The Smurfs: The Legend of Smurfy Hollow
Director: Stephen Franck
Voice Cast: Alan Cumming, Fred Armisen, Anton Yelchin, Hank Azaria
Studio: Sony Home Entertainment
Release Date: September 10th
ASIN: B00CXRTGSA
Retail: $6.99
Running Time: 22 minutes
Rating: G

Review:

The blend of CGI and live-action was used in this summer's The Smurfs 2, which is based on the characters created by Peyo. Now Sony Entertainment is releasing all new animated mini-movie The Smurfs 2: The Legend of Smurfy Hollow is debuting on DVD Tuesday, September 10th directed by animation veteran Stephan Frank. Alan Cumming (TV's "The Good Wife"), Fred Armisen (TV's "Saturday Night Live"), Anton Yelchin ("Star Trek: Into Darkness") and Hank Azaria (TV's "The Simpsons") return to voice Gutsy, Brainy, Clumsy, and Gagramel.

The all new-mini movie uses a blend of CGI and traditional 2D animation (similar to the original cartoon series) and spins a new twist on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. Hefty, Clumsy, and Panicky (in computer animation) are huddled around an open fire telling ghost stories when Narrator Smurf shows up and tells the story about The Legend of the Smurfy Hollow! Now using hand-drawn animation, the Smurfs are told how Brainy Smurf wins the annual Smurfberry Hunt for the last nine years, but this year Gutsy wants to win, leading him to follow Brainy pass the Smurfy Hollow bridge, where most Smurfs are afraid to venture because of the fear of the Headless Horseman. To their surprise, Gargamel has set a trap for them. With the help of Smurfette, Gutsy and Brainy try to outwit Gargamel that is if they don't come face-to-face with the legendary Headless Horseman.

Memory's Door
A Well Spring Novel, Book 2
By James L. Rubart
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release Date: August 6, 2013
ISBN: 978-1401686079
Pages: 368

Review:

I had signed up to review Memory's Door through Booksneeze, which I received a free copy in exchange for my honest review, without knowing this is the second book in A Well Spring series. Some Christian novel series have different characters and plots in each installment, but not with this book as it is a continuing story, so I somewhat hesitated about reading the book, leaving it on the coffee table for several weeks before I actually picked it up and started reading.

Reece, Dana, Brandon and Marcus are the four members of the Warriors Rising, which they rage war against the supernatural demons who are determined to corrupt every human being's soul. They have once before battled Satan and now they will come face to face with The Wolf, as the second part of the prophecy has come true, but before they can fight the good fight, they must battle their own demons.

It’s not difficult to buy music; you can get a CD or DVD from your local music store, or you can download your favourite song online. However, it seems like digital downloads have become the only real option of buying music in our modern times but some people still prefer to buy the original disk, and with good reason. It’s a great feeling to own an original music album of your favourite band.

When you shop online for music from different bands and artists, you can literally have thousands of choices available. From pop and rock songs, to classical music and gospel artists; you will find any genre you are looking for by simply browsing the internet. Most of the music stores will give you an option between a CD, DVD, or a digital download to choose from. This means even more freedom when you shop and you can do all this in the comfort of your own home.

Buying Music CDs

Most people still prefer to purchase music CDs over the option of a digital download as they want to have the original disk to form part of an collection. Another benefit of buying a music CD or DVD is that not all people own a digital music player or device, making it easier to play the album in your car’s DVD player, or at home. You can even play the disk in your computer if you want to. Although it’s much faster to buy a digital file that can be downloaded immediately, you won’t have any original media that you can add to your music collection, or that you can carry with you to play on conventional players.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Director: John Lounsbery & Wolfgang Reitherman
Voice Cast: Sterling Holloway, John Fiedler, Junius Matthews, Paul Winchell, Howard Morris, Bruce Reitherman, Jon Walmsley, Timothy Turner
Studio: Walt Disney
Release Date: August 27, 2013
ASIN: B00CMY3K5O
Buy Link: Amazon
Running Time: 74 minutes
Rating: G

Review:

Return to Hundred Acre Wood with last week's Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy release of the 1977 animation-musical classic The Many Adventures of Winne the Pooh for a whole new generation. The Blu-ray contains many new extras; Disney Intermission - press pause during the movie and the narrator will interact with the viewers in a variety of activities; Pooh Play-Along - the narrator invites the viewers to play along with Pooh and his pals; 5 "Mini Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" shorts: "If I Wasn't So Small," "Piglet's Drawings," "The Expedition," "Geniuses" (also on the DVD) & "The Honey Song"; Legacy "A Day for Eyeore" - classic animated short; Legacy "The Story Behind the Masterpieces" - making of featurette; and Legacy "The Winnie the Pooh Them Song" - performed by Carly Simon (also on the DVD). There is also a mini kit included!

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is based on the books by A.A. Milne and features three previously filmed Disney animations featurettes - Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966), Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968), and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974). Additional materials were filmed to link all three featurettes together, as well as the final sequence between Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robbins, which was based on the final chapter of The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne.

Pooh has only thing on his mind, honey, in the Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. He attempts to get honey from a bee hive by borrowing Christopher Robbin's balloon and floating to the hive, but it ends in disaster. Then he visits Rabbit, who makes the mistake of offering Pooh honey.

Back in April, justice secretary Chris Grayling announced changes to the reward system in British prisons. The levels of rewards - basic, standard, and enhanced - will become standardized in prisons across the UK, and a new entry-level band will be introduced, restricting spending and requiring new prisoners to wear uniform for the initial fortnight of their incarceration. Moreover, rewards will no longer be provided merely for lack of bad behaviour: prisoners will have to actively work to gain their privileges.

Grayling expressed dissatisfaction with the expectation of prison privileges for good behaviour, saying, "it is not right that some prisoners appear to be spending hours languishing in their cells and watching daytime television while the rest of the country goes out to work."

However, President of the Prison Governors Association Eoin McLennan Murray has noted that prisoners' access to privileges such as television and gaming may be due to problems with prison overcrowding and a lack of available staff, stating that "the fact that they’re left locked up in their cells watching daytime TV is our failing, not theirs.”

Of course, this discourse occurs alongside a controversial question: should prisoners be allowed privileges and rewards in prison at all?

Welcome to the new Book Blogger Hop!

<a href="http://www.coffeeaddictedwriter.com/"><img border="“0”" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYspYb7buG-asGVXAPk12LyNSbK4Ww0K14s7bF3T5JsoL_S_uutEYQfYJYyTTOQuPRsP4f7inb1jFxKw0fqovKeeQ6CrG1Wg7sMgx0B1RzuRWi-pzF5zNmXpAuMvaMPkUQIMPeZHiBQEw/s1600/book+blogger+hop.png" width="90%”" /></a>
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 submitted by Kero,

Have you ever ended up reading a book with its last or last few pages missing? What book was it? And how did you managed to get to the end?

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:

No, I've never read a book with the last few pages missing. Though the last few pages of Petals on the Wind and If There Be Thorns by V.C. Andrews were missing. I already read the books from the library, but my late grandmother gave me her V.C. Andrews collection, which the two paperbacks were missing pages. I later replaced the books with paperbacks I bought at a thrift store, though I still kept the other two. 

During the 1930s and 1940s pulp magazines covered the newsstands, which were filled with creative’s stories ranging from romance to adventure; all were written by unknowns and well-publicized authors, such as H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Elmore Leonard, Louis L'Amour, Max Brand, and Ray Bradbury. During those years, author L.Ron Hubbard published countless short stories and all of his stories are being released on paperback and audiobook from Galaxy Press under the Stories from the Golden Age series.

Today, I listened to an ARC of The Lieutenant Takes the Sky by L. Ron Hubbard which is a high-flying air adventure centering on the Irish-American pilot Mike Malloy, who happens to find himself thrown into a Moroccan military jail after he accidentally punched a Colonel, a Lieutenant-Colonel, and the General's aide; all of which may have deserved it. His punishment is five long years behind bar, which was actually a little lenient as anybody else would have received the death penalty for such actions.

Surprisingly, Mike is released from prison and assigned to a suicidal mission. He, along with another pilot, are to pilot a French politician, Mr. DeLonge, and an American woman, Lois Degann, to the Middle Atlas on an expedition to find the 800-year-old lost Arabian alchemist's book called the L'Aud, which is rumored to contain a recipe to make gold from base metal. It may sound easy at first, but the book is located in the middle of enemy territory. It’s either stay in a Moroccan jail for five years or risk his life for a mysterious book that may or may not exist. Of course Mike chooses the expedition.