on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment is Born Free: The Complete Collection, featuring the films Born Free (1966; 95 minutes; PG), Living Free (1972; 91 minutes; G), Born Free: A New Adventure (1996; 91 minutes; NOT RATED), and Born Free: The Complete Television Series (1974; 826 minutes). There are no special features on the 4-disc set.

Born Free is based on the nonfiction book of the same name by the late Joy Adamson, it told the true story of George and Joy Adamson (played in the film by Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna), who are living in the Northern Frontier District of Kenya when George is forced to kill a lioness. He brings home three female cubs, which they named Big One, Lustica, and Elsa. The two older lioness were eventually sent to the Rotterdam Zoo, but the couple kept Elsa, who they raised as a pet.

After Elsa caused a herd of elephants to stampede through a local village, George and Joy knew they had either two options - send Elsa to a zoo or set her free into wild. Joy is determined that the best choice is to let Elsa be free, but doing so will be a major challenge, as the couple must train Elsa to hunt in the wild.

Living Free takes the title name from Joy Adamson's second book but the plot is actually based on the author's third book, Forever Free. For the sequel, Nigel Davenport and Susan Hampshire take over the roles of George and Joy. After Elsa dies of a sudden illness, the couple make it their mission to teach Elsa's three cubs (Jespah, Gopa and Little Elsa) to hunt in the wild.

Born Free: A New Adventure is a made-for-television movie that aired on ABC in 1996 starring Chris Noth, Jonathan Brandis, and Ariana Richards. The low-budget film has very little to do with the original films. It's more of a modern reboot with a new "Elsa" lioness.

Born Free: The Complete Television Series ignores Living Free and is more of a direct sequel to Born Free. While Elsa the lioness is featured in the episodes, the plots focuses more on George and Joy Adamson's daily struggles to (played by Gary Collins and Muldaur) run a natural reserve in Kenya. The series lasted for only 13 episodes.

 Final Thoughts

Grab a book, any book.
Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it).
Post it.
 Add your (url) post below in the Linky at: www.fredasvoice.com
Add the post url, not your blog url.

"That subject is closed. What needs to be closed is your behavior. We don't need you standing up for us in the local grease-pit, and restarting a lot of talk that had just begun to die down."

page 56, Elevation by Stephen King

  My Thoughts

Mill Creek Entertainment * Amazon

Do remember when CBS cranked out one Larry McMurtry miniseries after another?

While I do recall the Lonesome Dove miniseries and its sequels/prequels, I have never seen any of them. And I have never read any of the books they are adapted from. The only Larry McMurtry novels I have ever read are the four books in The Berrybender Narratives.

Mill Creek Entertainment recently released Buffalo Girls (NR; 182 minutes; $14.98) to DVD + Digital, which is a 1995 two-part miniseries based on the 1990 novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry. Directed by Rod Hardy, the miniseries starred Anjelica Houston, Melanie Griffith, Sam Elliott, Gabriel Byrne, and Reba McEntire.

Buffalo Girls is the fictionalized story based on the real-life Calamity Jane (played by Anjelica Houston), a woman who dressed, talked, and acted liked a cowboy. She's most famous for being "linked" to Wild Bill Hickok (played by Sam Elliott in the miniseries). In McMurtry's version, Calamity gave birth to a daughter after Hickok was murdered and later gave the child to a British couple.

Part One of the miniseries centers around Calamity, who regrets giving up her daughter, and Dora DuFran (played by Melanie Griffith), a madam of a brothel/hotel in Deadwood, who has an on-again off-again relationship with Ted Blue (played by Gabriel Byrne). Part Two mostly centers around Calamity joining  Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, which takes her, along with her friends Bartle Bone (played by Jack Palance) and Jim Ragg (played by Tracey Walter), to England, where she gets to visit her young daughter.

Final Thoughts

At the heart of any DCC station is the command center. Many people who are new to this technology may not know the facts behind these devices so this article will be a basic breakdown. A throttle command sends signals which are relayed to the main device. The device then proceeds to process the signals and then after this, they create a standardized packet of DCC information that is then sent to the decoders on the main unit. The DCC command center does not do any of the actual work, they are more or less there to direct traffic.

When DCC was first created, the devices were of a standalone nature. There were two pieces that were essential to the technology and the success of the device. These were the command center and the booster. Connected to the command station was the throttle network. The booster connected itself to the command station output. The output that the booster put forth was connected to the DCC track. However, in the early 1990s, there was a new invention in that the two separate units were combined into one single device. By blending them into one single device, the cost of the technology was actually reduced by about 20%. The nickname of the command station was used in conjunction with this new integrated device and subsequently stuck.

The only drawback was that the nce DCC command station needed a booster to actually operate. This when a further integrated unit, one which combined the booster into the command center, was invented. This new technology went a long way toward maximizing power.