Happy Birthday: David Witts

David Witts at IMDB

Happy Birthday David Witts! The 22 year old is best probably best known as Joey Branning on the British soap, Eastenders. I haven't seen his character yet, as Americans are about 6 or 7 years behind. It doesn't help that I haven't actually seen the show in a few years, since I got satellite. If you get the chance to catch Eastenders, I highly recommend it, as it is usually much more realistic than the soaps in America. In Eastenders, the working class are the stars. I'll post a review of what I've seen of the show maybe in a day or two.

Happy Birthday: Angela Sarafyan

Angela Sarafyan at IMBD

Happy birthday Angela Sarafyan! The 30 year old is probably most known for her portrayal of Tia, the Egyptian vampire in Twilight: Breaking Dawn 2. She has had many television spots before her adventure in the Twilight series, however, since then, the dam has been broken and she has many movies filmed post-production that will be coming out soon.

Happy Birthday: Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Gugu Mbatha-Raw at IMDB

Happy birthday Gugu! The 30 year old is best known as her role of Tish Jones on the hit British series, Dr. Who. Acting isn't the only talent Gugu has. She also dances and sings, honing her craft at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, England.

Happy Birthday: George Sampson

George Sampson at IMDB

Happy birthday George! George was born on June 29, 1993. Many Brits would know who the 20 year old is, as he is the winner of Britain's Got Talent. He is also known for his role on Dance Street 3D and Street Dance 2. His other roles include Mount Pleasant and Waterloo Road. He was not selected to compete in the first season's live performances of Britain's Got Talent, so I guess he showed them by winning the whole thing!

Happy Birthday: Fred Grandy

Fred Grandy at IMDB

Happy birthday Fred Grandy! Born June 29, 1948, Fred Grandy is most famous for his role Gopher in the hit series The Love Boat, as well as the series Maude and on the game show The Family Feud, when the cast of the Love Boat had competed against another group. The 65 year old has also been elected Iowa Congressman. He had graduated Harvard University with an English degree and had even been the roommate of President Eisenhower's grandson at that time. He later was the best man at his roommate's wedding.

Happy Birthday: Nicole Scherzinger!

Happy birthday Nicole! Nicole was born on June 29, 1978, which makes her 35 today. With her Asian heritage (Filipino and Hawaiian) and the fact that she takes good care of herself, Nicole still looks like she's in her 20's. Funny, I always thought she was younger than me, but I guess not! She is most famously known as the lead singer in the Pussycat Dolls, though at the start of her singing career, she was part of another all-girl group known as Eden's Crush. Eden's Crush came about as a result of the WB talent show, Popstars, which had two seasons, Nicole being on the first.


"Eden's Crush"-Get Over Yourself


"Buttons"-The Pussycat Dolls feat. Snoop Dog

Older Pop from a Decade or More Ago

I've added a few music videos so you can listen to these awesome songs. If you wanna buy the MP3s of these songs, just go to the sidebar and you can find them in the one that says "Older Pop".

The Dark Crystal

The Dark Crystal at IMDB

Seriously, who didn't like "The Dark Crystal" as a kid? Many parents said the movie was "too scary" for kids, but I was able to watch it with no problem when i was like, three? I've watched it ever since and I still do! This was an amazing quality movie as far as costume, set and puppetry goes, even though the movie began shooting back in the late 1970's. Sure, the quality of the film used wasn't all that compared to the film quality today, however, it was still top notch back in its day. The voice acting was also incredible, especially the two Gelfling leads, Jen and Kira. The dog-like creature that Kira (the blonde Gelfling) is holding is named Fizzgig.


Jen and Kira

And who can forget the Skeksis? I'm pretty sure those were the whole reason why the whole "the movie is too scary for kids" thing took off. I mean, they do look downright creepy, especially when it comes to toddlers. But, who knows? Maybe if given the chance, those toddlers would have loved the movie as much as I had? There is a Youtube video of somebody who had created their own Skeksis costume for Halloween (which is amazing by the way!), and they go around scaring kids who try to grab candy! Too funny!


The Skeksis

The Halloween video from 2011. I'll also post the creator's Youtube page so you can see more.
augsburgdiet1530's Youtube channel

Then there are the good creatures known as the Mystics. They spend their time with rituals throughout the movie, and Jen was raised by them. The master of the Mystics die, and that's when Jen leaves his home to go and look for the crystal shard so he could heal the crystal and end the dark reign of the Skeksis.



Augra is an older female being who was alive thousands of years before the movie takes place. She is the one who gives Jen the crystal shard before she is attacked by the Garthim (the crab-like monsters that are the Skeksis' soldiers). She is most recognizable with her wild appearance and the fact that she can remove her one eye in order to see everything around her.


Augra


Garthim

Anybody who hasn't seen this movie yet doesn't know what they are missing! This is easily one of the most recognizable films from the 1980's and is a cult classic. I even have the RP record and storybook, as well as the Chamberlain (Skeksis) action figure, which came out not too long ago. You should also check out the comic books that tells of the Gelflings after the crystal cracked and the war afterwards (I think I'll add these to my Amazon wish list!). There was supposed to be a sequel to this movie called, "The Power of the Dark Crystal", though I'm not sure what had ever happened to it. I do hope they come out with it eventually, though because I want to see it!

Happy Belated Birthday Prince William!

First off, somebody really does not know their math! For one thing, Prince William was born one month and nine days after me within the same year.  I just turned 30, so how in the world can Prince William be 31?! Impossible! So let's get that clear. Prince William turned 30 yesterday, not 31 like the press is claiming. See, the one media outlet reports something and most of the others follow suit. Ha!


Prince William is one of  my very distant cousins through my mom's side of the family, so it's cool he was born a month after I was, and we have the same first name. Then Prince William and I are both related to not only the other royal family members, but also almost all the U.S. presidents and even Winston Churchill. Pretty cool, right? I'm sure if anybody asked him about Clan Leslie of Scotland, he'd know who they were talking about, because they are the common link between Prince William and myself.

Here's hoping you have an amazing birthday weekend Prince William! I know you're stuck at a wedding and all, but I hope you will take some time for yourself and have an awesome time, though not as awesome as your brother had in Las Vegas ha ha!

Correction: It seems I was wrong and I am 31! Not sure how that ended up happening, unless everybody else, including the calculator was wrong? lol!

Summer Fun: Dance Moms!

I think anyone who tunes into this show would love it from the start. I tried it out one time and it was entertaining to say the least, and I'm not talking about the dancers! It's no surprise that Americans love drama, though personally, I try to avoid all those other reality TV shows. Dance Moms, though, is my guilty pleasure. Who wouldn't like to watch Abby Lee Miller going head to head with the moms? And many of the episodes feature the moms going at each other! Then there's Cathy, the dance mom and owner of the Candy Apples studio. When she's in the room, you just know something is gonna happen! Like the time when she hit Abby with her purse and then Jill threw her water onto Cathy saying, "Let's see if the witch will melt!" The dancing parts though, are totally boring to me unless it results in a mom storming in and yelling at Abby, or the moms arguing over which of their kids should get the featured part in the dance.

Kindle Books: Valley of Death Series

William Bebb has given life to a zombie book I have never read before. The first one takes place in a trailer park in New Mexico and the one afterwards takes place in a town during Halloween, with many of the same characters. I've read a few zombie books on my Kindle Fire (okay, a lot!) and these did not really follow the same formula of other titles. Sure there was gore galore, but there were also many comedic and heartfelt scenes throughout the series so far. If I'm not mistaken, there is a third book in this series, which would make it a trilogy. I will definitely keep a look out for it if there is. In any case, if you're interested in Zombie books, check out the Valley of Death book first (as that is the first in the series) because its free! I'm sure after the story ends, you'll be hooked and wanting to know what happens next!

Squall Leonheart Cosplay

With Squall Leonheart being the V.G.C (video game character) profile for today, I'll post some items to help you get the same look as Squall. I personally have his Griever necklace, which I wear often. Even if you do not know who the character is, I'm sure you would appreciate the design of the necklace. A lot of people comment on it when I'm at work, which is awesome! I'll even throw in an action figure to this post, which I have one of them as well. I have him, Laguna Loire (Squall's father), Zell Dincht and Seifer Almasy.

Top 10: Zombie Movies

This list is compiled following the list posted at the Washington Time. The funny thing about this list is that I have all but 2 of the items. I do not have "Planet Terror", nor do I have "Dead Alive". I'll soon post my own personal top 10 list of which ones deserve the titles! I'll have to watch all of my zombie movies again and create a points system so that I can rate each movie.The movie title links will take you to IMDB.

#10 "Planet Terror" (2007)

#9 "Dead Alive" (1992)

#8 "28 Weeks Later" (2007)

#7 "Resident Evil" (2002)

#6 "Zombieland" (2009)

#5 "White Zombie" (1932)

#4 "Shaun of the Dead" (2004)

#3 "Dawn of the Dead" (1978)

#2 "28 Days Later" (2002)

#1 "Night of the Living Dead" (1968)

V.G.C. Profiles: Squall Leonheart

Name: Squall Leonheart
Age: 17

Squall is the hero of Final Fantasy 8, the first Final Fantasy title I ever owned. Squall is seen by the other characters as a lone wolf and moody. He doesn't make friends easily because he'd rather be alone after his big "sister" Ellone left the orphanage. Due to the use of the summon monsters known as Guardian Forces, Squall and his friends who grew up in the orphanage began to lose their memories, which comes later on in the story. With the help of Rinoa Heartilly, Squall begins to open up to others and they see that he really does care about them. Squall's weapon of choice is the gunblade. He and Seifer Almasy are the only two gunbladists in the military academy they attend.



Throughout the story, we find hints at Squall's past that even he doesn't realize. His parents are the lovely Raine, who works as a bartender in Winhill, and the journalist-turned-president of Esthar, Laguna Loire. You can see a little bit of each of them in Squall's face, Raine's features are more prominent than Laguna's. Many events had led Squall to Edea Kramer's orphanage, which is how he met most of the party members in the group and how he was sent to the military school known as Balamb Garden. Before Edea was possessed and left the orphanage, she was the mother figure to all the children, and they affectionately called her "Matron".


Laguna Loire and Squall Leonheart


Laguna proposes to Raine


Cid and Edea Kramer

Squall is also featured in the "Kingdom Hearts" and "Final Fantasy Dissidia" series.

Baby North West

Kanye West at IMDB
Kim Kardashian at IMDB

A big congratulations goes out to Kim Kardashian and Kanye West on their new baby! I'm not sure how they came up with the name, but their baby's name is North West. Looking at it in writing does look pretty cool though, it's like the compass direction! At least the baby has a nickname, Nori, to fall back on when she finally goes through school. Can you imagine the teasing she might have to put up with? Maybe with Kim and Kanye as her parents, she'd get spared that humiliation? For her sake, I really hope so!

R.I.P. James Gandolfini

James Gandolfini at IMDB

This has been news at least a couple of days now, however if you hadn't heard, James Gandolfini had died at the age of 51 on June 19, 2013 at Rome, Italy. James is most famous for his portrayal of Tony Soprano on HBO's hit "The Sopranos" His movie debut was in 1987 with the movie "Shock! Shock! Shock!"

James was married to Deborah Lin and has one child with his previous wife Marcy Wudarski. Acting wasn't James' only talent, as he also played the trumpet and saxophone. James had a couple different jobs before and during his acting career. He was trained in the Israeli style of martial arts called Krav Maga, and worked as a bouncer at one time. When he was a struggling actor, he was a bartender in Manhattan which goes to show, if you work hard at something, you can achieve your goals.

Jem and the Holograms

The first item I'll review is my personal fave. Jem and the Holograms! Pretty much all the kids had watched this at one point or another back in the 80's and it's easy to see why. For the girls, it had fashion and romance, for the boys there was action and explosions, and for everyone there was rock stars and music! Speaking as a boy, there were tons of us who bought the dolls that went with the show. I still have all my Misfits and Rio from back when I was like 3!

Watching this series from the beginning, I was surprised not only at some of the mature themes each episode had (teen runaways, high school drug addicts, kidnapping, bomb threats) but also one song in particular had the words "Is he making love to a fantasy" (in the song "Who is he Kissing"). I don't think they could get away with that these days!

Still, the songs were really good quality. If you heard them in the background, you'd think they were originally on the radio, and not on a cartoon series. The show also had quality voice actors such as Samantha Newark, Britta Philips, Gordon Grody, Patricia Alice Albrecht (she has the same last name as some of my mom's grandparents. Wonder if we're related?), Vicki Sue Robinson, Kath Soucie (she's recognizable as the twins Lil and Phil and their mom Betty on Rugrats, and Linka on Captain Planet and the Planeteers) and Susan Blu, who has also done a lot of voice work..

The only complaint I can think of, at least on my copy of the DVD set would be the sound quality on the title song, which sometimes slows down and doesn't match the picture. Other than that, everything else on each episode is perfect! $45.00 is a great deal compared to what I paid. I pre-ordered, so I paid almost $70.00, but that investment was well worth the price with all the extras the DVD includes, such as interviews with the creator and the stars as well as all the original Jem commercials that had been aired back when the show was on, which believe me, was totally weird watching again because I remember all the styles!

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog, all about entertainment! Here, you'll find many different topics, including:

Item reviews
Character profiles
My recommendations
Entertainer profiles
Cool apps from the Kindle store
App reviews
and more!

So hit me up with a comment on what else you'd like to see mentioned here because this blog is all for you!