Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Review - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time

Billy Burgess comic book , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

It looks like it was the year of the TMNT franchise with this summer's blockbuster Michael Bay-produced reboot and the third season launch of Nickelodeon's animated series. It feels like 1990 all over again!

Being released this month is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time from IDW Publishing, featuring all 4 issues of the 2014 mini-series. Following a similar storyline of TMNT III (1993), Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael finds themselves being tossed about throughout time. They first arrive in prehistoric times and battle a few reptiles that are much bigger then them. Then the four brothers arrive in the Feudal Japan era where the battle Shredder (again). The third issue find the turtles hitting the high seas, where they get tangled up in a pirate adventure. Their last stop is in Manhattan in the not-too-distant future.

Writing Tips Wednesday: Music to Listen to While Writing

Unknown Writing Tips Wednesdays ,

Many book-lovers are also music-lovers. Books and music go hand-in-hand as a sort of general artistic/emotional expression. Change the music that you listen to with a book and the reading experience will be completely different. For example, if you are reading to a child’s story and play happy music, it will feel light and fun. But if you change the music to eerie, creepy-sounding music, the story will feel terrifying. Music really can influence how a story feels.

In fact, I know of a few authors who specifically create soundtracks for their books and recommend that readers listen to that music while they read the story. I haven’t done this on a regular basis, but I bet it could enhance the reading experience by quite a lot. There are definitely a lot of authors who use music while writing to help focus the feelings they are trying to convey in a scene.

I read once that Douglas Adams listened to the Paul Simon album “One Trick Pony” while writing The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Using music to influence writing is quite effective, at least for me. I love putting on background music when I am trying to write (even for work). I tend to choose music that has interest but isn’t distracting. Some of my favorite writing artists include:

Frightened Rabbit
Mumford and Sons
Deadmau5
Biffy Clyro
Mozart
Bach
Band of Horses

If you love the music/book combo, then you won’t want to miss these 12 hit songs inspired by literature. And these songs were all inspired by The Hobbit or LOTR. When you look, you can find thousands of songs that were inspired by authors, writing, or literature. It’s an amazing world out there for a book lover!

What are your favorite songs to listen to while writing?

Brenda is a fellow book-lover and coffee-addict. She is a freelance writer, punctuation nerd, and grammar enthusiast. Her favorite book genres are Science Fiction, Fantasy with a Twist, and Dystopian. Brenda blogs about books, writing and more at Daily Mayo. Find her here on CaW for Writing Tips Wednesdays the first Wednesday of every month.

Follow Brenda on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to updates from Daily Mayo to keep up with all the exciting things in her life; ranging from drinking coffee to get through the day to drinking coffee just for fun.

Holiday Gift Guide 2014: Feng Shui Gift Boxes

Billy Burgess Holiday Gift Guide 2014 ,

The Kitchen Box

Feng Shui Gift Boxes

from FengShwag

Prices:

$5 & Up

Description from FengShwag:

"Feng shui means "wind and water" and these two symbols stand as the eloquent shorthand for the never-ending movement of chi that ebbs and flows through everything in the universe."

The graceful wind blows the ever expanding waves and together they dance in harmony infusing chi or energy within and without our lives. Feng shui is based on the principle that everything that surrounds us has a unique energy of its own. Feng shui wisdom believes that objects we place in our surroundings has an intimate effect on our well-being.

The objects, their elementals make-up and color, the balance of yin and yang, the correct directions we face when we sleep and work- all are enhanced with the proper placement of SYMBOLS which vibrate with energy and infuse our lives with meaning and inspiration.

Buy Links:

2014 Holiday Gift Guide

Billy's Thoughts:

Review - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Visual History

Billy Burgess Holiday Gift Guide 2014 , non-fiction review

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Visual History

by Andrew Farago

Publisher:

Insight Editions

Pub. Date:

June 24, 2014

Retail:
$50.00

Pages:
192 pages

Description:

Discover the complete story of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the first time–from their humble beginnings in black-and-white comics created in a home studio in Dover, New Hampshire, to their multimillion-dollar breakout success, and their position as four of the best-loved characters of all time.

Featuring interviews with every key figure in the Turtles’ evolution, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Visual History presents the tale straight from the mouths of those who were there, including co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, animation legend Fred Wolf, creature effects maestro Brian Henson, and even the man behind the “Ninja Rap,” Vanilla Ice.

In visually stunning detail, this book explores each iteration of the Turtles from the past to the present, including the hit animation show from Nickelodeon and the Michael Bay–produced live-action movie from Paramount starring Megan Fox. Bringing together the rarest art and artifacts from three decades of TMNT comics, TV shows, and films, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Visual History leaves no shell unturned!

Buy Link:

Amazon

Insight Editions

Billy's Review:

Release Day Tuesday - December 2, 2014

Billy Burgess Release Day Tuesday ,

If you would like to have a book, DVD or Blu-ray featured on a Release Day Tuesday post, please email me at billyburgess20@hotmail.com!

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Gary Oldman, Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke and Keri Russell star in this thrilling next chapter of The Planet of the Apes. It is 2026, and humanity has been pushed to near extinction by a deadly virus. When a group of survivors desperate to find a new source of power travel into the woods near San Francisco, they discover a highly evolved community of intelligent apes led by Caesar (Andy Serkis). The two species form a fragile peace but dissention grows and the groups find themselves hurtling toward all-out war. Fans and critics flocked to the film, with The Hollywood Reporter raving that “In the annals of sequels, Dawn is to Rise of the Planet of the Apes what The Empire Strikes Back was to Star Wars—it's that much better.“

With approximately two hours of special features, the DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES Blu-ray will make a perfect holiday gift for any action film fans. The Blu-ray is jam-packed with behind-the-scenes footage and deleted scenes, including intimate interviews with Andy Serkis on how he masterfully created Caesar and inside looks at the secrets of the relationship between man and apes.

Field of Lost Shoes
Studio: ARC Entertainment

Based on a true story of the American Civil War, this film shows the bravery of a group of teenage cadets who were called upon to defend the Shenandoah Valley against General Grant’s (Tom Skerritt) Union forces, under the leadership of Captain Henry DuPont (David Arquette). 274 young men from the Virginia Military Institute are ordered to provide support for the more seasoned troops in the strategic battle. When the Confederate soldiers are outnumbered, General John C. Breckenridge (John Isaacs) makes the agonizing decision to send the young men into the melee. A band of seven friends, each with their own set of values and feelings about the war, soon come together as one when faced with the most shattering moments of their young lives.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Showdown in Dimension X
Studio: Nickeldoeon

The four turtles are back with the final DVD volume from the second season of the hit Nickelodeon series.

The episodes include:

1. The Manhattan Project
2. Mazes & Mutants
3. The Lonely Mutation of Baxter Stockman
4. Newtralized!
5. The Wrath of Tiger Claw
6. Pizza Face
7. The Legend of the Kuro Kabuto
8. Plan 10
9. Vengeance is Mine
10. A Chinatown Ghost Story
11. Into Dimension X!
12. The Invasion

DVD Review - Field of Lost Shoes

Billy Burgess Civil War , DVD

Field of Lost Shoes
Director: Sean McNamara
Starring: David Arquette, Keith David, Lauren Holly, Jason Isaacs and Tom Skerritt
Studio: ARC Entertainment
Release Date: December 2, 2014
Retail: $20.99
ASIN: B00NMYL93I
Running Time: 96 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Arriving on DVD tomorrow from ARC Entertainment is the Civil War drama Field of Lost Shoes. The film is directed by Sean McNamara (Soul Surfer) and stars David Arquette, Keith David, Lauren Holly, Jason Isaacs and Tom Skerritt. There are no extras or special features on the DVD.

Winner of the 2014 Best Dramatic Feature from the 8th Annual GI Film Festival, Field of Lost Shoes is based on the true story of the Battle of New Market in 1864. The film centers on seven friends - Sam Atwill, John Wise, Jack Stanard, Robert 'Sir Rat,' Benjamin 'Duck' Colonna Garland Jefferson and Moses Ezekiel, (played by Max Lloyd-Jones, Luke Benward, Zach Roerig, Nolan Gould, Sean Marquette, Parker Croft and Josh Zuckerman), whom are all cadets at the Virginia Military Institute. They are ordered along with 269 other young men to provide support for the Confederate States Army under the command of General John C. Breckenridge (played by Jason Isaacs) during the Battle of New Market.

General John C. Breckenridge had no attention of using the cadets in the battle, but after many attack by the Union Army, the cadet battalion moved forward into the heat of the battle. Out of the seven characters that the movie focuses on, only four survived.