Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Rocket Man, Another Review From Michael, and Great Audiobooks For Guys

Hey, everyone, the CARLMAN is back from spring break, rested up and feelin' groovy--although I have to admit it's VERY weird being here without Darth Bill or Master Jedi Zack. Wow. I really miss them. But, like all MANLY MEN everywhere, I'll soldier on as best I can. Actually, Master Jedi Zack stopped by here on Monday. He looks pretty refreshed himself. Rather than mope about being laid off, he spent last week playing video games. Now THAT'S stress management!! He's got an job interview in Texas soon, which great for him becuase he's from there. I also heard that Darth Bill has had a couple of interviews already. Good luck, guys!

Well, I spent part of spring break in sunny Florida. We took a couple of days to go to Disney World (and everyone knows how much fun that is!!) but we also visited the Kennedy Space Center and saw a space shuttle launch. What an extremely cool event!! The launch was scheduled for 6:21 am and we had to be there at least 5 hours before the launch, so we got there at 10 pm the night before. We were lucky because the Space Center was open all night! It was like having an amusement park open for you all night. It was especially great for me because I grew up with the space program. I can remember where I was when Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon. I can even remember when John Glenn first went into space. For that matter, I remember when they sent monkeys into orbit! Anyway, after staying up all night and seeing very cool things like a full-size model of the space shuttle, the original Mercury command center, and live video of the astronauts getting into the shuttle, I got in place to see the launch. It was AMAZING!! The sky lit up like an artificial dawn. The rockets roared and raced into the sky in a magnificent display of fire and smoke. It was exhilarating. If you guys EVER get a chance to see the Kennedy Space Center, and especially for a launch, DO IT!!


We always take audiobooks with us when we travel and this time we took two really good ones, One False Note and The Black Circle. Both of them are from The 39 Clues series and both were first-rate. The reader, David Pittu, knows how to pace a story and get the most from a book. He makes you feel the danger and laugh at the comedy. And there is plenty of both in these books! Amy and Dan have to outwit clever, ruthless bad guys while racing all over the world to find old secrets that could lead to world domination. These audiobooks are good if you're on a road trip, have to spend a lot of time in the car going to school, or if you happen to have a personal CD player. And the really cool thing about the 39 Clues audiobooks is that they have bonus material you don't get in the books or the website. The Black Circle, for instance, has an intercepted phone call between Grace Cahill and Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov and One False Note has a recording of Grace Cahill on trial for stealing Nannerl Mozart's diary! Really good stuff.

Before I go, we have a review from our good friend Michael. He sent this as a final review for the March Madness Slam Dunk contest but didn't make it in time. It's still a good review, though, so let's see it:

The Time Machine
by H. G. Wells
One night, some friends come over for dinner. Suddenly, the host, only known as the Time Traveller, stumbles in, all dirty and bloody. He has an amazing story to tell. He has gone to the future and only barely escaped. But although he has escaped the enemy, can he save his futuristically primitive friends. I love this book, mostly because this is the first book that introduced the concept of time travel. H. G. Wells is called the Father of Science Fiction. He also wrote War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man. The Time Machine is perhaps THE BEST book with time travel that has ever been written!

Thanks, Michael! I think you're right--The Time Machine may be the best time travel book ever, just as The War of the Worlds may be the best alien-invasion book ever. Would you all agree? Or not? Do you know of any others that are better? Send us a comment or a reivew and let us know! (And if you want to see a post about The War of the Worlds, click on the label underneath here)
I hope that all of you who had spring break last week had a good time too. It's good to be back. Keep sending in those reviews and comments!

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