COSMOS: HEROES OF SCIENCE

In it’s thirteen episodes, COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY has endeavored to bring light to some of the heroes of scientific history who have been unjustly overlooked. In honor of the series’ release on Blu-ray and DVD on June 10, we’re taking a look back at a few of these important forgotten trailblazers.



Going against convention, this Dominican friar was vocal in his claim that the earth not only revolved around the sun (a relatively new idea at the time), but that the sun was just another of the countless stars in the sky and there were a multitude of other worlds in the universe. Bruno was burned at the stake for his beliefs, years before he would be proven right by astronomers.



An accomplished astronomer, Herschel discovered the planet Uranus along with its two largest moons, was the first to determine the existence of infrared radiation and observed the phenomenon of binary stars caught in the gravitation pull of invisible dark stars.


Michell was one of the greatest scientific minds of the 18th century that most people have never heard of. He was the first person to propose the idea of black holes, the first to hypothesize that earthquakes move in waves and the first to develop a way to make artificial magnets. His biggest downfall was his lack of interest in promoting his own ideas to the scientific community.

Axel: The Biggest Little Hero
Director: Leo Lee
Voice Cast: Ed Asner, Tim Curry, Matthew Lillard, George Takei
Studio: ARC Entertainment
Release Date: June 3, 2014
Retail: $20.99
ASIN: B00J4LMKS6
Running Time: 80 minutes
Rating: PG

Review:

Arriving on DVD today from ARC Entertainment is the computer-animated fantasy adventure, Axel: The Biggest Little Hero, directed by Leo Lee and starring the voice cast of Ed Asner, Tim Curry, Matthew Lillard and George Takei.

While How To Train Your Dragon 2 and Planes: Fire & Rescue are hitting theaters this summer, Axel: The Biggest Little Hero gets the straight-to-DVD treatment. There a few big names, like the ones I mentioned above, but their voices only appear for a brief period of time. The star of the movie is Yuri Lowental as the voice of Axel.  

The film is set on a peanut. Yes, I said peanut! Young Axel wants to become a hero and while trying to save a bug from a tree, he accidentally falls to the ground. While unconscious, Axel hears a voice of the last great leader, Bonta (voice by Ed Asner), telling him to search for the lost Boonta Grove, where an unlimited supply of the cactus-like Boonta lays. Axel's people live off of the liquid found inside the Boonta.

Along with his best-friend, Jono (voiced by Colleen O'Shaughnessey), Axel journeys through the desert on an epic quest to save his people. They cross paths with a giant mechanical ostrich, whom becomes their greatest ally. Finding the Boonta Grove won't be easy, as it is ruled by the Lizard King (voiced by Matthew Lillard) and its army of lizard robots.

The Heart's Pursuit
by Robin Lee Hatcher
Publisher: Zondervan
Pub. Date: May 13, 2014
ISBN: 978-0310259275
Pages: 320
Buy Link: Paperback
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/rhatcher

Review:

One of the biggest names in Christian fiction is Robin Lee Hatcher, an award-winning author with over 70 works in print and over five-million copies sold. So, it's a no-brainer why I had signed up to review her newest novel, The Heart's Pursuit. One of my favorite genre is romantic westerns, which is a little odd coming from a male reader, but ever since I read Love Come Softly by Janette Oke, I fell in love the genre.

The Heart's Pursuit is set in 1873 and centers on Silver Matlock, a young bride-to-be who was left at the alter. Her groom-to-be took off in a hurry, along with the money that belonged to her father. Wanting revenge, Silver sets out to catch the scoundrels.

While on her trail for vengeance, she runs across rugged Jared Newman, a bounty hunter who is seeking his own revenge on his family's murderer. The two team up, traveling together over a mountain, through a desert and through a rough mining town. The journey to catch the two bad guys that ruined their lives may be dangerous, but together they just might make it through it.

Of course this is a love story, so there is a instant spark between Silver and Jared; one that will forever change their destinies.

Dragons: Defenders of Berk Part 2
Voice Cast: Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T. J. Miller and David Tennant
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date: May 27, 2014
Retail: $19.98
ASIN: B00JA3RSR6
Running Time: 220 minutes
Rating: Not Rated

Review:

Now available to own from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is Dreamworks Dragons: Defenders of Berk Part 2, continuing the adventures of the beloved characters from 2010's How To Train A Dragon. The two-disc set features ten exciting episodes, along with the special features of Dragon Tracker Part 4, Evolution Of The Skrill, "Here Comes The Fire" Dragon Mash-Up and World of Dreamworks Animation.

Defenders of Berk Part 2 picks up with the conclusion A View to a Skrill Part 2, as Hiccup, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut come up with a plan to rescue the Skrill from Alvin the Treacherous. The second season continues with Snotlout believing that he is going to die after seeing "The five signs of Valhalla." Hiccup, Toothless, Fishlegs and the twins try to help an injured Scauldron on Changewing Island.

Speed Stingers invade Berk and freezes everything in sight. Astrid and Snotlout must switch dragons for a day. Hiccup and Fishlegs try to save Toothless from the dragons' version of Eel Pox. Smothering Smokebreaths attack Berk. The Dragon Academy tries to train three baby Thunderdrums. All of this leads to the two-part season finale, where Hiccup must put his faith in Alvin the Treacherous to help stop Dagur from invading Berk.

The episodes on the two-disc set are:

Meant To Be Mine
by Becky Wade
Publisher: Bethany House
Pub. Date: May 6, 2014
ISBN: 978-0764211089
Pages: 384
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/x1YKE
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/bwade

Review:

I don't read very many contemporary romances, as I prefer Amish titles or anything set in the 1800s, but I instantly agreed to review Meant to Be Mine through Litfuse Publicity. Why? Well, I remember the author's name, as I had read My Stubborn Heart awhile back and I liked the book.

Meant to Be Mine starts out like a cheesy made-for-LIFETIME movie with Celia Park eloping with the handsome, Ty Porter, in Las Vegas. Everything seemed perfect - until she wakes up the next day and she realizes she had made a horrible mistake. Neither of them are ready for marriage and they both quickly go their separate ways. Celia is in for a surprise when she later learns that she is carrying Ty's child.

The book jumps five and half years, where Celia put all her dreams aside to become a single mother to her daughter. Life isn't perfect as she once thought it would be, but she is doing her best. Then out of nowhere she runs into Ty Porter, who is now a famous bull rider and she must confess to him about their child. Despite everything that has happened, there still is a spark between the two.

If you want schedule next week's post, click here to find the next prompt question. To submit a question, fill out this form.

What to do:

1. Post on your blog answering this question:

  This week's question is submitted by Elizabeth!

How many posts do you normally publish per week?

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 don't actually keep count how many posts are published every week. I try to publish at least one post a day, but there are times when I take a few days off, especially on the weekend. I think it is important for every blogger to have at least two new posts published each and every week. It lets the readers know that your blog is active.

The high school I attended during the late 90s only had one language class, which was a requirement for graduation. French was the only language class offered. Honestly, I doubt if anyone at the school would ever be taking a trip to France to actually use French. I struggled through the class, as I thought it was a complete waste of time. This is modern time, all schools should be teaching kids to speak Spanish, Chinese and of course English.

Colleges do have many language classes, but most require you to have a basic understand of the language before you take the class. If you do take a class, the majority of students won't remember the language. The problem is that you are studying from a text book. Teachers have lesson plans and they don't want to stay on a lesson for more than one class, meaning you'll have to learn the words in one session, which is almost impossible to achieve.

I do regret not remembering anything I learned from my high school French class. Now as an adult, I have been wanting to learn other languages, especially Spanish. Luckily, I got a chance to review the Pimsleur Spanish Level 1 Gold Edition.

The Pimsleur method was originally developed in 1963 by Dr. Paul Pimsleur, who completely changed the way languages are learned. Since then, over 25 million people have used the Pimsleur method, which uses two principles - the Principle of Graduated Interval Recall and the Principle of Anticipation. The program has been featured on PBS and has been used by the FBI.

Unlike Rosetta Stone & Fluenz, the Pimsleur method isn't a software program, but instead it is an audio-only approach. The program is meant for your brain to memorize the words in one lesson. Level 1 features 16 hours of audio lessons on 16 CDs. Each lesson is only 30-minutes long. The program requires you to complete one lesson a day. If you feel you haven't grasped a specific lesson, feel free to repeat the lesson the following day or days until you feel you have mastered it.

Thankful
Return to Sugarcreek, book two
by Shelley Shepard Gray
Publisher: Avon Inspire
Pub. Date: May 6, 2014
ISBN: 978-0062204479
Pages: 256
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/wAcFF
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/sgray

Review:

I hate to admit this, but I had forgotten about the book blog tour for Thankful by Shelley Shepard Gray, which I was suppose to post a review for two weeks ago. Typically when I receive the tour information from Litfuse, I would go ahead and set up a draft for the review with the correct schedule date. For some odd reason I had overlooked the tour email, so the book ended up at the bottom of my TBR pile. If I hadn't set up a draft for three other upcoming tours tonight, I would had missed the last day of tour, which is today! Luckily for me, the book is short and I flew through it a few hours ago.


Thankful is the second installment in the Return to Sugarcreek series and centers on Christina Kempf. She is in love with Aden Resse. She dreams of one day becoming his wife, but there is a complicated situation. Aden's parents died in a car accident ten years ago and with no other family to take him in, Christina's parents took him in and raised him as one of their own. Through the Kempfs' eyes, Aden and Christina are no more than brother and sister.

Though the grew up together as siblings, Aden has been in love in with Christina ever since he saved her from falling through a thin patch of ice. The experience has haunted Christina and she is now afraid of many things, but with her strong faith in the Lord, she might me able to overcome her fears.

Non-Stop
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring: Liam Neeson
Studio: Universal Studio Home Enterainment
Release Date: June 10, 2014
Retail: $34.98
ASIN: B00HLTD49C
Running Time: 107 minutes
Rating: PG-13

Review:

Arriving on Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital HD Ultraviolet on Tuesday, June 10, 2014, is the thrill-ride Non-Stop, directed Jaume Collet-Serra and starring Liam Neeson. A special feature includes Suspense At 40,000 Feet - a behind-the-scenes look with the cast, producers and the director. Exclusively to Blu-ray is the special feature Non-Stop Action - a behind-the-scenes look at the film's visceral action sequences.

Liam Neeson plays Bill Marks, an alcoholic U.S. Federal Air Marshal, who finds himself aboard British Aqualantic Flight 10, a non-stop flight from New York to London. Just after takeoff, he receives several mysterious text messages on his secure air marshal cell phone. At first he thinks it is just a prank, but he quickly becomes full alert when he receives a message that one passenger will die every twenty-minutes if he doesn't transfer $150 million to a specific bank account.

With the other air marshal, Jack Hammond (played by Hell On Wheels' Anson Mount) acting a bit peculiar, Bill has no other choice but to trust the passenger sitting next to him, Jen Summers (played by Julianne Moore) and a flight attendant, Nancy Hoffman (played by Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery), with the situation.

Love Finds You In Sugarcreek, Ohio by Serena Miller
Publisher: Summerside Press
Pub. Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1609360023
Pages: 320
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/smiller
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/vBQwd

Review:

Sometimes a few things will slip past a blogger; with me that would be not reading a book that has been sitting on my desk for several weeks. On Sunday, I noticed I had a review scheduled for today, so I picked up Love Finds You In Sugarcreek, Ohio. My intentions were to do a "speed read" of the book, but I was instantly engulfed into the story by the second chapter, leading me to read about three-fourths of novel by that same night.

Love Finds You is the name of a series of books form Summerside Press, which each book being written by a different author and the book settings are set in different towns. Love Finds You In Sugarcreek, Ohio was first published in 2010, but it is being re-released to tie-in with the made-for-TV adaption that will air on Up on Sunday June 1, 2014.


Most Christian romances (and I have read plenty of them) centers on a female main character with a male romantic interest being the second main character, but here it is reversed with Joe Matthews taking centered stage. He is traveling in Ohio with his young son, Bobby, in a pickup to escape their painful past. After his wallet is stolen and his truck breaks down, they encounter an Amish man, Eli, who kindly drops them off at a farmhouse.

The farmhouse is owned by the Troyer sisters ( Bertha, Lydia and Anna). Despite their advancing years, they are determined to open up their home as a Inn again, taking in a few guests in the extra bedrooms and leaving the two cabins for travelers. Typically, they would charge fifty-dollars for a room, but since Joe and Bobby were down on their luck, the sisters let them stay for free for the night. Eventually, they come to an agreement that Joe will do odd jobs to get the place up and running again in exchange for food, shelter and a little extra cash.