Size 2 for Life by Ashley Marriott and Dr. Marc Paulsen

Product Description
We didn't start life as a size 8, 12, 16 or more. So how did we get here? Well, the simple truth is we ate, and we ate, and we ate! So how do we turn things around and get back to the way we deserve? Size 2 for Life shows us how. Presented in clear and easily understood language this amazingly simple new diet and fitness program can make and keep almost any woman a size 2. Included are simple tests to gauge ones current status, a complete diet and exercise program as well as the 21-Day, 2 for Life, quick-start plan for rapid results. Renowned fitness expert, Ashley Marriott and Stanford trained, Dr. Marc Paulsen are on a mission to get people fit and look the way they truly can.

My thoughts:
This book is a practical no-nonsense guide to losing weight and keeping fit. It has a complete exercise regiment and a diet to follow. If you have the motivation, you will lose weight. I highly recommend this book.

Ariana Richards "Raptor Vision"

Those who know me know that I used to be very heavily into movies (not so much anymore). Anyway, one of my favorite movies is Jurassic Park. Remember Lex, played by Ariana Richards? She has grown in to a beautiful woman and an accomplished artist. Much more accomplished than myself. I enjoy her artwork but couldn’t really afford it. You can check out her artwork in her gallery at www.galleryariana.com. After Ms. Richards was filmed Jurassic Park, she painted a portrait of herself from the film, entitled “Raptor Vision”. She recently had lithographs made and is offering signed copies on her website:www.arianarichards.net. Doesn’t this sound like a plug?

For the longest time, I was only interested in hanging my own artwork in my house but have decided to branch out, so to speak. I bought a lithograph and had it framed and will eventually hang it my house once we repaint the place.

We Will Always Be Pals by Tom McManus

Product Description
"We'll Always Be Pals" are the last words my father said to me before he died. The youngest of his six children, he taught me everything there is to know about how to be a man in this world. He should know, after the life he lived. Born in 1920, Gene McManus witnessed some of the most historic events in our country's history. A product of the Great Depression, he was a football star, a boxer, and a B-24 Liberator pilot and POW during World War II. My story is a small one. Out of football for two full seasons after a glorified college career, I had left my football dreams behind me until I got a call out of the clear blue sky. The man who taught me how to play the game was all the inspiration I ever needed to realize a life long held dream. "We'll Always Be Pals" is ultimately the story of a father and son who were fifty years apart in age yet ended up best of friends. Tom McManus, grew up playing football. He started in the 4th grade at St. Mary's of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, a Catholic grammar school located outside of Chicago. He went on to Wheeling HS, where he was an All-Conference and an All-State linebacker. He accepted a football scholarship to Boston College and received his bachelor's degree in Marketing. He was named a third team All-American his senior year along with being a two time First Team All Big East linebacker under the tutelage of Tom Coughlin. He failed in his first two attempts to make it into the NFL and spent two football seasons out of the game, tending bar in Chicago. In 1995, he got a lucky break and became a member of the inaugural Jacksonville Jaguar Franchise of the NFL. He played an instrumental role in the Jaguars miraculous 1996 season, the Cinderella story of the NFL that year, as he started 14 games at middle linebacker including the 1997 AFC Championship Game and proved to the NFL that he did, in fact, belong. Tom is the owner and host of a sports talk radio show in Jacksonville, Florida called, "The Rumble with Tom McManus" on 1010 XL. Tom is involved in many charitable causes, most notably, the Jay Fund Foundation, established by Tom Coughlin, and the C.H.I.L.D. Cancer Fund. Tom resides in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, a beach residence outside of Jacksonville, with his wife, Kristina, and their three daughters, Avery, Kelsey, and Harley.

My thoughts:
Tom McManus has written a book about his relationship with his dad, his professional football career and his father’s earlier life, blending them in together to make a fine read. Although, I am not a football fan, I enjoyed this book because it came from the heart and I am a fan of life. He describes what made his father who he was and what makes him who he is. This book is a tribute to his father and what he taught Tom. I also believe it is an inspiration to all father-son relationships.

Back to the Future Alternate Ending

The Terror by Dan Simmons

Description:

The men on board HMS Terror have every expectation of finding the Northwest Passage. When the expedition's leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a terrible death, Captain Francis Crozier takes command and leads his surviving crewmen on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice. But as another winter approaches, as scurvy and starvation grow more terrible, and as the Terror on the ice stalks them southward, Crozier and his men begin to fear there is no escape. A haunting, gripping story based on actual historical events, The Terror is a novel that will chill you to your core.

My thoughts:

I think Dan Simmons is a talented author and I do enjoy historical novels, but this book seems to have lost something along the way. I was hoping for more horror and more excitement. "The Terror" detailed the expedition across the Artic and how these men were stuck in the ice. The first 300 pages showed promise but then it teetered off. I didn’t mind that each chapter was from a different person’s point of view, but I didn’t feel for the characters to really care about them. I lost interest until the last 100 pages when it became intriguing again. Nine hundred pages plus, was a lot to read but not riveting enough to recommend.

Quarantine

I have to stop relying on commercials to choose what movies to see. I was intrigued by the commercial for Taken and actually went to the theater to see a very enjoyable film. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case for the film Quarantine. I watched the commercial quite a few times and it seemed interesting. Not interesting enough to go to the theater but enough to add it to our ‘rent one weekend’ list. It recently came out on DVD and my wife picked it up along with Saw 5. We like to watch our horror flicks in the dark, but after the ending credits rolled on Quarantine, I turned on the lights and we were all like this was one of the worst films we ever saw. And we sat through Cloverfield. I have nothing against hand held camera shots, and I do love a good zombie film, but please who the hell funded this film? The plot was ridiculous; some of the acting atrocious and the throwaway characters was just that. That was 90 minutes of my life that I will never get back, and $5.00 my wife wasted.

How To Solve Your People Problems by Dr. Alan Godwin

Product Description:
Interacting with people brings problems with people. The closer the contact, the greater the potential for conflict. In How to Solve Your People Problems, Dr. Alan Godwin shares biblical, practical principles to help readers avoid conflict when possible and handle difficult encounters constructively.
The key to healthy, growing relationships is successfully handling differences. Dr. Godwin gives readers the tools and the framework to:
benefit from every relationship
handle conflict with grace, reason, and flexibility
change problem situations into positive encounters
reduce conflict situations
successfully deal with unreasonable people
This valuable resource will help readers successfully live and work with others, know how to implement conflict resolution, negotiate problem areas, and create positive connections even when people disagree.

My thoughts:
Dr. Godwin has written an important book for everyone that has to deal with conflict. How to Solve Your People Problems teaches you how to deal with both reasonable and unreasonable people. He offers tips and insights to help understand these types of relationships and at the end of each chapter there are questions to help discuss what you had just read. I had gotten this book one day after having a big discussion on empathy with my therapist and now I understand where she was coming from. I recommend Dr. Godwin’s book to everyone.

Survive the Outbreak!

Taking a break from book reviews and contests, especially if you like zombies, you must go to this interactive internet movie where you choose what happens next. Maybe you will live or maybe you will die. Survive the Outbreak! Click here to begin.

Have a great weekend!

Sway by Zachary Lazar Giveaway

I am having another giveaway. Five lucky winners will each win a copy of Sway by Zachary Lazar, courtesy of Valerie at Hachette Book Group.

Giveaway restricted to residents of the US and Canada no PO boxes.

Contest ends Sunday, March 15th, 2009

To enter, leave a comment here, with your email address. For bonus entry subscribe to my blog.

About the book:
Three dramatic and emblematic stories intertwine in Zachary Lazar's extraordinary new novel, SWAY--the early days of the Rolling Stones, including the romantic triangle of Brian Jones, Anita Pallenberg, and Keith Richards; the life of avant-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger; and the community of Charles Manson and his followers. Lazar illuminates an hour in American history when rapture found its roots in idolatrous figures and led to unprovoked and inexplicable violence. Connecting all the stories in this novel is Bobby Beausoleil, a beautiful California boy who appeared in an Anger film and eventually joined the Manson "family." With great artistry, Lazar weaves scenes from these real lives together into a true but heightened reality, making superstars human, giving demons reality, and restoring mythic events to the scale of daily life.

J. A. Konrath does it again with Fuzzy Navel!

Product Description:

Anthony and Macavity Award finalist J.A. Konrath returns with the latest gripping--and hilarious--Jack Daniels mystery.
Things are going well for Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels of the Chicago Police Department. She has solved some of the city's toughest and most high-profile homicides. Her personal life is finally in order. Her friends and family are safe and happy. And she just got a call that eased her mind like nothing else could: Alex Kork, one of the most dangerous criminals Jack ever arrested, killed herself while in jail.
But things sour quickly when a group of vigilantes on a murderous spree decide to take down a cop and the people she cares about ... and they turn downright awful when Jack discovers that Kork may not be dead after all.
The next eight hours will be the worst of Jack's life. And that's saying something.
Fuzzy Navel is perfect for readers who like their mysteries with a shot of humor.

My thoughts:

J.A. Konrath has done it again. He has written a book that is action packed and hilarious. How Jack Daniels gets herself in and out of these situations makes for a fun ride. Lt. Daniels is trapped in her own home with those she loves and with a psycho bent on killing them all, and with a band of crazed snipers outside wanting the same. It is quick and enjoyable read. Only problem; it has a cliffhanger ending and I now have to wait until the next book comes out. And believe yous me, I will be reading that one also!

Tax-Free Retirement by Patrick Kelly

Product Description:

"Tax Free Retirement will show you how to avoid 9 common Financial Landmines, teach you how to generate tax-free retirement income, explain how to multiply your IRA two or three fold for future generations and help you leave a lasting legacy beyond your wildest imagination."



My thoughts:

Patrick Kelly gives some good advice and is straight forward in explaining how to save for one’s retirement and how to avoid certain landmines and traps (as he describes them). Most of them are common sense for those of us who have been dealing with finance, but very helpful for the individual who doesn’t understand the importance. Unfortunately, by the time we get to Chapter 17, the book becomes a sales pitch for life insurance. Sure, life insurance has it benefits but is it the only way to save for a tax-free retirement? I think this book is a must for any insurance agent, but there are other books to read for the average person.

A Muppet and Me

You want to know what kind of wife I have. Well, sometime last year I was reading a magazine and came across an article mentioning that FAO Schwartz was selling a Design your own Muppet Whatnot kit. Just mentioned it in passing and didn’t put it on my Christmas list or anything like that. It was a little pricy. Lo and behold the last gift I received on Christmas day was my very own Muppet Whatnot design kit. I have a great wife! I had to design one of these what nots and did so before the holiday week ended. Unfortunately, it was such a huge hit; they were backlogged and couldn’t ship until February. I received it just before Valentine’s Day.


Now I have to come up with a name for my new pal.

And the winners are...

The winners of the "The Terror" by Dan Simmons contest are:

Scott
Jodi
eyeslikesugar
Cheryl S
Michael

The winner of the "Who By Fire" by Diana Spechler contest is:

Cheryl

If you have not recieved an email from me requesting your shipping address, please email me with that info. "The Terror" will be mailed directly from the Hachette Book Group.

Captain Freedom: A Superhero's Quest for Truth, Justice, and the Celebrity He So Richly Deserves by G. Xavier Robillard

About the book:

Freedom's fifteen minutes are over!
Software pirates! Mostly extinct dinosaurs! Giant barbarians! Crooning criminals! Captain Freedom's beat them all, saved the world, and looked fantastic doing it—but he couldn't fend off middle management.
The Superhero lifestyle is all that Captain Freedom has ever known. What's he supposed to do now? Enter politics? Write a children's book?
Freedom's in a bad way and he's only a stint in rehab away from a lifetime of celebrity reality shows. But with the guidance of his new life coach, maybe Freedom can stumble in a new direction—even if it means having to make peace with his parents . . . or finally commit to a single long-term archenemy.

What I thought:

I saw the cover of this book on someone else’s blog and thought it looked interesting enough to pick up for myself. (I know you should never judge a book by its cover). It’s got superheroes, archenemies, and time machines to name a few. This first novel by humorist G. Xavier Robillard makes fun of everything in this pop culture society of ours. Captain Freedom struggles with finding a job, wanting to be loved, writing his memoirs and get recognition for saving the world which he does a few times. It is quick paced and a fast read. Although I am a comic book reader and love pop culture, this satirical view of the superhero world was just okay.

Luba Mason - Krazy Love

Recently I won an autographed CD from singer Luba Mason. I first heard Ms. Mason when I went to see the Broadway production of Jekyll and Hyde some time ago. I thought she was fabulous in that role. I waited a few years before her first CD Collage came out, and now I cannot wait hear her new one, Krazy Love.

I won the CD from a contest at Broadwaymouth’s blog. I had to write a paragraph about my favorite Broadway memory. You can read it here:

What the @*%!?

I have never read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and hear that it is a very good novel. But I guess since it is in the public domain, anyone could do what they want and they have. No, joke a book entitled Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is being released within the next few months. See the story here.

A Violinist in the Metro (Washington Post)

I read this on another blog and had to share with my readers:

A Violinist in the Metro (Washington Post)

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes.
During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on. In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100. This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street

Book Description

The story of one of the most important and beloved shows on television—how it got started, nearly failed, and was saved by Elmo

Street Gang is the compelling and often comical story of the creation and history of this media masterpiece and pop culture landmark, told with the cooperation of one of the show’s cofounders, Joan Ganz Cooney. Sesame Street was born as the result of a discussion at a dinner party at Cooney’s home about the poor quality of children’s programming and hit the air as a big bang of creative fusion from Jim Henson and company, quickly rocketing to success.

Street Gang traces the evolution of the show from its inspiration in the civil rights movement through its many ups and downs—from Nixon’s trying to cut off its funding to the rise of Elmo—via the remarkable personalities who have contributed to it. Davis reveals how Sesame Street has taught millions of children not only their letters and numbers, but also cooperation and fair play, tolerance and self-respect, conflict resolution, and the importance of listening. This is the unforgettable story of five decades of social and cultural change and the miraculous creative efforts, passion, and commitment of the writers, producers, directors, animators, and puppeteers who created one of the most influential programs in the history of television.

My thoughts:

I enjoyed Street Gang. This book takes you back to how Sesame Street was conceived, who the people were that created it and how it became so successful. You will have read half the book by the time Sesame Street will have aired, but by then you know who the people are and why they are doing what they did. Michael Davis delves into how the characters developed over time and why Elmo almost wasn’t going to be (my wife is nuts over Elmo, and our entertainment center is practically a shrine to the little red guy). If you have no interest in the cast and crew biographies, then you shouldn’t read this book. If you want to learn about the struggles to put on this television program, I say read it.

I enjoyed this book and recommend it. Mr. Davis certainly did his research on one of America’s favorite children’s television shows. It was a welcome break from the many legal thrillers and science fiction novels I have been reading lately.

Book Giveaway Reminders

Contest Reminder:

Just to remind everyone that there is still one week left to enter my two book giveaway contests. Both contests end on February 15, 2009:

Click here to enter “The Terror” by Dan Simmons book giveaway


Click here to enter the “Who By Fire” by Diana Spechler book giveaway and the read an interview with the author.

WPLJ Winner

Earlier this week I received a call from radio station WPLJ. They told me that I was a winner in the “Prayers for Bobby” contest. They told me that I won a $100 Gift card and something else. I didn’t understand what the woman had said (maybe because I was too excited about winning). But I remembered that on their website it stated the grand prize was $500 and the other prizes were $100, so I couldn’t fathom what the additional prize could be.

They called back the next day to verify my address so I asked again what I won. She said a laptop. Now that really excited me. It came the next day. I won an Acer Aspire One notepad. Isn’t it the cutest little thing? And it is fast!


Now how to spend the $100? Thanks WPLJ!

Time magazine's all-time 100 novels FINISHED!

I have finally completed reading Time all-time 100 novels.

This is a list of the "100 best English language novels from 1923 to the present" and boy, did it take a long time! They published the list in 2006 and now its three years later. I did read other books in between.

I am not going to comment on all the books. If I had thought about it earlier I would have jotted down comments when I read the books, but I didn’t.

There are those books I read in school, that were good then and even better now:

Animal Farm (George Orwell)

The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis)

Lord of the Flies (William Golding)

The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)

The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald).

Then there were the ones where I had seen the movie, but had never read the book, so I had an idea what they were about:

A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess) it was okay

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Ken Kesey) extraordinary!

Deliverance (James Dickey) interesting.


Some of the ones that really moved me:

Gone With the Wind (Margaret Mitchell) I never saw the movie and the book was very enjoyable.

Atonement (Ian McEwan) Kept my interest all the way to the end, and I read it way before the movie came out.

On the Road (Jack Kerouac) I just wanted to be there with him.

The Big Sleep (Raymond Chandler) I had to read the rest of his books after this one.


Ones that didn’t hold my interest:

Infinite Jest (David Foster Wallace) Too long and couldn’t get into it.

Watchmen (Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons) For a graphic novel, it started out great but then I don’t know…


As for the rest, I can not seem to remember the good or the bad, but there were many interesting tales. I say take a chance and read these classics you may find a gem that you enjoy.

Tell me what your favorite all-time novel is.

Popcorn Balls up the Wazoo!

When I was growing up, my mother always had popcorn balls around the Christmas holidays. She would always manage to find them even as they got harder and harder to locate. Today, popcorn balls are for Halloween and come in orange wrappers and not the green and red wrappers from my childhood. But I still love them and consider them a treat in the winter.

Well, I did until this year. My wonderful wife know how much I like popcorn balls and noticed that after Halloween that Wal-Mart was offering their unsold boxes at a discount. She bought a box of 16 balls for me at half-price. The smart-ass that I am asked, “Is that all you got for me?”

So what does she do? She goes back to Wal-Mart a few days later and now they are on sale for 35 cents a box. She buys them all. That’s another 15 boxes. So here I am with over 250 popcorn balls. Yes, 250 popcorn balls! How can I eat them all?

I am finally down to the last box. Needless to say, I do not want to see another popcorn ball for as long as I live. Too much of a good thing is not good!

Taken

I went to see the movie “Taken” with Liam Neeson this weekend. I wanted to see this movie after viewing the commercial when his daughter gets dragged out from under the bed while talking to her father on her call phone. I had no idea what the movie was about, but that was one effective trailer.

I was quite enthralled in this film from beginning to end and Mr. Neeson’s performance was intense. The film deals with the sex slave trade and a father’s search to find his daughter who was kidnapped in Paris. I will not go into a full synopsis of the film as you can read it here.

If you want to break away from your life and enjoy an action packed film, you must see this film (but then again I am a big “Die Hard” fan. I always read how people find fault in films and say there aren’t believable. Aren’t films supposed to be an escape? If a film can keep my interest and not make me think, then I am happy. This film has surprise moments, moments you want to cheer (yes, a few people in the theater clapped) and, of course, those emotional moments.

I liked it and wanted to share.