Category Archives: Reviews

Movie Review: The Last Mimzy.

I wanted to like this movie. I really did. As I understood it, it was about two kids who suddenly become super-smart, and work with people from the future to avert some kind of disaster.

Well, that was kind of accurate. After finding a neato cube on the beach, the two kids soon discover that the bizarre objects inside actually make them smarter. It was cool the way the boy would suddenly look a the world around him with new insight and discovery, seeing the cause and effect relationships all around him. The girl, on the other hand, bonded with the stuffed rabbit from inside the cube, Mimzy.

Mimzy likes to talk, or mumble, actually. Mimzy is constantly whispering in the girl’s ear in indecipherable mumblings and bubbly sighs. To be honest, it kind of creeped me out, reminding me of Chucky from the inane “Child’s Play” movies of the 90′s.

The problem I had with the movie was the not-to-subtle message pervading it (and eventually concluding it): Eastern Mysticism isn’t so bad. Mysticism holds the answers you seek. The way to ensure the future is through Eastern Mysticism.

You think I’m kidding? I wish. I actually read the reviews people gave the movies at ChristianAnswers.net and thought “How bad can it be?” Bad enough. As creative and intriguing as the movie was, I have to say the blatantly positive spin it placed on palm reading and Eastern mysticism was disturbing.

On a more niggling note, teaching kids that it’s okay to prioritize a stuffed animal over your parents isn’t so hot, either. Or when the parents decide the toys aren’t so innocent and throw them away, only to have the kids later dig them out of the trash. Without consequence. Yeah. Nothing like undermining parental authority to change the world. Granted, we’re not always right as parents – how can we be? – but we’re doing our best to raise our kids, right? We don’t really need disobedience being modeled or our chillun’s, do we? I. Think. Not.

So that’s my review. Take it for what it’s worth. And also keep it in mind it’s more of an adult movie than a kid flick. Kyler and his friend were bored to death for an hour and a half. Squirming and slouching and doing everything they could to keep from running down the aisles with their contained, unentertained energy. “The Last Mimzy” is ABOUT kids, not necessarily FOR kids.

Kevin

What Kevin’s Reading.

Honey: The Gourmet Medicine – Joe Traynor

This is an fascinating account of not only some of the nutritional benefits of honey, but the various medicinal uses for it as well. Putting honey on an open wound? Are they crazy? Actually, they’re not. Honey creates trace amounts of hydrogen peroxide, and as we all know, H202 is nothing short of a medical miracle. This book is a short yet highly informative read.

Just Enough Light for the Step I’m On: Trusting God in the Tough Times – Stormie Omartian

Sometimes we just don’t understand what in the world God is doing in our lives. Tragedies, set-backs, extreme pain – why does God let us experience these things? While some of her answers and anecdotes didn’t satisfy me, for the most part I thought Stormie Omartian was dead on about our need to trust in God’s character more than a specific outcome. Highly recommended!

God’s Chosen Fast – Arthur Wallis

Actually, I can thank my brother Kolby for getting me interested in this. Like most American Christians, I never really thought much about fasting in the Bible. It was something that “other” people did. You know, the people who eat locusts and hang out in itchy clothes? This book helped me better understand what fasting truly is (and more importantly, what it’s NOT.)

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway – Susan Jeffers, Ph. D.

I’d heard about this book for a number of years, but I never sought it out until I found it recently at (any guesses, here?) a book fair. As I’m venturing forth toward a new phase in my life (more on this later?), I find myself feeling the fear that accompanies new growth. Actually, I felt the fear first, then after reading the book I was able to label WHY I felt the fear. She does an EXCELLENT job of deconstructing fear and its origins as well as providing practical solutions. While it’s predictably biased toward psychological solutions without pointing to any spiritual ones, its fairly easy to draw biblical parallels to what she says. Easy to read with a handful of entertaining examples, this is one book I highlighted more than I had expected to.

Staring At The Sky.


This is a picture I took a few weeks ago in Oklahoma. It was an unseasonably warm day, so Kim, Kyler and I decided to go visit one of our favorite parks and carpe diem with the best of them.

Once there, the two of them were determined to walk the trails and explore the woods within. I, on the other hand, was equally determined to lay flat on my back on a park bench and stare at the sky. (Truly, it was a win-win situation for everyone! I think…)

So I plunked down on the bench, got as comfortable as I could, and plugged in some tunes on my MP3 player. Now, for those of you who are crying out in protest that nature should be enjoyed WITHOUT music have obviously never stared at the sky while listening to Hammock’s post-rock drones. With their sweeping guitars, lush orchestration and aggressively tranquil songs, Hammock’s new album, “Raising Your Voice… Trying to Stop an Echo,” is the ideal soundtrack to enjoy your surroundings with minimal distraction.

I liked their original album, “Kenotic,” immensely. So when they released their second one last Fall, I have to admit I had high hopes. Thankfully, they weren’t dashed against the rocks. (Indeed, it’d be more accurate to say they were lulled to sleep on soft, silken pillows, if you’ll accept the cushy analogy…) Good stuff.

Had a great time that day, staring a the sky. I decided to include a photo because there’s a good chance the majority of you reading this don’t see this viewpoint very often. We’re so busy running around creating our own utopias on a horizontal plane that we fail to take the time and focus on the vertical. It’s important to remember there is so much more to life than what we see around us.

So give it a shot. Change your perspective once in a while, and see if it won’t help you look at the rest of your life a little differently.

As for me, I now know that sky-staring can serve as one of the more relaxing activities I engage in. AND – get this – it’s free.

Kevin


Book Fair Kills, Part 2.

This is a list of my book fair kills from the end of last month. I had planned on posting them sooner, but I had some editing deadlines to finish before I could get back to blogging… :)
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Fiction:

The Upright Man – Michael Marshall
Abel Baker Charlie – John R. Maxim
The World’s Strangest Mysteries – Rupert Furneaux
The Bible and the Bermuda Triangle – George Johnson, Don Tanner
Atlantis: The Eighth Continent – Charles Berlitz
Atlantis Devil’s Sea - Greg Donnegan
Decipher – Stel Pavlou
The Road to Ruin – Donald E. Westlake
Subterranean – James Rollins (2 copies, to give away)
Sandstorm – James Rollins
Map of Bones – James Rollins
Temple – Matt Reilly (2 copies, to give away)
Ice Station – Matt Reilly
Panic Room – James Ellison
Unacceptable Risk - David Dun
The Black Silent – David Dun
Second Soul - Thomas Sullivan
Dispatch – Bentley Little
Maneaters – Peter Hathaway Capstick
Private Wars – Greg Rucka
Armageddons – Jack Dann & Gardner Dozios
Last On Earth -Book One: The Vanishing – Marilyn Kaye
The Closer – Donn Cortez
Pipsqueak – Brian M. Wiprud
Quietus – Vivian Schilling
The Northeast Kingdom – Peter Collins
Slipt – Alan Dean Foster
Phantoms – Dean Koontz
The Gunslinger – Stephen King

Non-Fiction:

Positive Thinking for Every Day of the Year – Norman Vincent Peale
Positive Imaging – Norman Vincent Peale
The Power of Positive Resistance – Dr. Roy Hicks
God’s Chosen Fast – Arthur Wallis
How to Fast Successfully – Derek Prince
There’s Dynamite In Praise – Don Gossett
Quantum Learning – Bobbi DePorter & Mike Hernacki
Brain Workout – Arthur Winter, M.D., Ruth Winter, M.S.
When I Relax I Feel Guilty - Tim Hansel
The Magic of Believing – Claude Bristol
The Satanic Bible - Anton La Vey
The Believer’s Guide to Spiritual Warfare – Tom White
Breaking Generational Curses & Pulling Down Strongholds – Vito Rallo
To Heaven & Back – Rita Bennett

Now, unless you completely skimmed over that list just now, you probably saw the one book that stuck out as a bizarre pick. The Satanic Bible? Why, oh Kevin, WHY!?! The answer is simple: so no one else could buy it. When I saw that on the table among all the other books, I was shocked. My first instinct was to not touch it, lest… you know… I become ‘infected’ with the sheer evil of it all. But then I thought through what would happen if I simply hid the book among the stacks of books beneath the table. Eventually, someone else would find it and buy it. And that thought? Well, that thought just made me kinda sad.

So I bought it. I bought it and took it home and threw it under my grill, to burn that sucker into cinder when it gets a little warmer outside. Or maybe I’ll shred it. Either way, I just want to render it unreadable. I think I’ll make that one of my goals when I go to Book Fairs in the future – to remove occult books from circulation. It’s one of the more subtle ways I can try to make the world a better place. (And boost the chicken and goat population at the same time! Everybody wins!)

Kevin

Book Fair Kills, Part 1.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s February.

Not only is it the month of love, but this is also the one month of the year when there are not one or two book fairs in the Oklahoma area, but THREE altogether. As I’ve done in the past, I’m going to list the finds (or “kills,” as I like to refer to them, as if I’m a Book Hunter) for your amusement and delight.

Yesterday I attended the first of the three, the Casady Book Fair in central Oklahoma City. It’s one of the smaller book fairs I go to, but always enjoyable. The strange part is when I arrive to wait in line for the preview night, I always see the same 70 people that I saw last year. And the year before. We’re an odd breed, dedicated to finding new books, some for personal enjoyment and others for resale value. I’d say the majority were there to find and resell their nuggets. Me? I’m pickin’ ‘em all for me, baby. (Except for any that I pick up with Kyler or Kim in mind…)

So, without further delay, here’s the list of Kevin’s Kills:

Skeleton Key – Anthony Horowitz

Point Blank – Anthony Horowitz

Stormbreaker – Anthony Horowitz

Picoverse – Robert A. Metzger

Creepers – David Morrell

Vertical Run – Joseph R. Garber (I already own several copies to hand out to friends needing an adrenaline boost. Or like staying up all night reading a book…)

Great Idea! Now What? – Bronson & Lange

Get Anyone to Do Anything – David J. Lieberman, Ph. D.

90 Minutes in Heaven – Don Piper

How To Read A Book – Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren

Thinking On Paper – V. A. Howard & J. H. Barton

Learning to Hear God’s Voice – Herman Riffel

Listening To God – Charles Stanley

7-Day Detox Miracle – Peter Bennett, N.D. & Stephen Barrie, N.D.

Freakonomics – Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

Why Do Men Have Nipples? – Mark Leyner & Billy Goldberg

And that’s it. I’m attending two HUGE book fairs next weekend, so there’s more to come. :) Feel free to shoot me questions or comments if you’re bored.

Kevin

Book Review: Acrobat, By Gonzalo Lira

The Book: Acrobat, by Gonzalo Lira

The Hook: Five young CIA operatives on the run, accused of stealing $60 Million dollars and selling military secrets.

The Thoughts: This book had a great opening, starting off the story with an amazingly fast-paced start. Even the way one of the main characters dies was completely unique, and for a guy who collects books such as “What A Way To Go” and “Strange Deaths,” I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised.

I also really enjoyed the different characters of a team, and the contrast of personalities was stark and memorable. Good dialogue, and the antagonist was refined and nasty. Unfortunately, halfway through the novel I had grown weary of the excessive profanity (needless, one might say), and flipped through the rest of the novel to find out who the “traitor” was. (Thankfully, I was surprised once again.)

Conclusion? An engaging novel that’s sure to keep the spy fan entertained for a few nights, provided they’re more insensitive to profanity than I am. (And the word “poop.”)

Kevin

Book Review: Jurassic Poop, By Jacob Berkowitz

Kyler and I went to the library yesterday, for the first time in a matter of months. (Not because we avoid libraries, but because we’ve been out of town for quite a while…) I went with the intention of picking up a few fresh videos to rent, but we ended up sitting on a couch and reading a few books as well.

And wouldn’t you know it? The kid goes over to a table, snatches up a lone book and comes trotting back with a grin on his face. He can’t read (yet), but something in his smile says he knows EXACTLY what kind of book he picked up.

“Read this to me, Daddy!” he says excitedly.

“Okay,” I say, barely looking at the title. Something about dinosaurs I think to myself, absently turning the page…

…only to find myself staring at a cartoon of a Tyrannosaurus Rex squeezing a turd out in a river.

“What’s he doing, Daddy?” Kyler asks, pointing to the straining creature.

I stare at the cartoon blankly. “Um…” then I turn back to the cover to see what kind of book I’m reading… Jurassic Poop, I think to myself… What in the world….?

“He’s… ah…. he’s pooping,” I answer, turning back to the page with a smirk.

“Ewwwwwww!!!!!”

And so it goes… reading about dinosaurs pooping for the next 32 pages. To be honest, it was very scientific. It wasn’t just showing huge lizards making lumps for the sake of yuks, it actually had photos of scientists examining, dissecting and analyzing fossilized poop.

Kyler loved it. He’s still talking about the book today. Thankfully he didn’t have the bright idea of actually checking the book out… :)

Kevin

Book Review: Can A Guy Get Pregnant? By Bill & Rich Sones

The Book: Can a Guy Get Pregnant?: Scientific Answers to Everyday (and Not-So-Everyday) Questions – Bill Sones, Rich Sones

The Hook: Intriguing & outlandish questions about little-known facts (or myths).

The Thoughts: I love trivia. I really do. And more than anything, I love learning about the cross-sections of society and culture that I wouldn’t normally run across. To be able to find an easy-to-digest collection of across-the-board, specialized questions and answers is nothing short of delightful to me. So when I heard about this book (don’t recall how….), I knew it was for me.

With questions like “Do blind people see in their dreams?” and “Why do so many couples get divorced?” (simple mathematics) and “What’s the strongest material made by an animal?” are all intriguing gems. Wow, am I lovin’ this book! Not only is it entertaining and educating, but it’s very well-designed as well. Each question and answer takes up one page and one page only, making this the ideal “pick-me-up” book for when you don’t want to waste time sitting in line. (Or, in my case, working out on the treadmill or stationary bike at the gym…)

Great book, highly recommended. I can’t wait for another like it! :)

Kevin

Book Review: Survivor, By Robert Steele Gray

Last night I started a new book, Survivor, by Robert Steele Gray. It was selected by my wife with utterly random abandon. “What book should I read next?” I asked her in bed. “Third shelf down, third book from the left.”

Hm. Okay… might as well…

So I picked it up and dug in. Here’s the blurb from the back cover:

“Mark Lewellyn is an overweight, forty-something couch potato leading a life dominated by computers, television, and an array of other electronic gadgets: in other words, the typical modern man. Incredibly, while out in a rainstorm, Mark is struck by twin lightning bolts that steal him from his lazy suburban slumber and propel him back into stone-age America. The absence of today’s modern conveniences proves to be the least of Mark’s troubles, as he’s forced to confront the very essence of life: basic survival.

Suddenly he faces buffalo herds, bears, floods, primitive villagers, and warring Indian tribes. This is not only a thrilling adventure story, but also the fascinating account of a “nobody” lost in a modern anonymity who learns what it really means to be a man.”

The story is far-fetched, but I still liked the premise. A guy on the run in prehistoric times? I’m there! Battling dinosaurs, fighting the elements and terrain… yowza! Gray did a great job starting straight out of the gate, and by page 3 the guy’s been zapped. No time wasted building everything up or nothin’ (which could be a good or a bad thing, depending on what kind of novels you like…).

But then it kinda bogged down after a few more pages, shifting in viewpoint from Mark’s struggles to his wife & kid’s lives back in modern day Texas. And, alas, not a dinosaur in sight. (At least, not that I found when I started speed-browsing after page 40…) So I’m afraid it’s going to the Paperback Swap list for someone else to snatch up.

Again, though, great premise. Nice to see wild plots still get published these days…

Kevin

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