Category: Articles

Book Review: Babysitting SugarPaw

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Buy Babysitting SugarPaw on Amazon.com

61OAktqSB+L._SL500_AA240_A little bear named SugarPaw hopes to get rid of his babysitter, Bonnie Whiskes, by getting her into trouble after making changes to his rules chart. As the story unfolds SugarPaw learns about honesty and friendship, in this fun loving story.

I love kid books, I’m not ashamed to admit it. From If You Give a Mouse a Cookie or The Little Engine that Could there’s nothing like a touching story to spark the imagination.

Recently I was given “Babysitting SugarPaw” to review and I was happily surprised with he cute and fun story. As someone who has had to babysit I could relate to poor Bonnie Whiskes’ plight as she deals with a very mischievous SugarPaw. A fun and easy read, Babysitting SugarPaw is a great introduction to the world of baby sitters. I also loved the lesson that your actions have consequences on others (not just yourself).

Author VS Grenier shows her understanding of a child’s mind and the bright, playful illustrations by Kevin Collier make this book enjoyable. I would have liked a bit of a longer ending, which seemed a bit abrupt, but other than that, the book is fantastic! Parents will love the subtle lessons about dealing with babysitters and kids will love the mischievous antics of SugarPaw. Check out Babysitting SugarPaw for yourself!

Now You Can Trade in Your Games to Toys”R”Us

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Toysrus.com Home - The Official Toys_R_Us Web SiteTo help customers find additional value in their used video games, today Toys”R”Us introduced a video game trade-in program at Toys”R”Us stores nationwide. Now, according to D2king, gamers who are ready to move onto new challenges can exchange their used video game titles from almost any system, including classics like Intellivision or the newest platforms, for a Toys”R”Us gift card representing the value offered for the trade-in. Gift cards can be immediately used on any product available in Toys”R”Us and Babies”R”Us stores or online at Toysrus.com.

Customers can participate in the video game trade-in program at Toys”R”Us stores in the United States as follows:

— Used video games in their original cases, with diablo 2 items for sale you can get the original case artwork for cheaper which may be brought to a Toys”R”Us Guest Services desk.

— Games will then be scanned and prices will be offered for individual titles.

— Gamers confirm that they want to accept the offer to exchange any, or all, of the games they brought to the store.

— Once the transaction is complete, customers receive an activated gift card equal to the total worth of all games traded.

— Immediately upon receiving the gift card, customers can purchase any product from iPods and toys to candy and diapers at any Toys”R”Us or Babies”R”Us location or online at Toysrus.com.

“The video game trade-in program is another way we’re providing customers with additional value when they visit our stores,” said Bill Lee, Vice President, Divisional Merchandise Manager, Toys”R”Us, U.S. “This program is designed to make the exchange process completely hassle-free for customers by accepting games from even the oldest systems, including the original Atari 2600 and 32-bit Sega Genesis.”

Beyond helping customers trade games from current systems such as the Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable, Toys”R”Us stores will accept games from almost every gaming system imaginable. Games from systems such as the Atari 2600, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo Game Boy, Nintendo 64, Nintendo NES, Intellivision, Sega Genesis can be exchanged.

The new video game trade-in program builds on the company’s growing strength in the juvenile electronics marketplace. In recent years, Toys”R”Us has added electronic devices and services that kids crave to its product offerings, including Apple’s iPod, digital cameras for toddlers and netbooks. Additionally, Toys”R”Us stores offer a large assortment of licensed electronics, including TVs, radios and karaoke machines featuring images of classic and new characters such as Disney/Pixar Cars, Hannah Montana, Barbie((R)), TRANSFORMERS and more.

Toys”R”Us will support the video game trade-in program through advertisements in newspaper circulars nationwide beginning September 13.

Source.

TV Review: Glee Pilot Episode (Director’s Cut)

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glee

Watch on Hulu || Buy Pilot – Director’s Cut on Amazon || Watch Glee on Fox, Wednesday Nights

Forget what preconceived notions you have about Glee if you haven’t seen it yet. Sure it’s a high-school show with music, which may lead you to believe it’s a Highschool Musical clone, but the exact opposite is true. Glee is one of the tightest, most refreshing pilots I’ve seen in a long time – and the director’s cut even more so. On a recent trip to Wal-mart I picked up the Director’s Cut DVD ($5) and was extremely pleased with it.

Glee is one of those shows that just makes you smile, but don’t take that to mean it’s a fluffy romp – the characters have a lot of inner angst and torment and high school to deal with. Despite only having an hour to set up 11 characters (and some minor ones), Glee doesn’t fall fall with adding depth and character to most of the main cast (regrettably not Tina, who I think could easily be my favorite character). And it’s not just the kids who have problems, the main characters are also fraught with real life issues (including the main character, Will Schuester played by Matthew Morrison).

The Director’s Cut only has a couple extended scenes that aren’t in the original cut, but worth the watch. One of them is Matthew Morrison’s performance of Leaving on a Jet Plane, which is hauntingly beautiful.

With an infectious combination of songs, dances and a cappella moments used in addition to the musical scoring make Glee a show that can lift your spirits and have you singing all night long.

Tonight’s the second episode of Glee, and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Movie Review: Nature of the Beast

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natureofthebeastBuy Nature of the Beast on Amazon.com.

Looking for a fun, comedy/supernatural movie?  Now available on DVD from Anchor Bay Entertainment, Nature of the Beast is the movie for you.

With a mix of the funny and the sweet, Nature of the Beast makes it a popcorn flick that actually has a well-written storyline. Starting with the basic idea that “every man is hiding something,” this film takes a hilarious look at the problems with living with a werewolf. Will Julia still marry her beloved Rich when she finds out that three days out of the month Rich is a true monster?

Nature of the Beast stars Eddie Kaye Thomas, (American Pie movies, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle), Autumn Reeser (“The O.C.,” “Pushing Daisies”), Eric Mabius (“Ugly Betty,” “CSI: Miami”).  Since I was a big fan of Eric I was happy to see him in the film. His role isn’t a huge part of the movie, but it’s a good one.

It’s a hard to balance the funny and the serious emotional moments, but Nature of the Beast does so beautifully. There’s no point where the movie seems slow or too over the top, and the supporting cast makes the film even funnier. I especially love that they keep the actual werewolf shots to a minimum (especially at the beginning of the movie) it adds to the mysterious air of the movie.

Nature of the Beast is definitely a great film and one that you should definitely pick up for your next movie night.

Book Review: Fearless by Max Lucado

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_140_245_Book.72.coverBuy Fearless by Max Lucado on Amazon.com

With the economy the way it is and the future not looking so bright it’s understandable folks are a bit fearful. Just in time is world-famous author Max Lucado’s Fearless, an inspiring look into a Christian’s life without fear. We are a people who have a great God who is bigger than the obstacles we may face.

I devoured the book in the course of a couple days. While I’ve always enjoyed Max Lucado’s books, Fearless is his best to date. It’s not often a writer is so deeply expressive of his own soul that you ache along with him as he describes his own personal struggles with fear.  This is a book about learning how to live without fear, but Lucado’s stories (and the stories of others he tells) teach us that living a fearless life isn’t just theoretical – it’s possible. Too many times Christian books stay within the truths of the Bible without really digging into the application of those truths. Sure, we all know that God is in control, but can we live it? Lucado acknowledges the issues and problems normal people face with faced with abnormal circumstances. Fearless isn’t about preachy, flashy exposition – it’s about the journey to changing how we feel about our fears.

This is a book of stories.  Make no mistake there is a lot of insights and teaching, but the book is extremely easy to read and understand because Lucado’s writing feels like he’s sitting at your kitchen table talking about everything. My favorite chapter is even set up with a very Dr. Seussian poem that adds to the enjoyability of this book.

There’s very few books I can point to as books I would encourage every Christian to read and Fearless is one of them. It’s a tall, cold glass of water in a very dry and thirsty time. If you find yourself struggling with worry and doubt this is just the book you need to read.

Help Stardance Co-Author Battle Cancer

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206bf0cdd7a084c0e03a6110.L._SL500_AA240_Jeanne Robinson, co-author of the Hugo and Nebula award-winning “Stardance” books (and wife of Spider Robinson) is fighting a rare form of cancer and a group of people are helping raise funds to help her with costs not covered by Canada’s health service.

As someone who has gone through cancer bouts with friends and relatives, I can relate to the amount of cost and care that’s associated with it.

To find out how you can help please visit – http://wedreamforjeanne.blogspot.com/

What to Watch This Fall: CBS’ Three Rivers

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I love Fall, changing of the temperature, crisper nights to snuggle up and watch some good TV. After a long hard Summer of “barely anything on” it’s great to see a lot of your favorite shows coming back and, of course, have the opportunity to fall in love with some new shows!

One of the shows that you may want to tune into is CBS’ new medical drama – Three Rivers. Three Rivers goes inside the emotionally complex lives of organ donors, the recipients and the surgeons that make it all happen. Actors Alex O’Loughlin (The Shield and Moonlight) and Katherine Moennig (The L Word) star as part of the elite surgical team that – in addition to being doctors – must deal with donor families in their darkest hour, while managing the fears and concerns of apprehensive recipients.

According to an interview with Alex O’Loughlin, the show is based on a real life surgeon and Alex got to spend a lot of time researching the role in an actual hospital. I love when shows delve into the realism behind the drama. and Three Rivers seems to be a show with heart. The preview clips I watched on CBS showed a sense of humor, drama and, of course, the medical procedures.

Seems like a great series for anyone who has enjoyed ER, and misses the show now it’s off the air. I’ll be tuning in, how about you guys?

Three Rivers premieres Sunday, October 4th on CBS. You can view the preview here: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/three_rivers/

TV Review: Project Runway 6×1 “Welcome to Los Angeles”

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projectrunway
Watch Project Runway on Lifetime, Thursday nights, 10 pm et/pt.
Buy Project Runway: Season Five on Amazon.com

On the whole, I despise reality television. Yet, there’s something about actual creative people competing that seems entirely different than people trapped in a house shouting at each other (sorry Heidi). So when Project Runway went through the trauma of switching networks from Bravo to Lifetime, I missed it.

But now it’s back, and in my hometown! Yay!

While I was not worried about the move to LA, I was curious to see if it would change the show’s feel any. Anyone who has visited LA’s garment district knows it’s a lot different than New York’s. Plus, downtown LA is a much different than downtown New York. As much as I love the Fashion Institute, the designers should be at a beach house somewhere. Thankfully they do get to run around LA some it looks like.

Season 6 Ep 1 “Welcome to Los Angeles”
Rating: [rating:3.5]
Quote of the Episode: “I don’t watch the red carpet. I don’t differentiate between different color carpets.” – Malvin Vien

Spoilers after the cut.

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