Mill Creek Ent., TV-PG; 720 minutes; $24.98

I don't watch very many series that air on network television that aren't comic book related, so many shows go completely under my radar. This probably explains why I never heard of The Astronaut Wives Club, which aired as a 10-part limited series on ABC in the summer of 2015. I only heard about the series when Mill Creek Entertainment made the announcement last year about the complete series DVD release.

Based on the novel of the same name by Lily Koppel, and developed by Lily Koppel, the series stars JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Yvonne Starhovski, Zoe Boyle, Dominique McElligott, Odette Annable, and Erin Cummings.

There series centers around the wives of the Mercury Seven, a.k.a. - America's first group of astronaut (Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton).

There are no special features or extras on the two-discs set.

Mill Creek Ent.; Not Rated; 671 minutes

There are many one-season wonders that I loved to watch during my childhood, such as The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., American Gothic, Kindred: The Embraced, and The Lone Gunmen. Despite each one only running for a single season, all of these series are available on DVD. Now available on DVD & Digital from Mill Creek Entertainment is the 1993 comedy-drama Harts of the West, which is another television series that I remember watching when I was kid.

Created by Robert Moloney, Harts of the West starred Beau Bridges, Harley Jane Kozak, Sean Murray, Stephen Root, Talisa Soto, and Lloyd Bridges (Beau's father). The series aired on CBS on Saturday nights in between Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and Walker, Texas Ranger.

Harts of the West centered on Dave Hart (played by Beau Bridges) having a midlife crises after having a heart attack. He quits his jobs and moves his family to Sholo, Nevada to live on the Flying Tumbleweed Dude Ranch. Upon purchasing the ranch, Dave believed he was receiving a riveting business, but instead all he got was a run down property. Included with the ranch is a hired hand named Jake Terrel (played by Lloyd Bridges). Despite the Hart family's disappointment with their new home, they attempt to fix up their homestead and somehow make a business out of the old ranch.

All 15 episodes are on the two-disc set. There are no special features or bonus extras. However, it does come with a digital code that can be redeemed at www.millcreekent.com/redeem.

What authors have you met and where?

2. Enter the link to your post in the linky list below (enter your Blog Name and the direct link to your post answering this week’s question. Failure to do so will result in removal of your link).


3. Visit other blogs in the list and comment on their posts. Try to spend some time on the blogs reading other posts and possible become a new follower.  The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.
  

My Answer:

I have never had the privilege of meeting any authors.

After spending the last week being sick with the flu, my thoughts have being going to the dark side. And, no, I'm not referring to the Star Wars franchise. Actually, I'm referring to horror movies. For some reason or another, while I was sick, I kept thinking about the 1980 horror classic The Shining, which is an adaptation of the 1977 novel of the same name by Stephen King. I couldn't get my mind off of the movie, so I ended ordering the Jack Torrance Funko Pop! figurine (and I ordered several other Pop!s while I was sick, but that's a whole different conversation). Anyway, I could have sworn I owned the movie on DVD, but I was wrong, as only had the DVD of the 1997 mini-series. To make a long story short, I ended up finding The Shining on DVD at a Walmart in a different county and I watched it late last night.

Lately, one of my new hobbies is sharing photos on Instagram, which most my of my photos are of Pop!s, books, and DVD/Blu-rays. The most popular of my pictures are the ones that are horror related, like the Jason Voorhees & Freddy Krueger 8-Bit Pop!s, the Jack Torrance Pop!, and The Shining DVD. These photos have gotten me dozens of new followers and lots of likes. I don't normally pay attention of who follows my social media accounts, but I have noticed there are many females that have started following me. By just glancing at their usernames and a few of their photos, I would say many of them are horror fans.

This got me wondering if there were dating site that were made for horror fans, and after a quick Google search, I learned there are in fact several such websites!

If you have been following my blog for the last few months, then you would know about my interests in online dating. I'm still debating with myself whether or not I should try online dating, but I do like the idea that there might be a woman out there with similar interests.

Personally, I'm not sure what exactly I'm looking for, but I do know that I'm not wanting a no strings dating relationship. I have nothing against anyone who does, it's just not for me. While I do find some older women attractive, I don't want to join a senior dating website to find a relationship. I'm still under 40, so I'm definitely sure I can rule out those types of dating sites.

Disney; TV-Y; 96 minutes; Amazon

Now available on DVD from Walt Disney Home Entertainment is Minnie: Helping Hearts, featuring 8 Happy Helpers episodes. There are no special features or extras on the single disc.

The 11-minute Happy Helpers episodes air as the second half the Mickey and the Roadster Racers, a computer-animated children series that airs on Disney Junior. The Roadster Racers segments involves Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Daisy, and Minnie racing around their town Hot Dog Hills and the world. The Happy Helpers segments centers on Minnie, Daisy, and Cuckoo-Loc helping the citizens of Hot Dog Hills with odd jobs.

Since Valentine's Day is next week, the Minnie: Helping Hearts DVD does contains one Valentine's Day episode called "The Happiest Helpers Cruise!," which centers on the Minnie and Daisy taking a job as cruise directors on the Hot Dogs Hills Harbor Cruise.

The other seven episodes are:

The Big Broadcast - Minnie and Daisy cover for Billy Beagle as race announcers, as he races against the Roadster Racers.

Adventures In Buddysitting! - After the Hot Dog Hills Play Center closes for a day, the Happy Helpers babysits several kids, including a shy goat named Buddy McBilly.

Lights! Camera! Help! - The Happy Helpers are hired to be assistants to a movie star named Portia DeHoun.

Grandpa Beagle's Day Out - Billy Beagle hires the Happy Helpers to babysit his grandfather, Grandpa Beagle.

Artful Helpers - The Happy Helpers fill in as the security staff for the Fancy Art Museum. Their main job is to guard the Mona Goof painting.

Cuckoo LA-LA - Cuckoo-Loc's cousin, Cuckoo La-La, asks the Happy Helpers to assist her in the upcoming fashion show.

Figaro's New Friend - The Happy Helpers are more than glad to babysit Pluto for an entire day, but Minnie's cat Figaro isn't too happy about Pluto's visit.

Getting a good night's sleep is not always an easy thing to do, as many of us have many things on our minds. Stress is the #1 factor in why I have so many restless nights.

Recently, I was sent a bottle of Dream Elements Calming Pillow Spray to test out and review. It's basically an aromatherapy spritz that you spray on your pillow prior to going to sleep.

It contains several different essential oils that is supposed to help give you a relaxing sleep environment, which will make you sleep better.

Ingredients include: Aqua (Deionized Water), Polysorbate-20, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Canange Odorata (Ylang Ylang) Flower Oil, Vetivera Zizanoides (Vetiver) Oil, Chamomilla Recutita (Chamomile) Oil), Sodium Benzoate, and Potassium Sorbate.

Universal Pictures; PG; 94 minutes

Yep! There's a Woody Woodpecker movie! Don't worry if you have never heard of it before, because most of us haven't. The live-action/3D animated film was released to theaters in Brazil last fall. It skipped the theaters in the United States and instead it's being released on DVD, Digital, and On Demand today from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on February 6th.

Directed by Alex Zamm, the film stars Timothy Omundson, Jakob Davies, Thaila Ayala, Graham Verchere, Jordana Largy, Emily Holmes, and Eric Bauza voices Woody Woodpecker.

Created by Walter Lantz and Ben Hardaway, Woody Woodpecker first appearance was in the 1940 animated short Knock Knock. The character's last appearance was in the short-lived animated series The New Woody Woodpecker Show (1999-2002).

The new Woody Woodpecker movie centers on Lance Walters (played by Tim Omundson), a lawyer who was recently fired from his job. To make some quick cash, he decides to travel to the Pine Grove forest in Pennsylvania, where he had inherited some land from his late grandfather. He plans on building and flipping a modern designed mansion. He travels to Pine Grove with his much younger girlfriend Vanessa (played by Thaila Ayala) and his son Tommy (played by Graham Verchere), who he got stuck with at the last minute after his ex-wife convinces him to spend more time with their son.

Let's just say the locals and the park ranger, Samantha Bartlett (played by Jordana Largy) don't care for the construction zone in their forest. And one the forest's inhabitants, Woody Woodpecker, doesn't care for the fact that the construction zone is near his home, and he will do everything it takes to protect it.

Special Features include:

• Guess Who? The Evolution of Woody - Woody Woodpecker is one of the world’s most iconic animated characters. In this featurette, we explore how Woody’s look and personality have changed since his introduction in 1940.
• The Making of Woody Woodpecker - Filmmakers and cast discuss why this version of the Woody character is so appealing and how his brand of physical humor translates across audiences.
• Working with Woody - Filmmakers, cast and crew reveal the specific challenges of filming a movie whose main character is CGI.