Cattle King for a Day
Director: Jim Meskimen
Voice Cast: Michael Yurchak, Corey Burton, R.F. Daley, Jim Meskimen, PhilProcter and
Studio: Galaxy Press
Release Date: September 21, 2010
ISBN: 978-1592123650
Running Time: 2 hours 4 minutes
Buy Link: Audiobook, Paperback

Review:

Step back in time with the Stories from the Golden Age series, featuring classic tales of adventure, mystery and thrill rides from the 1930s and 1940s, all written by the late author L. Ron Hubbard. Galaxy Press is releasing all over Hubbard's short stories (over 150 tales) to paperback and audiobooks.

Originally published in the March 1937 issue of All Western Magazine is the exciting western Cattle King for a Day. This tale centers on the cowboy Chinook Shannon, who heads out for Arizona after learning of his grandfather's sudden death. He plans on running his grandfather's cattle ranch Slash S, which he inherited upon his grandfather's death, but he is in for a huge surprise when he learns that the ranch has less than 24 hours before it is foreclosed. To make matters worse, all the cattle on the land have died. To get the answers of who or whom has put his grandfather's ranch in jeopardy, Chinook heads into town, but there are three road agents blocking his path. With time running out, Chinook is in a race against time to find his grandfather's murderer and save the Slash S cattle ranch.

For an added bonus, there is one additional western tale, titled Come And Get It, which first appeared in the October 1938 issue of All Western Magazine. The story centers on Bill Norton stepping off of the train at Wolf Junction, Wyoming and is excited to take over the Bar N, which was left to him by his late father, whom was supposedly killed by a wild horse, but Bill is shocked to learn that the bank left Red Mike Doherty as the trustee of the ranch. With nowhere else to go, Bill settles as second cook at the ranch, biding his time until he can find out who is really responsible for his father's death.

Dom Hemingway
Director: Richard Shepard
Starring: Jude Law, Richard E. Grant, Demian Bichir, Emilia Clarke
Studio: 20th Century Fox Entertainment
Release Date: July 22nd, 2014
Retail: $27.99
ASIN: B00KCFC9JI
Running Time: 93 minutes
Rating: R
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Available now on Blu-ray from Fox Searchlight Pictures is the dark comedy and crime drama, Dom Hemingway, directed by Richard Shepard and starring Jude Law in the title role. Special Features include: Who Is Dom Hemingway, The Story, The Look of Dom Hemingway, A Conversation with the Cast Director, Ping-Pong Loop and Audio Commentary by Writer/Director Richard Shepard.

Jude Law stars a Dom Hemingway, a safecracker with a short fuse, who has spent the last twelve-years in prison. While during his time away, his wife remarried and later died of cancer, and his daughter Evelyn (played by Emilia Clarke) grew up without a father. On the day of release, Dom has one thing on his mind - receiving what it is coming to him for not ratting out his boss, Ivan Fontaine (played by Demián Bichir).

With his one-handed best-friend, Dickie (played by Richard E. Grant), by his side, Dom heads to the French countryside to retrieve the £750,000 from Ivan, but Dom's lager-than-life ego gets the better of him, leaving him buried, bleeding and broke. The only choice he has is to crash at his estranged daughter's apartment, where he is shocked to learn that he is grandfather. Once he is able to stand on his own two feet, he is asked to leave, as Evelyn wants nothing to do with. Now desperate for cash and the love of his daughter, Dom will do anything to get a second chance.

Batman: Catwoman's Nine Lives
By: Matthew K. Manning
Illustrated By: Luciano Vecchio
Publisher: Stone Arch Books
Pub. Date: August 1, 2014
ISBN: 9781434291363
Pages: 88

Review:

Its hard to believe it has been nearly 75 years since Batman first appeared in Detective Comics. The Cape Crusader has been entertaining fans for generations with films, live-action series and animated series. With children fascinated with comic book heroes, Stone Arch Books has released a line of chapter books involving DC superheroes.

The newest chapter book release is titled Batman: Catwoman's Nine Lives which features 12 unique comic book style pages in this intriguing adventure.

It all starts with Catwoman stealing a cat statue, only to run into the Penguin, who makes an offer she can't refuse - to steal the Ventriloquist's dummy, Scarface in exchange for cash. It seems like a great offer that is until Catwoman runs into Batman.

If you missed my post on Friday, my cat, Fred, passed away. He became sick on Tuesday and I took him to the vet on Wednesday, which he was diagnosed with kidney failure. The vet had him for 48 hours, but in the end there was nothing the vet could do to save him.

Insomnia set in last week due to the whole ordeal and I finally crashed on Saturday, falling asleep in late afternoon. I was more or less numb for most of Sunday and my shoulder was hurting from digging Fred's grave Friday afternoon.

Today, I awoke bright and early and exercised, which is something I have been lacking lately. I watched the movie Rage starring Nicolas Cage, which I'll be writing a review for in the next couple of days. I was basically just wasting time until the FedEx guy showed up, so I could sign for a delivery. I went outside for five minutes to pick some tomatoes and jalapenos from the small garden in the back yard. I wasn't gone five minutes, but it was long enough for the FedEx to leave a "You Weren't Home" sign on my front door. The funny thing is when I was walking back from from the garden towards the deck, I saw the FedEx truck drive by. You would think that he would have seen me and turned around, but I guess he didn't.

Summer is nearly over, well at least for the kids that are heading back to school; meaning kids will be having the dreaded homework assignments, including book reports. I know some kids may think reading is boring, as they would probably rather be playing a video game, but reading can be a joyful experience when you find that one perfect title to read. Therefore, I am going to be featuring a few Back to School Reads on here.

Review:

Arriving in bookstores on August 5th is the 3-books-in-1, The Berenstain Bears': God Shows The Way (978-0310742111), which is part of the Zonderkidz I Can Read! series.

The Berenstain Bears' book series was first published in 1962, written by the husband and wife duo, Stan & Jan Berenstain. Since then over 260 million copies have been sold around the world. Sadly, both authors have now passed away, but their son, Mike, has took over their work by writing and illustrating more titles.

The Berenstain Bears': God Shows The Way features three previously released titles that have been rewritten with a Christian theme.

Faith Get Us Through was originally published as Lost in a Cave under the "Cub Club" series in 1994. The story centers on Papa Bear leading the Bear Scouts (Brother, Sister, Lizzy, and Cousin Freddy) into a cave, so they can earn their Cave Adventures Merit Badge, but after a wrong turn they become lost in the cave.

Do Not Fear, God Is Near was originally published as And the Spook Shadows under the "Cub Club" series in 1992. Sister Bear use to be scared of almost anything but Papa Bear taught her that trusting God will take away all of her fears. This works for all of her fears except for one - her own shadow and Brother Bear keeps teasing her about it.

An Average Joe's Pursuit For Financial Freedom
by Michael Warren Munsey
Publisher: Xlibris US
Pub. Date: April 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-1493177691
ASIN: B00JRW4CTM
Pages: 85
Buy Links: Paperback, Kindle, ExLibris

Info from back of book cover: 

An Average Joe’s Pursuit for Financial Freedom offers a different perspective on money than what is traditionally taught by our parents and in our school systems. The reason there is such a discrepancy between the wealthy and the poor is due to the difference in the way money is perceived. We are not born with the ability to maintain wealth: it is something that is learned. The knowledge of knowing how to make money work to generate passive income is something that anyone can learn as long as they are disciplined. An Average Joe’s Pursuit for Financial Freedom is based on practical concepts and discusses the problems that the majority of us face with our personal finance. The concepts in this book are based on theory by an author that practices what he writes about.

Review:

I don't ever read financial themed books, but considering our economy is still rocky, I thought it wouldn't hurt to read this book.The author uses his own personal experiences to give financial advice instead of depending on simple statistics.

Yes, your first solution to making more money is to get a higher paying job, which might not be an easy thing to do if you don't have a college eduction, but then again a college eduction doesn't guarantee financial freedom. If you don't have a full scholarship, then you're going to have to get financial aid, meaning you'll be making payments for at least ten years. Plus, just because you have a college degree doesn't mean you'll find a high paying job.

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.

There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.

There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.

The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...