Winnie the Pooh: Springtime With Roo
Directors: Elliot M. Bour & Saul Andrew Blinkoff
Voice Cast: Jim Cummings, Ken Sansom, Jimmy Bennett, David Ogden Stiers, Kath Soucie, John Fiedler, Peter Cullen
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Release Date: March 11, 2014
Retail: $29.99
ASIN: B00H0KD438
Running Time: 65 minutes
Rating: G
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:
 
Arriving today on Blu-ray for the first time is Walt Disney Home Entertainment's 2004 direct-to-video Winnie the Pooh: Springtime With Roo, featuring the bonus feature "Get Up And Dance!" - Spring into the holiday spirit and dance to songs form the movie. There is also a free Springtime With Roo Mobile inside every Blu-ray Combo Pack.

The Charles Dickens’s classic, A Christmas Carol, gets the Disney spin in Winnie the Pooh: Springtime With Roo. Everybody, especially little Roo, in the Hundred Acre Wood is looking forward to spring when Rabbit dresses up like the Easter Bunny and gives out gifts, but Rabbit has decided to skip this year and have a "Spring Cleaning Day" instead.

To change Rabbit's thoughts about Easter, the narrator and Tigger drag Rabbit out of the storybook and travel back in time to the previous year's Easter celebration, a time where Rabbit loved the holiday. Sadly, it is going to take more than just flipping back a few chapters to show Rabbit the true meaning of Easter.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutagen Mayhem
Voice Cast: Jason Biggs, Rob Paulsen, Sean Astin, Greg Cipes, Mae Whitman, Hoon Lee
Studio: Nickelodeon/Paramount
Release Date: March 11, 2014
Retail: $14.99
ASIN: B00H7BJ1XC
Running Time: 135 minutes
Rating: Not Rated



Review:

Its still a few months off before the Michael Bay produced "Ninja Turtles" live-action (well CGI) incarnation hits the theaters, but fans can enjoy Nickelodeon's latest DVD release, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutagen Mayhem, featuring the first six episodes from the second season. Special features include 6 Shorts: "The Mutation of a Scene"and Channel 6 News Special Report: Creatures of the Night.

The first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was published in 1984; created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman. The comic books popularity lead to a Playmates toy line;  eventually leading to the insanely popular animated series, which lasted for ten seasons. Three live-action feature films were released during the early 90s. Besides from a short-lived and unpopular live-action series in the late 90s, the franchise took a slight pause until the revamped Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series in 2003, which lasted seven seasons, one made-for-TV movie and a few title changes. A CGI-animated feature film was released in 2007 and was quickly forgotten about. After Nickelodeon purchased the franchise, a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles computer-animated series debuted in the fall of 2012. At first many older fans were skeptical of the new animation style, but most have embraced the series for its storytelling, humor and action.

The second seasons has the Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo once again battling the alien race, K.R.A.N.G., but they accidentally unleash dozens of mutant canisters across the city, which turns April's father into a mutant; along with several hungry squirrels. To make matters worse, the turtles have to deal with Shredder's daughter (well, she's not really his daughter) Karai and her robotic Foot soldiers.

This season also introduces the teenage version of Casey Jones and Donatello's Mutagen Man creation. Plus, Michelangelo has a really bad case of ache.

As you can see my the name of my blog, I love a good cup of coffee. Over the years, I have been able to review a variety of different coffee brands and flavors.

Last Saturday, I received four 12oz coffee bean bags from The Organic Coffee Co., which is part of the Rogers Family Company. The coffee beans I received are Hazelnut, Chocolate Almond, Hurricane Espresso and French Roast. The coffee arrived just in time, as there was a few inches of snow on the ground and there is nothing better than a hot cup of coffee on a cold winter day.

What makes organic coffee different from regular coffee? Well, all the farms that grow the coffee are organic certified; meaning all the coffee beans grown are free of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides; so the beans are grown naturally, preserving all the original flavor.


I was eagerly looking forward to trying out my new coffee grinder. The first bag I opened was the
Hurricane Espresso. The tagline on the bag is, "A whirlwind of dark roasts blended to give a patent, vibrant cup with a calm aftertaste." To me there is nothing better than the fresh scent of coffee beans and the scent alone for this bag is enough to wake you up. It has a rich flavor, enough to keep a person going for hours after only one cup.

Robert B. Parker's Bull River
A Cole and Hitch Novel 
By Robert Knott
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Pub. Date: January 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-0399165269
Pages: 352
Buy Links: Hardback, Kindle

Review:

I didn't take an interest in the western genre until I was in my early 20s, when I had stumbled upon a few $5 Clint Eastwood movies at Walmart, which lead me to buy every Clint Eastwood film. I also took interests in reading a few westerns by Max Brand, Matt Braun and Zane Grey. I stumbled upon Appaloosa by Robert B. Parker after watching the film version starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen. I quickly became a fan of Robert B. Parker's writings; reading a few Spenser novels and of course the Cole and Hitch sagas (Resolution, Brimestone and Blue-Eyed-Devil).

Blue-Eyed -Devil was published after the author's death, so I thought that would be end of of Cole and Hitch's adventures, but that wasn't the case, as author Robert Knott took over series with the release of Ironhorse in 2013. The newest entry, Bull River, was released in January and I was eagerly looking forward to reading it, but a few other books arrived before this one, so it had landed in my TBR stack until I finally got to reading it last month.

In Bull River, Marshal Virgil Cole and Deputy Everett Hitch have captured the outlaw Alejandro Vasquez and have escorted him to San Cristobal to stand trail. There is no time to rest for the duo, as soon as they arrive there is a big bank robbery and they quickly go after the robbers in the hope of recovering the money and capturing the criminals, but things go a bit rocky for them.

When looking for a new Mazda in Kansas City, it is natural to want to the best deal possible. Following are three tips to help you with your search:


Taking your time is really important when searching for the best deal. If your car has been totaled in an accident or suddenly will not start, you might feel under pressure to make a fast decision. Don’t do it. If you need to, rent a vehicle for a week. The money you spend on the rental could easily be saved by getting a good purchase price. Take the time to think about what you really want in a car. Perhaps your needs have changed since you last bought a vehicle. Also, take the time to get prequalified for a loan.

The Descent
Book Three of the Taker Trilogy
By Alma Katsu
Publisher: Gallery Books
Pub. Date: January 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-1451651829
Pages: 352
Buy Links: Paperback, Kindle

Review:

I haven't been more exciting about reading a book than I have been with The Descent; book three of The Taker Trilogy. There was almost a year and a half gap between the second (The Reckoning) and the third book, The Descent, so I was patiently waiting on pins and needles for the release, which finally arrived back in January. Gallery Books kindly sent me a free copy to read and review, but, sadly, a few other books arrived before The Descent did; therefore it sat in the TBR pile longer than I wanted it to. I finally got around to reading it in late February.

There are have not been many books that have grabbed a hold of me within the first few pages, leaving the characters still in my mind years later. Alma Katsu has created a beautiful trilogy full of love, revenge, sacrifice and redemption. There has been an overload of vampire and werewolves books over the years and Alma Katsu gives us a refreshing supernatural love story without blood-sucking demons or shape-shifters.

The Taker Trilogy centers on Lanore "Lanny" McIlvrae, who fell in love with the charming, rich and older, Jonathan St. Andrew, at a young age during the 1800s. After becoming pregnant, her family sends her away to Boston to have the baby (which results in a miscarriage), but within minutes of arriving in Boston she meets the charming Adair, whom forever changes her life, introducing her to a world of immortality.