TV Recap: Once Upon a Time in Wonderland 1-11 - Heart of the Matter

Wow.  What an ending.  I sat there with my mouth hanging open as it played out.  Now I'm really curious how it is going to play out in future weeks.

But we have lots of ground to cover before we get there, so let's get to it.

I was so thrilled with the flash back because it included Cora!!!  That was lots of fun.

We actually flashed back to a time right before the Red Queen's wedding.  She had invited the Queen of Hearts (aka Cora) to tea to get to know her better.  Cora immediately praises her as the daughter she'd love to have (unlike that disappointment Regina), and suggests that she teach Red Queen magic.  That puts a damper on their relationship since the Red King is opposed to magic.

March 21st's Book Beginnings and Friday 56

It's Friday, and you know what that means.  Time for this week's Book Beginnings and Friday 56.

My book this week is Let the Storm Break by Shannon Messenger.

This is the second in her young adult fantasy series, and so far I'm really enjoying it.

It starts with:

It sucks to be king.

And jumping ahead to page 56, we get:

"You do look exhausted, Vane.  When was the last time you slept?"
"I don't remember," I admit, lying back down and rolling away.
She's quiet for so long I start to drift off - or I must have because when she finally speaks it makes me jump.
"Is it nightmares or fantasies?"

I'm only about 70 pages in, so I've got a ways to go, but I should have my review up at some point next week.

Reading Challenge: Spring Reading Things 2014 and Spring Into a Good Book 2014

It's the first day of Spring.  Now, at the risk of making everyone else mad, I will admit that we've had a very mild winter.  In fact today might be the coldest day of the month, and it's supposed to be in the 70's again.  I can't completely enjoy it since California is in such a bad drought, but it's hard to complain about weather this nice.

But anyway, being Spring, that means it is time to sign up for Spring Reading Thing for 2014.  Once again, The Musings of a Book Addict is hosting.

I'll admit I am also going to join Spring Into a Good Book, which is a very similar reading challenge hosted by Book Dragon's Lair.  Why not, right?

The rules?  Make a list and read the books.  Easy enough, right?  Fortunately, it's okay if you change books part way through or only get to a fraction.  In all my years of doing the Spring Reading Thing and it's twin Fall Into Reading, I've only finished my list twice.  Once, I purposely made a small list.  The other, I was unemployed, so it was easy to spend lots of time reading.  I'm actually unemployed right now, so that might help me in the early weeks of Spring, but hopefully it won't last the entire three months.

Reviews are optional, but of course I will be reviewing the books I do finish right here.

So what will I be trying to read during this time?

Current Read:

Let the Storm Break by Shannon Messenger (and yes, I'm starting it today).

Left Over from Fall Into Reading 2013:

Bran New Death by Victoria Hamilton
Gluten for Punishment by Nancy J. Parra
Dead Man's Switch by Tammy Kaehler
Melissa Explains it All by Melissa Joan Hart

New Books by Favorite Authors Coming This Spring:

Inherit the Word by Daryl Wood Garber
Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham
Ghost of a Gamble by Sue Ann Jaffarian
Kingdom Keepers VII by Ridley Pearson
Blue Sea Burning by Geoff Rodkey
Poached by Stuart Gibbs
Death of a Mad Hatter by Jenn McKinney
Unlucky 13 by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Death Runs Adrift by Karen MacInerney
Mr. Monk is Open for Business by Hy Conrad

Books I've Agreed to Read for Review:

'Til Dirt Do Us Part by Edith Maxwell
Basil Instinct by Shelley Costa
Sense of Entitlement by Anna Loan-Wilsey

That's 18 books.  If I were smart, I'd stop there.  But let's go on to

Other Books I'd Like to Read:

Cover of Snow by Jenny Milchman
Clobbered by Camembert by Avery Aames
Death in Four Courses by Lucy Burdette
I Even Funnier by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein
Clammed Up by Barbara Ross

And the list could go on, but I'm going to cap it here for the time being.  I will be very happy if I make it this far this Spring, and if I do, I'll be adding other books to my list.  If not, well, these will carry over into Summer and Fall.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'd better get reading.

Movie Review: Thor: The Dark World

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Good story and great character development

Cons: Climax a tad too long, Jane a weak characters

The Bottom Line:

Traveling the realms

Character development

In this fun sequel

"Do You Even Know What These Things Do?"  "No."  "Neither Do I."

I'm still trying to catch up on movies I missed in the theater in 2013.  One of those was Thor: The Dark World, so when I saw a friend had bought it, I snagged it right away.  (Yeah, I watched it that week and returned it.)

The story picks up after TheAvengers.  Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is busy fighting across all the realms to keep any dark and powerful forces at bay.  As a result, he is being treated as a hero and his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) thinks that he might be ready to become king.

The one thing holding him back is Jane Foster (Natalie Portman).  He loved this mortal woman, much to Odin's dismay.  However, she has just stumbled on an anomaly in London that could kill her.  Even worse, it means the Dark Elves, a race that had supposedly been defeated a millennia ago, want her to drain this anomaly from her and use it to take over the nine realms.

I have noticed some issues with superhero movies.  The first one is always an origin story, and it slows the movie down while we wait for the hero to gain their powers and come to terms with it.  Then, in the sequel, they have to up the stakes by giving us two villains.  I actually have to respect this movie because it doesn't try to do that.  Instead, it just tells us the next chapter of the story with the next villain.  Okay, so you could argue there is an army, but they act as one, therefore one villain.

This allows time for some character development, which I felt was a strong point of the film.  Through the action, we got to know many of these characters better, which made us care about the outcome.

However, I must admit I was disappointed with Jane in this movie.  Yes, the love interest is pretty much there just to get in trouble and provide motivation for the hero.  However, I felt her character was weak and worse than normal.  Definitely wish she had played a bigger role before the climax.

On the other hand, there's Tom Hiddleston's Loki.  The character is so rich and troubled, you can't help but sympathize with him even though he's the villain.  Yes, I do love to hate him.

The acting by everyone is wonderful no matter how big or small a part they play in the overall film.  As a Chuck fan, I have to give a special shout out to Zachary Levi who took over the Fandral role since Josh Dallas was tied up with Once Upon a Time.  (An interesting bit of trivia, Zachary was the first choice for the character in the first movie, but he couldn't do it because of Chuck.  Full circle and all that.)

Likewise, the special effects are wonderful.  While I wouldn't expect anything less from a movie of this magnitude, I wasn't disappointed.

Which brings us to my other minor complaint about the film, the climax.  Yes, the final battle has to be epic, but here I felt like it was a bit too frenzied with too much going on.  As a result, I also felt like it went on a tad to long.  I'm being nitpicky here, I realize, but that is how I felt.

Overall, Thor: The Dark World was a fun sequel that was well worth watching, and one that extends the Marvel Universe.  I'm enjoying watching this universe expand with each film.

Book Review: Blackberry Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke (Hannah Swensen #17)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Enjoyable characters and plot

Cons: Cliffhanger ending; usual complaints

The Bottom Line:

Series rolls along

With this diverting entry

I still enjoyed it

Stolen Blackberry Pie and an Accident

Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen series has long been a favorite of mine.  I find the characters fun, and recipes delicious sounding.  (It's been years since I baked any of them, but I keep thinking I need to again.)  Blackberry Pie Murder marks the latest case for Hannah and her friends, and I enjoyed it.

Hannah owns The Cookie Jar, a cookie shop in the small town of Lake Eden, Minnesota.  It's also a dangerous place to live since Hannah keeps stumbling over bodies next to her latest culinary creation.  In fact, as this book opens, the local newspaper is marking the four month anniversary since Hannah found the last dead body.  That's about to change again, unfortunately.  And in a big way.

It was a dark and stormy morning, and Hannah was driving on a deserted road when she slid and lost control.  Next thing she knew, she hit something - a something that turned out to be a man.  Now, she is facing charges for vehicular manslaughter.

However, questions are nagging on her mind.  What was the man doing in the road in the middle of such a bad storm?  Who was he?  Hannah and her family and friends begin to investigate.  Meanwhile, Hannah's mother is driving everyone crazy by not making any decisions on her upcoming wedding to Doc.

I have seen a lot of criticism for this book, more so than for the others in the series.  I can't say it isn't warranted, but it just didn't bother me.

Take the plot.  I found it entertaining.  I began to piece things together before Hannah did, but I didn't have everything lined up until right before Hannah figured things out.  However, the book does end with a pretty big cliffhanger.  Some were complaining about that, and I can see their point.  Me?  I'm anxious for the next book to find out what happens next.

I still find the characters charming.  They do fall into some types that keep them from coming fully alive, but they work for the story.  It certainly wouldn't be a visit to Lake Eden without seeing all of them.  The new characters are good as well, and made me care about the outcome.

Then there's the love triangle.  Yep, Hannah still hasn't made her choice between Mike and Norman, although it is pretty clear who the author thinks she should wind up with.  Personally, I gave up on this being resolved at least 10 books ago and can mostly tune it out at this point.  I think I'd actually be surprised if it were resolved, in fact.

By my count, there are 21 new recipes (with a few variations thrown in) in this book.  As a result, there is plenty of talk about food and baking.  This does slow the story down at times, but again it is what I have come to expect from the series.

Maybe it's just that my expectations are being met, but I am still enjoying my visits to Lake Eden.  Blackberry Pie Murder was an enjoyable diversion, and I'm planning my next trip to visit Hannah.

If you need to catch up on the earlier books, here are the Hannah Swensen Mysteries in order.

March 19th's Waiting on Wednesday

Being Wednesday, it must be time for Waiting on Wednesday.  This week, I'm looking at Bloom and Doom by Beverly Allen.

This book is the first in a new Bridal Bouquet Shop Mystery series.  The main character, Audrey Bloom, finds herself involved in a murder when her best friend's fiancee is murdered.

This is a new author, so I'm going into this book based solely on a couple of reviews I've read.  However, they praised the book for the great characters and strong plot.  They made it so irresistible I decided to read it.

Like I need another series to try to keep up with.

The book will be out April 1st, so not too long to wait.

TV Recap: Castle 6-18 - The Way of the Ninja

Castle and Ninjas.  Honestly, I'm a little surprised they did give us this combination before now since it seems pretty much perfect.

The episode starts with a woman running down a deserted ally.  Suddenly, a throwing knife hits her in the chest and she dies instantly.

The next morning, our team is called in to investigate.  They quickly learn that the girl was a Japanese ballerina who had recently come to New York to perform there.  She was found with a key on her, a key that leads to an abandoned cookie factory.  Inside, they find what might be a shrine to her by the killer?  Either way, Castle finds a knife that might be the murder weapon.  They hear a noise and Beckett goes off to investigate only to have a Ninja show up and steal the knife from a surprised Castle before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Disneyland Review: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Stars: 5 out of 5 (Nostalgia and fun over true thrills)

Pros: Great theming and plenty of fun.

Cons: New effects in third lift; little real thrills for thrill seekers

The Bottom Line:

This mild thrill ride does

Provide twists, turns, old west fun

Smile for everyone

This Here’s Still the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness

Disneyland’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will always have a special place in my heart.  That’s because it was the very first roller coaster I went on.  Being the brave pre-teen I was (you can stop laughing now), I held on tight the entire length of the ride only to have a big smile on my face when I was done.  While I waited until college to go upside down (see, I’m still brave), I was hooked.

With Disney theming is everything, and that definitely applies to this coaster.  At any other park, it would be considered an okay attraction because it would just be steel beams holding up the track.  Here, they have given us a runaway train car in the middle of wilderness spires.  You can’t see much of the track while waiting in line because much of it is hidden behind the mountain that has been recreated here.

When you board the ride, you are seated in rows of two with just a simple lap bar to hold you into place.  That should tell you the real level of thrills you are about to have.  There are three lifts with coaster sections in between.  While you are careening around corners or going up the lifts, be sure to check for the little things Disney has added to the attraction.  There’s a waterfall you go through on the first lift (it parts for you so you don’t get wet) and audio animatronic creatures on the second lift for example.  You finish the ride by going by a western town.  Listen for the dialogue and laugh at the signs in the windows.

After over a year closed for a major overhaul, Big Thunder has opened again in March of 2014.  I got a chance to ride it last week, and it’s still just as much fun as I remembered?  Why was it closed for so long?  For one thing, they laid in all new steel rails.  I wouldn’t have said the ride was rough before, but it is very smooth now.  Heck, they should have done this to the Matterhorn during its recent rehab.  The also added bats during the dark part right before the first lift, which is a great illusion.

Then there’s the third lift.  I have a feeling this change will be the most controversial change to the attraction.  Before, while you were climbing, you saw the rock walls around you start to shake like from an earthquake or cave in.  Now?  A lantern accidentally sets off charges and the walls start to explode while you climb.  This is all done with animation projected on the walls.  There is supposed to be smoke that fills the chamber as you climb, but it wasn’t working when I rode.  I don’t know if that would have helped or not, but overall I’m not impressed.  While the projections are fun at the bottom, I grow tired of them by the time we reach the top.  Furthermore, the entire point of this ride is the real stuff you are going by.  This third lift obviously looks fake to me.  I wish they’d kept the rocks that looked like they were about to fall on you, but I always loved that part of the ride.  Heck, they still could have had the fuses on the bottom leading to those rocks at the top.  Yep, in this case they should have left the ride alone.

All told, this ride lasts about 3 minutes and reaches maximum speeds of 35 miles per hour.  It is disabled accessible (and they’ve added a nice new platform for that separate line), but you have to transfer to the ride’s cars.  Additionally, you have to be 40 inches tall to ride.

Of the roller coasters in the park, this is usually the least popular.  I have a feeling that will change, at least for a while, with this rehab.  Waits are often around 30 minutes or so, but again I expect these to climb, at least for a while.  The ride does offer Disney FastPass if you want to come back for a shorter wait later.

As you might have figured out, this ride isn’t high on thrills.  However, it is still very fun and is perfect for introducing kids to roller coasters outside of kiddie coasters.  It worked for me, obviously.

However, it can still move you around in the seats quite a bit.  I’ve wound up scrunched on one side of the car with my riding partner as one or the other of us slid across the seat.  It rarely happens, but it has.

My opinion on the enhanced features for the third lift might change as I ride it more and experience with it the smoke.  However, it is a minor complaint over all.  The heart of the ride – a fun roller coaster with great theming, remains.  Now that it has reopened, I will be back to riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad on every trip to Disneyland.

TV Recap: Once Upon a Time 3-13 - Witch Hunt

Red had speaking lines!  Regina is still working with our heroes!!!  Yes, I was very happy with some of the events from last night’s episode of Once Upon a Time.  Yes, sometimes it truly is the little things.

Shall we get to it?  Here’s what happened….

We start with the flashback to the Enchanted Forest of a year ago.  Regina has the idea that the tunnels under her castle just might allow access to the castle.  The entire army couldn’t go through, but one person could slip through to shut off the protection shield.  Regina is the one to do it since it will involve magic.

Book Review: Cold-Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Interesting perspective as we study Christian apologetics

Cons: Could go deeper at times

The Bottom Line:

Logical looking

Historical evidence

For the Christian faith

Looking at the Gospels Like a Detective

While I have studied it in the past, I haven't done much recently with my interest in apologetic, the arguments for why Christianity is true.  My love of mysteries combined with that interest for Cold-Case Christianity, a book I enjoyed despite some minor flaws.

J. Warner Wallace, a former cold-case detective, used to be a skeptic himself.  As he began to be drawn to Christianity, he started looking at it and the Gospels specifically as he would evaluate his work to see if it made sense.  As a result, he became a Christian.  Further study led to this book.

The book can really be divided into two sections.  In the first, he discusses 10 things he's learned over the years as a detective to see if what he is learning is true.  He talks about such things as keeping an open mind (including being open to the possibilities of miracles), testing to see if evidence found is actually part of the case, determining whether eye witnesses are reliable or not, and tracing the evidence.  Heck, he even discusses conspiracy theories and how relevant they are in real life (as apposed to fiction).  Each chapter in this second includes examples from his time as a detective and how these tools apply to Biblical scholarship and other arguments for Christianity.

The second half of the book takes these 10 tools and uses them to examine the Gospels specifically.  He looks at when they were written (are the Gospel writers really eye witnesses?), if there is outside evidence to support it, how certain are we that the Gospels we have today are the ones actually written, and whether the writers had any reason to lie when they were writing.

Overall, this book makes a very compelling case that the events in the Gospels are true.  There is little here that I hadn't heard before, but the way he presents it is new and different.  At times, things can get a bit dry in the second half, but that's never the case for long.  And, honestly, while he is presenting facts, these are important facts.  It's the meat of the book, and the time to pay the closest attention.

At times, the book does seem a bit shallow.  Honestly, I wish he had dug deeper into a few of the things he brings up.  This is especially true in the first half when he often skims the surface of an idea he brings up.  Some of those are fleshed out better in the second half, and I appreciated that.  Others aren't, however.

If you are looking for more information, too, there are cobias notes and references in the back you can use to further examine any of the ideas that are presented.

On the other hand, the author's experiences as a cop lead him to make some points I hadn't really thought about before.  The biggest example comes when he is talking about eye witnesses and how they can often point out something different based on where they were when the crime happened.  It doesn't mean that one or the other witness is lying, it just means that not everyone saw every detail.  I've done that before with some of the stories in the Bible in my mind, but it was nice to have modern examples that show how it still looks.

As the book progresses, the author includes arguments from those who don't believe the Bible and then shows how their arguments don't measure up to the evidence we are seeing.  I appreciate these sections as they showed that the author was thinking through his arguments thoroughly.

The books end with a challenge to move from believing that God exists (which even the demons do) and can save us to believing that Jesus is God sent to save us.  There is a compelling argument to be made that this change to active faith is logical based on the evidence we can see in the world around us.

If you are at all interested in this subject, I challenge you to read Cold-Case Christianity for yourself.  While I wish it dug deeper at times, this book will give you enough evidence to start your search and point you to places you can find more information.

This is the most important decision you will ever make.  Don't pass up this look at whether Christianity has a basis in history or not.