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GameCritics (290 KP) created a video about Total War: Warhammer II in Video Games
Oct 4, 2017
Entertainment Editor (1988 KP) created a video about Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia in Video Games
Dec 9, 2017
Entertainment Editor (1988 KP) created a video about track The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness by The National in Sleep Well Beast by The National in Music
Oct 31, 2017
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Toto's Tale in Books
Apr 27, 2018
Everyone knows the story of The Wizard of Oz... but since Toto couldn't talk, he never got his chance to tell the story. Now Toto tells what really happened in Oz after the windstorm that changed magical history. Toto becomes the main character in this story, and his mission is to save his pet girl and get her back to Kansas.
Toto's Tale was absolutely adorable. I fell in love with Toto right away. He has a wonderful personality and is very intelligent. Hays and Weidman did a very good job capturing the interior monologue of a dog who could not talk until this point. He was funny and a little quirky, and thought himself a lot bigger than he really was. But it only added to his charm.
Hilariously, Toto has a much better language than humans, and some of their words don't translate to dog-talk, so some of the human's dialogue is replaced with funny words that rhyme, or just the word "something." Along the way, they meet a straw man who says he needs some "trains," a Metal Man who needs a "cart," and a Big Cat who needs some "Porridge". They swallow the jello brick road to find the Lizard who will send them home.
The illustrations were adorable too. They were basic pen and ink drawings, one ever few chapters, displaying a lot of character. The supporting characters in the story like Happy the evil-turned-good Wolf, the bugs that Toto talks to, the Not-really-a-wizard, and the flying monkeys were quickly established and fun to read. As mentioned earlier, some of the dialogue of humans doesn't' translate to dog-talk, and the "something something"s got a little annoying after a while, but all in all I greatly enjoyed reading Toto's tale.
I loved Toto's tale and am going to get my little brother to read it when I go home for Christmas. It was a fast fun read.
Recommended for ages 6-14, and fun-loving teens and adults as well! A great Christmas gift for dog-lovers or Oz-lovers.
Review by Haley Mathiot, copyright 2010. Do not copy without permission. See policy, disclosure, and source at my blog (http://haleymathiot.blogspot.com) and full review here: (http://haleymathiot.blogspot.com/2010/12/review-and-tour-toto-tale.html)
Toto's Tale was absolutely adorable. I fell in love with Toto right away. He has a wonderful personality and is very intelligent. Hays and Weidman did a very good job capturing the interior monologue of a dog who could not talk until this point. He was funny and a little quirky, and thought himself a lot bigger than he really was. But it only added to his charm.
Hilariously, Toto has a much better language than humans, and some of their words don't translate to dog-talk, so some of the human's dialogue is replaced with funny words that rhyme, or just the word "something." Along the way, they meet a straw man who says he needs some "trains," a Metal Man who needs a "cart," and a Big Cat who needs some "Porridge". They swallow the jello brick road to find the Lizard who will send them home.
The illustrations were adorable too. They were basic pen and ink drawings, one ever few chapters, displaying a lot of character. The supporting characters in the story like Happy the evil-turned-good Wolf, the bugs that Toto talks to, the Not-really-a-wizard, and the flying monkeys were quickly established and fun to read. As mentioned earlier, some of the dialogue of humans doesn't' translate to dog-talk, and the "something something"s got a little annoying after a while, but all in all I greatly enjoyed reading Toto's tale.
I loved Toto's tale and am going to get my little brother to read it when I go home for Christmas. It was a fast fun read.
Recommended for ages 6-14, and fun-loving teens and adults as well! A great Christmas gift for dog-lovers or Oz-lovers.
Review by Haley Mathiot, copyright 2010. Do not copy without permission. See policy, disclosure, and source at my blog (http://haleymathiot.blogspot.com) and full review here: (http://haleymathiot.blogspot.com/2010/12/review-and-tour-toto-tale.html)
Michelle (114 KP) rated The Wizard of Oz (1939) in Movies
Mar 22, 2018
One of my favourite films at Christmas time. I enjoy follow Dorothy and Toto through her adventure in Oz along with the Scarecrow, Lion and Tin Man in their search to find the Wizard so they can get a brain, courage, a heart and for Dorothy to go home. Love the munchkins and The good witch. An excellent film for all the family
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return (2014) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
There are certain classic movies that should never be recreated or warrant a sequel. The 1939 cinematic musical masterpiece The Wizard of Oz happens to be one of them. I consider this movie to be the birth of the modern movie film industry, it set the standard for all movies to measure themselves against for many years to come. For those who have been living under a rock and are not familiar with the story of the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, a young farm girl from Kansas, along with her dog Toto, get whisked in their house by a twister to the land of Oz, a magical fantasyland, where Dorothy wants nothing more than to return home. Per the advice of a Good Witch and some munchkins, and with a new pair of ruby slippers, Dorothy and Toto follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard, who will hopefully help the two make their way back to Kansas. Along the way, she befriends a scarecrow in need of a brain, a tin man who is lacking a heart, and a cowardly lion desperate for courage. They each decide to join Dorothy on her adventure where she defeats the Wicked Witch of the West, who wanted those magical ruby slippers and in the end reaching the Emerald City and safely finds her way back home.
The Legend of Oz: Dorothy’s Return is 3-D animated musical follow up that begins shortly after Dorothy (Lea Michele) returns home from the Land of Oz. The aftermath of the tornado has left her hometown in shambles. Dorothy fights to try to convince everyone that this is their home and it can all be repaired despite the government demanding everyone to vacate the town and seek refuge elsewhere. Back in Oz, the Jester (Martin Short) who happens to be the brother of the Wicked Witch of the West, has sought to rule the World of Oz. He and his band of flying monkeys (same ones from the original movie), begin their reign of terror turning the leaders from all corners of the land into marionettes. The beloved trio of Scarecrow (Dan Akroyd), the Tin Man (Kelsey Grammer) and the Cowardly Lion (James Belushi) believe the only person who can stop the Jester’s tirade is Dorothy. With the help of Scarecrow’s new invention, a machine that can bring Dorothy back over the rainbow and to the land of Oz, they summon for Dorothy. Instead of arriving to the Emerald City, Dorothy arrives in a far off land where she tries to locate the yellow brick road, knowing it will lead her to the Emerald City. On her journey we are introduced to new lands, new people and creatures, new songs, and a new adventure and obstacles that she must overcome before it’s too late.
As a standalone movie, this is a great kids film, one the whole family can enjoy. Lots of fun musical numbers, a mediocre storyline, engaging characters, and beautiful scenery. I would recommend watching this movie with zero expectations and do not attempt to compare it to the original movie, it doesn’t hold a torch!
The Legend of Oz: Dorothy’s Return is 3-D animated musical follow up that begins shortly after Dorothy (Lea Michele) returns home from the Land of Oz. The aftermath of the tornado has left her hometown in shambles. Dorothy fights to try to convince everyone that this is their home and it can all be repaired despite the government demanding everyone to vacate the town and seek refuge elsewhere. Back in Oz, the Jester (Martin Short) who happens to be the brother of the Wicked Witch of the West, has sought to rule the World of Oz. He and his band of flying monkeys (same ones from the original movie), begin their reign of terror turning the leaders from all corners of the land into marionettes. The beloved trio of Scarecrow (Dan Akroyd), the Tin Man (Kelsey Grammer) and the Cowardly Lion (James Belushi) believe the only person who can stop the Jester’s tirade is Dorothy. With the help of Scarecrow’s new invention, a machine that can bring Dorothy back over the rainbow and to the land of Oz, they summon for Dorothy. Instead of arriving to the Emerald City, Dorothy arrives in a far off land where she tries to locate the yellow brick road, knowing it will lead her to the Emerald City. On her journey we are introduced to new lands, new people and creatures, new songs, and a new adventure and obstacles that she must overcome before it’s too late.
As a standalone movie, this is a great kids film, one the whole family can enjoy. Lots of fun musical numbers, a mediocre storyline, engaging characters, and beautiful scenery. I would recommend watching this movie with zero expectations and do not attempt to compare it to the original movie, it doesn’t hold a torch!
BookblogbyCari (345 KP) rated The Psychopath Test in Books
Sep 11, 2018
This book is remarkably entertaining – I can see why it’s having such a long stint in the bookseller’s shelves! It’s most definitely written for the lay person, and that goes some way to explaining the book’s longevity.
It logs the course of events taken by Jon Ronson as he interviews some people who are deemed crazy, or psychopathic, and some people who diagnose psychological traits. The start of Ronson’s journey is intriguing - it begins when various academics, predominately neuroscientists, are sent mysterious and cryptic packages. They all rush onto online forums trying to figure out what it’s all about. Unfortunately, this section comes to an abrupt and disappointing conclusion (no spoilers).
This all changes in Chapter 2, however. Here, Ronson meets a man, Tony, who claims to have faked mental illness in order to get put into a psychiatric facility rather than a traditional prison. The Scientologists are on his side, and they send Ronson Broadmoor’s file on Tony, but with significant omissions, which shed a whole new light on why Tony should be incarcerated.
Chapter 3 describes how in the 1960’s psychiatrist Elliot Barker, held several nude LSD-induced psychotherapy sessions for psychopaths. In Chapter 4, Ronson goes on a conference to learn about Bob Hare’s psychopath checklist, and by Chapter 5, he’s using it in an interview with a leader of a death squad, Toto Constant. In Chapter 6, he uses it in an interview with Al Dunlan, who apparently enjoyed firing 6.000 people from their jobs.
Following a brief interlude to discuss the media, conspiracy theorists and the second coming, the theme of psychopathy is picked up again in Chapter 9 which looks at criminal profiling, and how it was once used to lure one particular suspect into an unwarranted arrest.
Ronson goes off on another tangent in Chapter 10, which discusses the (very real) problem of an apparent ballooning of mental illness diagnoses. Here he tells the tale of what happened when a 4-year-old girl was given 10 pills a day for “childhood bipolar” disorder.
In Ronson’s concluding chapter, he attends a tribunal for the Tony of Chapter 2, and Tony’s fate is decided (no spoilers). By this point, Tony’s charisma has got Ronson taken in, in spite of Tony showing several psychopathic traits.
My take away from the book is that people will have eccentricities, diagnosis or not, and the way to tell if someone is dangerous, is by their actions. Ronson himself has spotted psychopathic traits in himself, despite being overly anxious and not the slightest bit evil. The book sheds a lot of light, not only on the nature of obtaining a diagnosis, but also on its implications.
Whilst I do recommend the book, this book is most definitely not a thorough analysis of the mental health industry, nor the criminal profiling industry. But for entertainment purposes it gets top marks. If you are looking for a more authoritative book on the mental health industry and diagnosis, I recommend Saving Normal by Allen Frances.
It logs the course of events taken by Jon Ronson as he interviews some people who are deemed crazy, or psychopathic, and some people who diagnose psychological traits. The start of Ronson’s journey is intriguing - it begins when various academics, predominately neuroscientists, are sent mysterious and cryptic packages. They all rush onto online forums trying to figure out what it’s all about. Unfortunately, this section comes to an abrupt and disappointing conclusion (no spoilers).
This all changes in Chapter 2, however. Here, Ronson meets a man, Tony, who claims to have faked mental illness in order to get put into a psychiatric facility rather than a traditional prison. The Scientologists are on his side, and they send Ronson Broadmoor’s file on Tony, but with significant omissions, which shed a whole new light on why Tony should be incarcerated.
Chapter 3 describes how in the 1960’s psychiatrist Elliot Barker, held several nude LSD-induced psychotherapy sessions for psychopaths. In Chapter 4, Ronson goes on a conference to learn about Bob Hare’s psychopath checklist, and by Chapter 5, he’s using it in an interview with a leader of a death squad, Toto Constant. In Chapter 6, he uses it in an interview with Al Dunlan, who apparently enjoyed firing 6.000 people from their jobs.
Following a brief interlude to discuss the media, conspiracy theorists and the second coming, the theme of psychopathy is picked up again in Chapter 9 which looks at criminal profiling, and how it was once used to lure one particular suspect into an unwarranted arrest.
Ronson goes off on another tangent in Chapter 10, which discusses the (very real) problem of an apparent ballooning of mental illness diagnoses. Here he tells the tale of what happened when a 4-year-old girl was given 10 pills a day for “childhood bipolar” disorder.
In Ronson’s concluding chapter, he attends a tribunal for the Tony of Chapter 2, and Tony’s fate is decided (no spoilers). By this point, Tony’s charisma has got Ronson taken in, in spite of Tony showing several psychopathic traits.
My take away from the book is that people will have eccentricities, diagnosis or not, and the way to tell if someone is dangerous, is by their actions. Ronson himself has spotted psychopathic traits in himself, despite being overly anxious and not the slightest bit evil. The book sheds a lot of light, not only on the nature of obtaining a diagnosis, but also on its implications.
Whilst I do recommend the book, this book is most definitely not a thorough analysis of the mental health industry, nor the criminal profiling industry. But for entertainment purposes it gets top marks. If you are looking for a more authoritative book on the mental health industry and diagnosis, I recommend Saving Normal by Allen Frances.