Sunday, February 14, 2016

The Return of Tae Bo


I almost forgot about writing this week's post, so I'm listening to the last half of the new "Castle" episode while I'm writing this. Then a little bit later tonight I'll have do my late night workout, which will be last day of week six of the "Master's Hammer & Chisel" workout program. The last two weeks of the program starts tomorrow. I'm not for sure what I'm going to do after the program; though I'm considering doing the "Beast Body" workout program, which I already own the DVDs. 

However, I need to add some more "cardio" into my weekly workouts as I'm not seeing any weight loss on the scales; though I have seen a little body fat loss around my chest and arms, but not so much around my love handles. 

I lost a lot of weight a few years ago when I was doing Tae Bo workouts. Yes, I know Tae Bo is considered "old" and out of style to many, but the exercises are very intense and an easy way to get into shape. Sadly, things came up in my life, which I will not name here, and I didn't have time to exercise; resulting in some weight gain. When I eventually went back to Tae Bo, I started having issues with my knees/legs and my back, which was probably caused by the lack of exercise and the weight gain. I did a few Beachbody workouts last year and lost about ten pounds, but I took around five months off from exercising last fall and gained all the weight back.

My plan is to slowly start adding Tae Bo back into my workouts; probably starting tomorrow. Yes, I do have an arsenal of Tae Bo DVDs. Starting around 2008 or 2009, I would buy almost every new Tae Bo title that came out. I got most of the older titles on eBay over the years. During the time I wasn't doing Tae Bo, I was still keeping an eye out for new releases, but for some reason Anchor Bay quit releasing new ones. Then, Tae Bo Fitness updated their website and began producing new titles through their BG Star Productions, where you could only buy the new DVDs on their website. I was aware of the new titles, but I didn't purchase them because the DVDs were more than twice the price of what they used to be. 

Review - A Horse for Kate by Miralee Ferrell



208 pages; Pub. by David C. Cook; Amazon

I've had a slight cold for the last few days and the last thing I wanted to do was to read over the weekend, but that is exactly what I've been doing. Awhile back I had signed up to review Blue Ribbon Trail Ride by Mira lee Ferrell as part of a blog tour that kicks off later this week. The title is actually book four in a series, so the publishers kindly sent me the previous three books to read before reviewing it.

Friday, February 12, 2016

Book Blogger Hop: February 12th - 18th

Book Blogger Hop

Welcome to the new Book Blogger Hop!

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 @ Silver's Reviews!

Are you able to read in the car?

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: 


The strange thing is - I don't drive.

When I was a kid, I would bring a book with me to read when my parents were driving. Now as an adult, if I'm a passenger in somebody's car, I don't take a book a with me.


Linky List:

Popcorn & Coffee: The Alien Files



Rated R; $9.98; 364 mins; Amazon

No, this title isn't related to The X-Files revival, but instead it is an newly released Mill Creek Entertainment DVD, featuring four science fiction flicks - Night Skies, Alien Hunter, Ghosts of Mars and The Day The World Ended.

Directed by Roy Knyrim, Night Skies was released in 2007, and starred A. J. Cook, Jason Connery, George Stults, Ashley Peldon, Joseph Sikora and Gwendoline Yeo. The plot involves a group of friend driving an RV to Las Vegas, NV. After a wrong turn and a slight accident, the group end up in the middle of nowhere, where they encounter the strange "Phoenix Lights" in the sky.

Alien Hunter is an underrated 2003 science-fiction thriller from director Ron Kraus. The film centers on Julien Rome (played by James Spader), a Cryptologist who is sent to Antarctic to investigate a strange alien-looking vehicle that mysteriously appeared in the snow. The vehicle is sending out some sort of signal. By the time he decrypts the signal, which gives the warning "Do not open!", it's already too late. I saw the film on television several years ago and it isn't a bad low-budget film.

Back in 2001, Cinemax aired a series of movies called Creature Features, which remade old creature films. The Day The World Ended was one those films, which is a remake of the 1955 film of the same name. Directed by Terence Gross, the remake stars Nastassja Kinski, Randy Quaid and Bobby Edner. The plot involves a young boy that believes he's part alien just as a series a strange murders occur all over town. Honestly, this is a horrible movie with bad acting and dumb special effects.

Popcorn & Coffee: Legend: The Complete Series



$14.98; 9 hrs 58 mins; Buy Link: Amazon

I'm sure there are many television series that we liked, but were quickly for canceled. Luckily, many of these titles are now available on DVD.

The short-lived "Legend" that air on the UPN in 1995 and was released on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment last month, featuring all 12 episodes.

The series started Richard Dean Anderson, who at the time just ended his run as MacGyver, and John de Lance ("Q" from Star Trek: The Next Generation). Anderson played Ernest Pratt, a dime-store novelist who gets dragged to small town, where someone has been impersonating his fictional character, "Nicodemus Legend."

Upon arriving he quickly learns that Janos Bartok, an European scientist/inventor (played by John de Lance), has been using "Nicodemus Legend" to help save the townsfolk of Sheridan, Colorado. Ernest stays around to help, but had all intentions of leaving immediately. However, he had been suffering from writer's block prior to meeting Janos, and decides the best way to come up with new adventures is to actually experience them.

Episodes on the two-disc set are:

Birth of a Legend
Mr. Pratt Goes to Sheridan
Legend on His President's Secret Service
Custer's Next-to-Last Stand
The Life, Death, and Life of Wild Bill Hickok

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Review - Rotten School: The Heinie Prize


110 Pages; Buy Link: Amazon
My quest to "reread" the Rotten School series by the best-selling author R.L. Stine continues this week with the sixth entry, titled Rotten School: The Heinie Prize.

For those of you who haven't read the Rotten School books or have never read my past posts, I'll give you a quick history on the books.

Rotten School is a private boarding school for elementary kids. The series centers on a Bernie Bridges, a 4th grader troublemaker, who is always finding away to skip glass and con the other students into giving him money. He stays in the Rotten House with his pals Feenman and Crench, as well as a few other goofy characters.

While Bernie isn't the best student at the school, he's determined to win "The Heinie Prize," an annual award that is given to the very best 4th grader in Mrs. Heinie's class. Unfortunately, the runner-up for the award this year is Bernie's nemesis, the rich kid named Sherman Oaks.

Shockingly, some bad news hits the Rotten School after Belzer (Bernie's personal slave/classmate) receives a letter from a his parents, informing him that since he isn't learning anything at the school, except for doing Bernie's chores & homework, they are pulling him out of the school.

Now there is noway Bernie is going to let his slave... his friend get kicked out of Rotten School. So there is only one way to get Belzer's parents to let him stay - Bezler is going to have to win this year's Heinie Prize.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Popcorn & Coffee: Queens of Scream


PG-13/R; 372 minutes; Buy Link: Amazon

No matter what your entertainment budget is, it's pretty cheap to buy a horror flick on DVD as many of them can be purchased for $5 at Walmart; many of these DVDs contains several flicks. Mill Creek Entertainment is known to release horror movies at a decent price, and they recently released Queens of Scream, which contains four horror movies - I Know What You Did Last Summer, When A Stranger Calls, Vacancy, and The Cave.

When A Stranger Calls is the 2006 remake of the 1976 classic of the same. While the original was pretty scary, the remake is very bland with hardly any scares. Now it's only known for having small parts by Katie Cassidy (CW's Arrow) and Clark Gregg (Marvel's Agents of Shield).

The Cave is an underrated action-horror film that was released in 2005, the same year the classic The Descent came out, which had a similar plot. The film has a pretty big cast, including a pre-Game of Thrones Lena Headey. Despite predictable scares and silly dialogue, I actually liked it.

Vacancy is a 2007 horror film starring the weird pairing of Owen Wilson and Kate Beckinsale. They play a troubled married couple that take a wrong turn on a highway and are eventually stranded at a motel after their car breaks down. After watching a snuff film that was left in their room, they realize the film was shot right there in the motel. Of course they attempt to get the hell out of Dodge, but unfortunately the killers are already there. I first saw the film when it was originally released and I thought (and still do) it was a really good scary movie. It will make you think twice about checking into a motel.