Sonya Watson Presents: Providence - And I Dig It! Guest Post

Guest post from Joshua Murray at The Review Are In.

In the aftermath of World War III between two unlikely forces, the human race and the animal kingdom, a new world order has been established. In Sonya Watson’s Providence this new world is created and explored.

The first book in a series of three, Providence is a post-apocalyptic, mutli-dimensional journey that follows the mission of two seemingly fated warriors looking to save their people and the world.

Ms. Watson has hit the ground running with her first novel. Her courage to introduce a universe to her readers is matched by her ability. She deftly gives us characters – human, animal and otherwise – that grow throughout the novel.

Providence was completed in 2008 and originally published in 2009 and now it is starting to pick up steam. Available in paperback ($12.95 CDN) and e-book (starting at $2.99 CDN), Providence is a read that will keep you involved with the characters on their mission and invested in the universe created. The twists and turns throughout the story keep things from getting predictable without getting readers lost in space or time. It is a delicate balance which Ms. Watson achieves wonderfully.

The largest question asked in Providence translates to the real world with ease -> Are we all fated to an end or are we subjects of free will and the results of our decisions?

Not to be overlooked in the story are the tales of love and sacrifice told throughout. Can two warriors from different sides find trust, respect and honour? Can two beings from different planes of existence overcome the obstacles before them to keep their love alive?

More than anything Providence helped me to realise that the art of written story-telling is not dead. It is very much alive and growing in young authors like Sonya Watson. It is often too easy to ignore books with the easy access of PVR’d programming, On Demand services, Podcasts and blogs. And while I love those sources of entertainment, I also value and love the genius of a well crafted story.

Now, I’m not in the business of giving away plot lines and endings. And I’m not going to start now. What I will tell you is this – I read this book quickly. The deeper I got the faster I went. And when I got to the end and read page one of book two in the series I started wishing that Sonya Watson had it on shelves and online now.

Providence is available now and for more information from the author and to learn more about Sonya Watson’s upcoming projects check out clearwaternovels.com

Stay awesome friends – I know you can do it!

To find links for Providence in ebook form click here.

This Is Why I Love Live Music: The Cunninghams!

Hey kids.

What were you doing Saturday night?  I’ll tell you what I was doing.  I was watching a band rock out on stage at the El Mocambo in Toronto.  A band that you’re going to be hearing a lot from in the future.  The Cunninghams. 

These 4 guys took the stage and rocked it like they owned it.  And the crowd was appreciative.  This is the same stage that has seen the Rolling Stones, The Police, U2, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Jimi Hendrix wow audiences.  And while those are names that you know and love now, The Cunninghams is a name that you’re going to know and love in the future.

Nigel, Pierce, Clapsbury and Reggy Cunningham call themselves the Royal Family of Rock and Roll.  And after seeing them on stage Saturday night I can’t argue, except for one thing, they aren’t pretentious and bitchy.  These guys love what they’re doing.  There’s none of that disconnected, we’re better than you, feeling when they take the stage.  No body guards, no parade waves, no garbage.  What you will see is an audience having a good time, dancing on the floor and on the stage (audience highlight of the night was a combo of 2 girls and a dude hoping up to dance behind Pierce and shaking what their mama’s gave them).  You’ll see beers being chugged by Clapsbury on a break from rocking the bass, heck you might even see him jumping down into the crowd to bring everyone one step closer to the action.  And through it all you’ll see people having a good time.  From the front row to the back, eyes were all on the stage, feet were tapping and heads were bobbing on non-dancers, like me.

The reason for the show was the video release for “Gunblaster”, listen to the track here: www.myspace.com/thecunninghamsband the video premiered to the audience before the boys took the stage and the crowd dug it.  There were fists pumping, hips shaking and eyes glued to the big screen behind the drum kit.  Not a bad way to give a first look.  Thumbs up from me.

And when you see the video, I’ll give 1000 bonus points to the first person who can tell me who the 1980’s icon rocking the shades is.  Remember that, 1000 points are up for grabs.

Other show highlights included Reggy pounding on the drums in a way that makes me realize my skills on Rockband do not translate to real life.  The shared vocal duties of Pierce and Nigel who make the rock and roll sound real.  And the fact that the crowd showed up minutes before The Cunninghams took the stage.  This was clearly a crowd that came to see these boys play. 

I’m glad I was with them.  $5 dollars at the door is a bargain compared to what ticket prices are going to be in the future.  I promise you that.  And even then, it’s going to be worth it. 

I snapped a few pictures from my BB, I know they aren’t great, but there are real pictures coming from a dude with a real camera who knows what he’s doing.  I’m going to throw some of those up with some more links and such later this week.  They’ll also be on the twitter feed www.twitter.com/wallyzblogger don’t forget to add me so we can talk music.

If you want to find more info on the boys who take the stage as The Cunninghams hit up their website www.thecunninghamsband.com there you’ll find the links to Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.  And as an added bonus, when you go to the Myspace page you can download the EP and rock out whenever you want. 

All said and done, Saturday night was a good time.  I got to rock out while E-ve was at work, got reminded why I love live music.  And remembered to write down the links so that I could find the tracks when I got home.  Throw it all together and you get a big bucket of win.

High fives kids, have a great day.  And remember, when you find something that you like, share it!

Getting Ready For Podcast Number 1

Hey kids.



So, the time is drawing near. This Sunday Romeo, Jake and I plan on trying to record our first podcast. This thing is totally the brain child of Jake and Romeo in Ottawa and I'm the tag along. I think I'm okay with that.



I hope that we can put together a blog somewhere that allows us all to have admin access and the opportunity to throw up links to awesome stuff online and the podcasts as they are recorded and released.



Another part I'm in love with is having talks with the boys. They make me shake my head sometimes and make me shake my fist sometimes but they always make me smile.



Romeo told me that he wants us all to come up with some ideas for our first go 'round. So last night I threw up a tweet with some ideas. Beer, Batman bad guys and bacon were on that short list, but I'd like to bring more to the party. So let me know what you're thinking.



I'm looking at you @technicolor_cat you always come through for me. And you can totally use this to call out other twitter folk.



This whole podcast thing is new to all of us, so I sent Romeo the links to some Wikihow articles to get us started. I'm pretty sure that the idea came from Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier on SModcast, which is hilarious. And I have no problem with Mr. Smith being the inspiration.



Because there's going to be a telephone element to this set-up I'm thinking we might even get E-ve and/ or Heath in on this thing in the future. Then I can prove to everyone that they're real.



In the end I see this thing as a way for me to hang out with my friends. Even if the three of us are the only ones that listen it'll be worth it.



But I hope you tune in as well.



That's all for now amigos. Let me know what you're thinking. wally.z1.0@gmail.com or @wallyzblogger on Twitter.



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TV Entertainment That Fills My Time

It's been a while since we did some long form musing... So here we are.



And, because I'm home watching TV right now we're gonna muse about some awesome television entertainment.



As I've said too many times, I'm a sports guy, so hearing that the NHL Network and the rest of the Super Sports Pack are near the top of my must see TV list shouldn't be a shock to anyone. But here's why.



The NHL Network gives exclusive access to in game updates and highlights through their NHL on the Fly show. Every night they have a couple dudes that run down the night's action and tell me who has scored. That last part is important because it keeps me up to date on my fantasy league players. It also means that E-ve doesn't have to watch out of market games with me to see if Anze Kopitar and Joe Thorton have points in a Wednesday night game.



Next is Chuck. I've blushed and bragged and gone on and on about NBC's Monday night masterpiece. I love it. And this season is living up to all of the hype that the previous 2 have pumped up. The story lines have been tight, the characters have stayed but become more trimmed down and directed in their involvement whereas before things got a little messy with so much going on that wasn't Chuck/ spy related. The romantic story of Chuck and Sarah is amazing and makes me want to cheer for the geek the way I used cheer for Pacey.



NCIS is next. This is a show that I didn't watch at all for the first few seasons. And now here I am watching it on Showcase and Rogers On Demand and anywhere else I can find it. Gibbs is "The Man" and everyone else falls in line. At the beginning of the series the female agent on the team was Caitlin "Kate" Todd but she met an untimely end. (Also, it was the same actress that played Pacey's older sister. Just wanted to throw that in there.) CBS is doing a good job keeping things going on this detective show and makes me want to keep coming back. My only concern is the new NCIS: LA and the CSI syndrome. After CSI got Miami and New York the original just wasn't the same. I hope that doesn't happen to Jethro and his gang.



I'm also still a junkie for the Family Channel, though not as much as I used to be. I can still sit down and watch Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide and Suite Life and Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly Place but that's about it. Raven and the spin-off and a bunch of the other shows have gone way down hill. I've always just figured I watch these shows to grasp at some sort of childhood gone by. But maybe it's just good entertainment.



Last one we'll hit on today is my fav from the Food Network. Dinners, Drive-ins and Dives rocks my world and makes me hungry. I love the places Guy goes to. The food that he tastes and the feel of the whole thing. There are no suits and ties and reservations. No 5 stars and such. Just good, freshly made, tasty, sometimes greasy, good food. What's not to love about all about this stuff? Plus Guy is funny and makes me smile. A good host is a great plus. And the Food Network certainly picked a good dude to host their show.



There ya have it kids. Just some of the stuff that I spend my free time watching on my crappy old TV. Maybe you'll enjoy some of it too.



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I Heart The Earth, And You Can Too

Originally written and posted at www.myspace.com/wallyzblogger on March 28/09

I heart the earth


Current mood: ashamed

I've got a ton of issues related to the environment rolling around in my head and I dont know what to do with them. Some of them are more developed than others, some of them are just point form observations. But this is as good a place as any to get them out of my head and on to a page.

Earth Hour It's only an hour ppl. I know that with all of the ads and facebook event invitations and parties and all the rest it has become the thing to do, but it is only an hour. What we need are daily commitments from ppl to make environmentally influenced decisions. Turning the computer off when you are not home, unplugging the microwave when you are not using it, same with the toaster and the coffee maker. These little things mean useless electricity is not sent into appliances that are not doing anything. Just because they are off does not mean the juice stops flowing.

Earth Hour is a great start, but we need ppl to be able to have some lights on at home while still making a positive impact on a regular basis. The CBC website still has the One Million Acts of Green page online and active and I welcome and implore you to go and register your act of green, no matter how small it may be.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle do you remember when the three Rs were taught to us in school? I am in my mid to late 20s and I remember. That means that 15 years ago educators knew that the environment was this important. Why did it take so long for everyone else to catch up?

I will fully admit that reduce can be tricky to implement on your own. Products are still over packaged and until companies get the picture that consumers will be ok with less, there is nothing really that you and I can do about while still buying the things that we want to. What you can do to reduce is easy. Use a travel mug, just that one thing by me saves anywhere from 10 to 20 coffee cups from the trash and subsequently landfills.

Side note I have not been that great lately, but we will get to that.

Reusing water and juice bottles is a great way to cut down on both dirty dishes and trash. Refilling your water bottle at work means buying and recycling only one bottle of water. Less dishes means less water in the sink. And I am happy with that because I hate doing dishes.

Last but not least is recycling. Whether it is pizza or cereal boxes, juice bottles or milk cartons it is easy to recycle. Just by making the effort not to throw a big empty plastic bottle in the regular garbage you can help. If you are going to take the garbage to the curb anyway why not the separate trip for the recycling? I know almost everyone recycles now, but it is still an important part of the process.

I mentioned that I had not been that good with the travel mug lately. But let me explain. I have been brainwashed, and so have you. Tim Hortons sells more cups of coffee in Canada per day than any other retailer. I do not even need to research that fact. (If you want to and I am wrong, good on you) And as you may know this is the time of year that we as Canadians, and some Americans, Roll Up The Rim To Win. I love my travel mug. The writing is wearing off of the side, but it keeps and extra large coffee hot for a long time and it saves me 11 cents a cup. But it is collecting dust right now because I do not want to lose the chance to win to you if you are behind me in line. Nothing against you, but it is my right as a Canadian to win that donut. And until Tim Hortons realises that we are still gonna buy coffee in ridiculous amounts if the contest has scratch cards for ppl with reusable travel mugs or starts giving away mugs as prizes nothing will change. And I know I do not have an excuse, I am not really brainwashed. But I am caught up in the game and I am throwing away at least 14 paper coffee cups a week. I am sorry.

My quick rant got kind of long winded. Sorry about that. Hopefully you are still on board. I am going to link this to the daily blog tomorrow at www.newmorningmusings.blogspot.com because I want these words to get out.

We can make a difference ppl. But it has to be for more than an hour a year.

Thanks.

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-Wally

Birthday Wish List Ideas

Ok, we're in the month of the date of my birth... and E-ve isn't sure what to get me... so I thought I'd put together a little list and see what happens.


- A healthy Mike Cammalleri

- An olympic gold medal

- Some lovin' by Twitter, Facebook or phone from @ThatKevinSmith
- To win at Scrabble without knowing that E-ve lost on purpose

- Some new books

- Some new comic books

- A huge TV that fell off the back of a truck or something (but didn't break of course)

- A laptop that suffered the same fate as the TV just mentioned

- Some more Facebook friends

- Hang out time with Jake and Romeo

- Some more Twitter followers

- Some more blog readers

- Korean Karaoke

- Time and inspiration and a ton of new material

- Cuddles from E-ve

That's all that I can think of right now. And to be honest I think that there are maybe 5 or 6 that are feasible. I'll let you try to figure out which ones they are.

Thanks for stopping by.

Don't forget that we're dailyish at www.newmorningmusings.blogspot.com and often as we can be at www.thelongformmusings.blogspot.com

Let the countdown begin.

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Power-girls vs. Geek-boy (via hotpinkgeek.com)

Here's a piece that I wrote for http://www.hotpinkgeek.com/ March 25th 2009... I liked it, it was fun to write.  And now that I may be even more of a geek than I was then, I think it's a good time to revisit the fun.

Original link to see the photo that goes with the piece and other awesome hot pink geek stuff from other hot pink writers. http://www.hotpinkgeek.com/power-girls-vs-geek-boy/483/#more-483

Enjoy!

Let me start by saying hello. I’m new to the geek community after many years spent in the closet. It’s nice to be out.

I’ve got a list in my head of female comic book and TV characters that could most certainly kick my ass in a fight. And it’s not because I wouldn’t hit a girl.

This list will by no means be complete and I invite all of you, including our own little geek squad to chime in.

Without further ado, check out my list after the jump!

Xena Warrior Princess – I’m not sure I need to give any explanation here, but why not. First of all, she’s huge. I’m not a little guy but she would tower over me. She’s also good with a sword, and I am not. She has a vicious war cry that would probably make me wet my pants. And she was in Playboy. Overall, it’s quite easy to see that Xena could dispose of me in short order.

Note: I do believe that I could take Gabrielle if push came to shove.

Wonder Woman – Another no doubter. She’s an Amazon princess for crying out loud. She’s bigger than Superman and defeated Ares, the God of War in her first ever mission. She’s not afraid to kill and she flies an invisible plane. I wouldn’t have a chance in hell of keeping up with her. She could give me one kick with those long uncovered legs of hers and send me flying through a brick wall. And I’m sorry to report that I don’t think I would survive being kicked through a brick wall.

Black Canary – This Justice Leaguer may not get a lot of press but she deserves it. Her only super power may be that crazy sonic cry but I don’t think she’d need to use it. She’s athletic, acrobatic, a skilled fighter and fierce lover. Her martial arts experience is above average and enough to make this geek boy lie down and say uncle. But the whole package is significant. My only chance would be to make her feel sorry for me and sweep her leg and kick her while she was down. And then remember to gag her so that she can’t use the scream.

There’s one more on today’s list. She is saved to last as suggested by my E-ve. I even got a text from her when I pitched the idea saying that this character could most certainly kick my butt.

Princess Adora, She-Ra: Princess of Power – Here’s another princess that packs a big punch. Twin sister of Prince Adam aka He-Man, Adora has superhuman strength and stamina which is tough to match up against. The princess also regularly outsmarts the bad guys, which means that she doesn’t even have to use violence. Last but not least she has the magic Sword of Protection. It’s a friggin’ magic sword that transforms her into She-Ra. I like to think that I’m not stupid, but a super powered princess with superior intellect and a magical sword is more than this geek thinks that he can handle.

So, that’s the list friends. As I said, there are most certainly more tough female characters out there that could take a round or two out of me. Let’s hear which power-girls you think could give you a run for your money.