Ding! (The Board Game)

In a word: Easy. But if I were to describe the directions that came with it the word would be: Useless.

The directions are full of words like "tricks" and "play a ding" and the meanings of these words and phrases are not given. I ended up having to search online for how to play the game. Apparently it's a common problem. But, enough of the bad, there are some good things. It is 3-8 players so it accommodates to almost all families. The amount of time it takes to play is also perfect, being about 30 min. long you can play 2 or 3 games if you want a longer game or if you don't have much time, it is short enough where you can finish 1 game and do what you need to do. The game board is simple as are the pieces. There are no tiny, tiny, pieces just waiting to get lost. Here is how the game goes.

1. Each player picks a piece and the matching "in" "out" and puts their piece at the "start"
2. The dealer gives everyone 5 cards and turns the top card in the deck over (Like a discard pile)this is called the "Trump Suit". Players look at their cards and decide if they have a good enough hand to be in for the round. If you turn your token to "in" then you play the round if you change it to "out" you sit through the round without losing anything.
3. Starting to the dealers left players can ask for up to 3 cards to replace bad ones. (You must give the dealer your discards before you are handed new ones)
4. After everyone has their hand the player to the left of the dealer begins the game by laying down one card. (If possible you must lay down a card that is the same color as the trump suit) If you don't have a card that is the trump suit color then just play what you have. Play continues clockwise. The card with the highest number wins the "trick" (A trick is one round of everyone laying down a card.) If you win the trick you move one space ahead.
5. If you don't have a card that is in the trump suit and you have a wild card then you must play it. The wild card is higher than all the other cards.
6. If you play a card that is a letter than it is worth only 1. However if you have the letters to spell the word Ding then you win all 5 tricks in the round and you move all 5 spaces ahead. (A ding must be played before the first card is played for the round.)
7. If you choose to be in on a round and don't win any tricks then you move back the number of spaces that the board says.

There now you have a little reference guide. Read the directions that come with it and these might help to clarify some things. The game is fun, easy, quick to get out and put up, and requires only a small amount of strategy. On a scale of 1-10 I would give this game a 7. The reason(s) being: It is easy for all ages, it is easy to get out and put up, and there is just enough strategy involved to make it fun for everyone. Again the only downside are the directions. Get this game, figure it out. You will probably enjoy it.

The Last Jihad

The Last Jihad is a novel by Joel C Rosenberg. It is a political thriller written in a slightly religious viewpoint.

The story starts in 2020 when America is at peace. All the enemies of America have been defeated and are lying low, debt is also out of the picture. Wall street is thriving and it is once again a wealthy and powerful nation. Iraq and the middle east suddenly strike America and her allies in startling assassination attempts. Panic hits the world and nothing is certain. Jon Bennett, a wall street analyst and an expert in the stock exchange market finds a huge deal in the middle east. He works with the president to come up with a final peace plan. Shortly after, nuclear weapons are found and it is up to the president to keep Israel from completely destroying Iraq and the peace plan that could unite the world. The Iraqis plan a final attempt to destroy America. The president has to decide if he must launch nuclear missiles and destroy Iraq and possibly his entire peace plan, or be destroyed himself.

You have to read it to know the ending.

The mention of God or the mention of relying on God comes up a few times throughout the book. Also things like "Thank the Lord for that," are said 2 or 3 times throughout the book. So I don't know if he is going to turn the series into a religious series. There are 2 or 3 swear words said throughout the book but other then that it is clean. The Last Jihad is a good read if you have some time to put into it. If you read little bits at a time you wont remember what happens. It is a complicated story line with quite a few characters for good and evil. It is part of a five book series and this book is going to leave you wanting more, so if you don't have time right now then get your other read out of the way. I would rate this book AG for almost great. It's almost completely clean, but it lacks the adrenaline pumping action that would put this over the top.

The rating system:

B- Bad, Boring, not worth it, foul, perverted.
Ok- ok, not living up to expectations, boring story line, unclean.
D- Decent, Boring story line, decently written, fairly clean
GD- Good, Interesting story line, well written fairly clean
AG- Almost Great, good story line, well written, almost completely clean
G- Great, Draws you in, You want more, good story line, good writing, clean.
E- Excellent, The best ever, Great story line, Awesome writing, action packed, Completely clean, the bomb.

New owner

Hello people. This is a new "admin" I am taking over this blog. My first post will be about my recent read.
Coming soon- The Last Jihad

BOLT

"We jump through hoops to make sure Bolt believes everything is real. It's why we don't miss marks. It's why we don't reshoot... if the dog believes it, the audience believes it."
~ Director of the BOLT TV series

Bolt the Superdog has his own TV show in which he repeatedly saves his beloved owner, Penny. The only problem is that he thinks everything that happens on the set is what is happening in real life-bad guy, damsel in distress, superpowers and all. When Penny is captured by the villain on the set, Bolt escapes from his trailer to go rescue her...and finds that all of a sudden his superpowers are useless. Teaming up with a weirded-out alley cat named Mittens and a TV nerd hamster named Rhino, he sets off on a daring mission to save the girl he loves from the green-eyed man's evil clutches. But are there really any evil clutches to save her from?

I got a good review on BOLT from a reliable source, so we rented it and watched it in the living room over goldfish. In short, I was quite impressed. It's hard to find a movie nowadays with a cute story, no swearing or suggestive content, and good laughs to boot! I read the Plugged-in-Online review and got the impression that there was more blood and violence than your usual Disney cartoon, so I kept a weather eye and found that these fears were groundless. On the scary side we see a motorcycle chase and bad guys on the set with electric hands. There is an angsty fire scene where Penny and Bolt are seriously imperiled. This is the only reason that you will need to preview this for your little kids - the rest of the movie is absolutely clear of any questionable content! Definitely worth a watch for the whole family!

Directed by: Chris Williams, Byron Howard ~ Produced by: Clark Spencer, John Lasseter ~ Written by: Idea-Chris Sanders, Screenplay-Chris Williams, Dan Fogelman ~ Starring: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton, Malcolm McDowell ~ Music by: John Powell ~ Editing by: Tim Mertens ~ Distributed by: Walt Disney Pictures ~ Release date: November 21, 2008 ~ Running time: 96 minutes

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH

"You're the man, Uncle Trev!"
"That's what I've been telling the scientific community for years!"

Trevor Anderson is your average messy professor. He is trying desperately to keep his deceased brother Max's research on progressive volcanology alive. When his nephew Sean comes to visit for a few days, one of Trevor's inactive sensors starts getting some interesting data - it reads exactly the number that it read when Max disappeared. Trevor sees this as his only chance to find out what happened to Max, so he and Sean team up with an Icelandic mountain guide named Hannah to the rumored center of the earth.

When Walden Media and New Line Cinema come together, you know you can expect cool things. My sister watched this for her birthday, and I was impressed at how good it was! At first, Sean is mumbly and disrespectful to Trevor, but soon his uncle begins to fill the void left by the death of the father he never knew. This movie is aimed at kids, but adults can enjoy it too. The effects are believable and great, and the cast is awesome. We all know the Brendan Fraser is good, and Josh Hutcherson is one of the best kid actors I've ever seen. The storyline is not THE LORD OF THE RINGS, but doesn't leave you rolling your eyes either.

As for the negative content, Sean and Trevor place "dibs" on Hannah a few times. There are a couple of kisses. There are dinosaur chases, big scary fish, and carnivorous plants that the gang has to fight off, but it's not flat out scary - they interlace everything with jokes and funnies. Still though, watch this before your little kids do. Some time after Trevor comments about the different types of schist rock, Sean groans, "Oh, we're in deep schist". Besides that little nod, JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH is completely clean.

This film is an interesting, action packed, watch-with-popcorn-in-the-dark type family movie! Check it out - it's a worth a watch or two!

Directed by: Eric Brevig ~ Produced by: Brendan Fraser (executive) ~ Written by: Jules Verne (novel), Michael Weiss, Mark Levin ~ Starring: Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, Anita Briem ~ Music by: Andrew Lockington ~ Cinematography: Chuck Shuman ~ Editing by: Paul Martin Smith, Dirk Westervelt, Steven Rosenblum ~ Distributed by: New Line Cinema, Walden Media ~ Release date: July 11, 2008 ~ Running time: 92 min

MADAGASCAR 2 - ESCAPE TO AFRICA

"What is this place?"
"San Diego. This time, I'm 40% sure."

Our zoo friends Alex, Marty, Gloria, Melman, and the penguins board King Julian's wreck plane to head back to New York! But when they crash in Africa, Alex meets his parents - the ones he had before he was taken by hunters and drifted to New York. His father Zuba is the alpha lion, and Alex is ready to prove himself to his dad through the Rite of Passage. Except there are two problems. First, a sneaky lion is ready to use Alex to become the alpha lion himself, and secondly Alex thinks the Rite of Passage is a dance-off.

You saw the first one, you loved it, you saw the previews for this one and they looked hilarious. Our experience exactly. But as good as the trailer looked, this movie does not burst through the dark cloud of reachy sequels. To my knowledge, no 2 movie ever has except Toy Story, and don't expect it here. While ESCAPE TO AFRICA is by no means lacking in funny lines (mostly provided by our beloved Julian and the penguins), the side plots and overtones are just... second movie-esque. Alot about women and love. To Melman's dismay, Gloria gets a date with a dashing hippo who says some things that could have been left out, and made me squirm a little. Nothing unthinkable, just not good for the kids. Plenty of fat jokes too that you won't want to hear your five-year-old cracking. Julian also gives some advice about how to deal with the ladies. He also makes a sacrifice to his "good friends the water gods", which is decribed as a "50-50" way of getting water. But there is nothing serious there, and it is mostly just a way to get Melman's heart to come out his mouth. In the beginning, the hunters take baby Alex away and shoot at his father, which could be scary.

Now for the positive side. Alex and his parents are happily reunited and Zuba stands up for his son, even though he's a little... weird. Melman makes a couple of sweet speeches without any sensual content, which I liked. He also is ready to sacrifice himself to maybe get water for his true love. And there's a lot of funny! The penguins are great and you can't go too wrong with Julian!

I enjoyed this movie, despite it's lacking in certain areas. But you may want to watch it before your kids do.

Directed by: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath ~ Produced by: Mireille Soria, Mark Swift ~ Written by: Etan Cohen, Tom McGrath (animator), Eric Darnell ~ Starring: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith, David Schwimmer, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Bernie MacSherri Shepherd, Alec Baldwin, will.i.am ~ Music by: Hans Zimmer, will.i.am ~ Editing by: Mark A. Hester ~ Distributed by: DreamWorks Distribution, Paramount Pictures ~ Release date: November 7, 2008 ~ Running time: 89 minutes

HORTON HEARS A WHO!

"All right, I gotta get this speck up to the top of Mount Nool A.S.A.P, whatever that means, probably 'act swiftly, awesome pachyderm'! I mean, how hard can that be?"

~ Horton

When an easygoing elephant named Horton hears a tiny spec call out, he is certain that there are people living on that spec. Turns out he's right! He has made contact with the Mayor of Who-Ville, who has 96 daughters and 1 son named JoJo who all share a bathroom! The Mayor is shocked to find his world is a spec, and Horton swears to make sure no harm befalls them. The problem is, none of the other citizens of Who-Ville believe the mayor when he shares his concerns about the land where nothing ever goes wrong. Little does he know, Horton is having the same problems with a fierce Kangaroo and her mean henchmen. Can the Whos come together and prove to an angry mob that they exist?

HORTON HEARS A WHO! is a funny movie based off of Dr. Seuss's book with great voices and great animation! Unfortunately, it's not above some of the usual transgressions. The funny-ness sometimes spills over into the land of stupidity and sometimes it hangs around on the border between the two. But don't get me wrong - there's plenty of funny. But kids will be a lot more into this one than the adults will, which brings me to my next concerns.

JoJo is a sulky kid who is misunderstood by his dad and doesn't say a word till the end (something I've noticed that is getting more and more fashionable in cartoons). The mean Kangaroo's son disobeys her in the end and gives the spec back to Horton, and it's good that he did, but there is still the disobeying part. Vlad, the vulture that is hired to get rid of the spec is supposed to be funny, but he still might scare certain kids. The Mayor is called a "boob" which is funny until your 3-year-old says it, and the part where Horton is tied and the spec is held over a boiling pot of doom could get a little scary as well.

Now for the good stuff: IT'S FUNNY! Horton is 100% devoted to the well-being of the spec, even when he is encouraged to "go 99% just once". The Kangaroo repeatedly says something to the effect of, "If you can't see it, hear it, or feel it, it doesn't exist!" bringing a little spiritual thought into the whole thing (though probably not intentionally). JoJo comes through for everyone in the end, and makes up with the mayor. Everybody turns nice in the end, "and so, all ended well for both Horton and Who's, and for all in the jungle, even kangaroos. So let that be a lesson to one and to all; a person is a person, no matter how small."

This is a good one - but not a winner in my book. Enjoyable, but not for more than probably three times:)

Directed by: Jimmy Hayward, Steve Martino ~ Produced by: Bob Gordon, Chris Wedge ~ Written by: Dr. Seuss (book and story) Ken Daurio, Cinco Paul ~ Narrated by: Charles Osgood ~ Starring: Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett, Dan Fogler, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Jaime Pressly, Seth Rogen, Jesse McCartney, Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill, Selena Gomez ~ Distributed by: 20th Century Fox, Blue Sky Studios