Ayreon Universe, Judas Priest Firepower, Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, Animated Movie Trivia, New Releases, and More!

Some music, movies, and books news and reviews for you today - plus a little movie trivia! And today I'm at the IWSG site with an article on lessons I learned from really bad movies.

Music

Ayreon - Universe

Ayreon Universe is Ayreon live in concert for the first time ever, organized and arranged by Arjen A. Lucassen and Joost van den Broek. The Ayreon Universe set list features selected songs from all Ayreon albums plus a selection of Star One songs.

Vocalists include Floor Jansen – Nightwish, Damian Wilson – Threshold, Hansi Kürsch - Blind Guardian, Tommy Karevik – Kamelot, Anneke van Giersbergen - The Gentle Storm, Marco Hietala – Nightwish, Jonas Renkse – Katatonia, Mike Mills – Toehider, Marcela Bovio - Stream of Passion, Robert Soeterboek - Star One, John Jaycee Cuijpers - Praying Mantis, Edward Reekers – Kayak, Maggy Luyten – Nightmare, Lisette van den Berg - Scarlet Stories, and Jay van Feggelen and Irene Jansen - Ayreon

This concert is available in many different boxed sets (audio, video, t-shirts, signed, etc.) and comes out on March 30. I will definitely be picking up the pack with all of the CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Rays!

And just to whet your appetite:

Judas Priest – Firepower review

The metal gods are back with their umpteenth latest album!
First of all, it’s so refreshing to see people rocking out who are much older than me.
Secondly, don’t think these are a bunch of has-beens churning out crap for a quick buck. One thing I’ve always admired about this band is that they put their heart into doing the best they can. They are absolutely a fan-centered band.
I’m pleased to report this is an excellent album. It’s probably their best since Painkiller. While there isn’t a signature track, every song is solid without a dud in the bunch.
If you’re a fan of the band or old-school metal, you won’t be disappointed. Halford’s vocals sound amazing and relatively young Richie Faulkner tears it up on the guitar.
Highly recommended!

Movies

Some news from JoBlo:

Aerial footage of the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge theme park.

The latest addition to the Disney theme park arena is the upcoming Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge attraction, which will allow visitors to immerse themselves in the world of Star Wars. The park is still under construction and won’t be open until 2019, but you can take a look at the foundations and sheer scope of the park in this new video released by Disney. Here, there is some aerial drone footage of the park, showing off the massive soon-to-be-completed structures.

Watch Tommy Wiseau (from The Room) get inserted into a bunch of disaster movies.

The video posted by Screen Junkies arrives just a few days before THE DISASTER ARTIST, a film based on Wiseau's unique experiences while making "the Citizen Kane of bad movies," THE ROOM, makes its Blu-Ray and DVD debut. When making the parody video, Screen Junkies invited Wiseau to stand in front of a green screen while reacting to each of the films selected. Once Tommy was done being Tommy, the outlet cut it all together to hilarious effect.

Denis Villeneuve plans to remake Dune.

Over the years, Frank Herbert's "Dune" has proven to be a notoriously difficult project to adapt. As the novel is quite dense, it's been almost impossible to whittle down the story in order to get it to fit into a single film, but it seems that Denis Villeneuve may have found a way around that. The BLADE RUNNER 2049 director will be the next to tackle DUNE, and he offered a quick update (via The Playlist) while speaking to a packed house in Montreal’s Place des Arts’ Théâtre Maisonneuve for the Rendez-Vous du Cinema Quebecois this week.
Dune will probably take two years to make. The goal is to make two films, maybe more.

Books

Available March 15 –

Blue Sludge Blues by Shannon Lawrence
A collection of frights, from the psychological to the monstrous. These tales are a reminder of how much we have to fear…
Find it at Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo

Last Call by Tara Watson
Newly-single attorney Gwen Cooper’s list of things that make her happy is pretty simple:
1. her teenage sons
2. her stilettos
3. finally taking control of her own life
Find it on Amazon




Available March 16 –

The Thick of Things by J.L. Campbell
When love takes you by storm, hang on for the ride of your life.
Find it on Amazon

https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/2021/07/how-it-started-how-its-going.html

Computer Animated Movie Trivia

Since Coco just came out on DVD, let’s do a little movie trivia on computer animated films. Name the movie from the actors and year.

1 – Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, 2002
2 – Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, 2012
3 - Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow, 2001
4 - Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Ned Beatty, 2011
5 - Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Sylvester Stallone, 1998
6 - Patton Oswalt, Brad Garrett, Ian Holm, Lou Romano, 2007
7 - Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, 2016
8 – Bruce Willis, Gary Shandling, Steve Carell, William Shatner, 2006

Answers on March 26!

Impressed by the Ayeron concert footage? Fan of Judas Priest? Ready to explore the new area of Star Wars at Disney World? Think Dune needs another remake? Picking up any new books this week? And can you guess the trivia?

I will be visiting family the third full week of March and won’t be online. However, I will have a really unique post March 19 at the IWSG site on lessons learned from really bad movies.

House of Cards Review, Game of Thrones in Legos, Mini-Alex, IWSG, Movie Trivia, and Ninja News!

The IWSG is all over today!

The wonderful Karen Lang asked several questions about the IWSG, and I am a guest on her blog today.

For those of you who want to know more about the IWSG and what it can offer to writers, I am also a guest of Lori’s at How to Write Shop. This site is one of the many great resources listed at the IWSG, so come for my guest post and stay for the valuable information Lori offers!

House of Cards – Season Two

The next season of the NetFlix original series is available now and it did not take me long to devour it.
Season two follow’s Kevin Spacey’s character, Francis Underwood, as he maneuvers his way through DC, crushing everything in his path.
Just when you don’t think the show can get any darker or more twisted, House of Cards finds new ways to unsettle you. It’s like a train wreck – fascinating to watch.
By the end of the second season, I had just one thought – the only way this will all ultimately make sense is if Underwood’s revealed to be the antichrist.
And I really hope and pray DC really doesn’t operate like this!

Mini-Alex

On the copier!

I wouldn’t let him use the clone machine, so he tried to improvise.

Didn’t really work though.



And now I have all these copies of his butt…

Real Alex News

I’m still making progress on my current manuscript, although not at the speed I would like. I really am a slow and lazy writer. Will take part of this week off to work on the story. I might actually finish the first draft by the first week of March!

I’ve also prepared almost all of my A to Z Challenge posts! I’ll continue to add to them, but the Challenge portion is ready. (When you see the first one, you’ll understand.) I always prepare them before the Challenge begins, but I’ve never been this far ahead of the game! (And if you haven’t signed up yet, please join us!)

Haven’t been to a movie in a while, but excited that Thor: The Dark World and Gravity come out on Tuesday. Both will be available in 3D Blu-ray, which is just awesome!

The Epic 2000 Followers Giveaway is just a few followers away from ending! If you’ve never clicked the Google Friends Connect, now is a great time to do so.

And sad to see the Olympics come to an end. Always a lot of fun to watch.

Ninja News

Available now - Confessions of a Sex Fiend: A View to Ecstasy by Rayven Godchild, a.k.a. Angela Brown.

Available now – Pale Moonlight by Tony Laplume, an epic vision of vampire literature.

Cover reveal – Bloodlust by Nicole Zoltack

Bloodlust is a NA epic fantasy with a hint of forbidden love when Barbarian-Princess Ivy makes an alliance with the despicable Lukor the goliath in a desperate attempt to save her race from extinction.

Cover reveal – Vampire Lies by RaShelle Workman

Eyes like violet sapphires. Wings of smoldering fire.
Consume your true love's blood.
Become the Eternal Vampire.

Cover reveal – Blood Crown by Ali Cross.

WormFest is in a couple weeks!



And for those of you who are fans of Game of Thrones – The Red Wedding in Legos, courtesy of MsMariah at A Space Blogyssey.
Don’t look if you haven’t seen this insane scene from season three yet!

(From the Huffington Post. )

Movie Trivia

Name the actor/actress who provides the voice!

1 – Title character from The Iron Giant, 1999

2 – Z from Antz, 1998

3 – Title character from Puss in Boots, 2011

4 – Moses from Prince of Egypt, 1998

5 – Sulley from Monsters, Inc., 2001

6 – Rocky from Chicken Run, 2000

7 – Fozzie Bear from Muppets From Space, 1999

8 – Emperor Kuzco from The Emperor’s New Groove, 2000

Answers next Monday!

Anyone else watching House of Cards? Working on a manuscript? (Hopefully writing faster than me!) Working on your A to Z Challenge posts? Ready for some new books? Know any of the trivia? And where should Mini-Alex go next…?

Be sure to visit Karen Lang today!

Insecure Writer’s Support Group, Ninja News, and Animated Movie Trivia

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.

And this month I have two awesome co-hosts helping - Livia and Tasha! Be sure to visit them and say thanks for their willingness to help.

Right now, I am in waiting mode. My publisher has my manuscript and their editor is going over it before sending it back to me next month for revisions. CassaStorm has been my focus all year, and until the final edits are done, it will remain on my mind. I’m happy with what I created (and special thanks to Rusty, Cassie, Jeffrey, and my two test readers for making it SO much better) and won’t start thinking about another project until next year.

So while I’m not really insecure right now, I’ve been thinking about certain writing aspects. Seems like the great works are always far deeper than what’s on the surface. They are full of symbolism and metaphors. They tap into a basic human desire or drive in an all-consuming way. They are planned with care, guiding the reader down a path of inner discovery.

Um, yeah. And then there are my books. What you see is what you get. If you read anything deeper into them, it’s not there on purpose.

However, upon completion of the first draft of my latest, I realized I did have a theme! Again, not planned. Which means the theme rather surprised me. (Is that bad?) And at the risk of losing my “Stud-muffin” image (insert laughter here) the theme is LOVE.

CassaStar – love of a friend

CassaFire – love of a spouse

CassaStorm – love of a child

Yeah, I’m stunned. No idea how that happened.

Is it a good theme? Does your work or books have a theme?

Be sure to visit other members of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group!

Ninja News

Talli Roland’s latest book, The Pollyanna Plan, is available now. Congratulations, Talli! Wish I had your writing chops.

Jamie at Mithril Wisdom just celebrated three years of blogging. We started blogging within weeks of each other in 2009 and met during the first A to Z Challenge, so I feel like I’ve known Jamie forever. Congratulations, dude! Let’s keep rocking.

Writers4Writers kicks off on Thursday! Hosted by Stephen Tremp, Mary Pax, Christine Rains, and CM Brown, the first spotlighted author will be Nancy Thompson and her book The Mistaken. Visit the hosts for information on how YOU can help! You can also visit the W4WS Facebook page HERE.

Jeffrey Beesler has declared December to be Milk and Cookies Month! He kicked it off yesterday by listing a couple Chocolate Chip Hipsters. (EJ and I were listed,) Thank you, Jeffrey! You rock, my man. Shame you ate all the cookies though…

LG at Writing Off the Edge is celebrating her one year blog anniversary with a blogfest - The Beginnings Blogfest, Wednesday, January 9, 2013. Lots of options for telling us about your beginnings. See her site for details. And congratulations, LG!


I just hit 1700 followers. Thanks so much, guys! Whoa… Crap! Need to party or something. Let me think about it and get back to you on Friday.

And just to clarify one of my answers for Monday’s blogfest – yes, my Gibson Les Paul guitar cost A LOT more than $100. Add a digit and some bigger numbers and you get the picture. (And for you musicians, it has a Floyd Rose tremolo!)

Movie Trivia!

Because I haven’t done this in a while. Animation edition.

1 – From Aardman Animations, this clay-animation film took place on Mrs. Tweedy’s farm.

2 – This 70’s animated film was set on a post-apocalyptic Earth where two brothers, Avatar and Blackwolf, do battle to control the world.

3 – This Christmas animation features the voices of James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, and Bill Nighy – and a member of Santa’s family you never knew existed!

4 – Joss Whedon wrote the screenplay for this cell-animated space movie set in the year 3028 and featuring a spaceship that holds the secret to the salvation of the human race.

5 – Before Pixar put out their take on these small critters, Woody Allen voiced the lead, “Z,” in this film.

6 – Written by Ted Hughes in 1968, this science fiction story set in 1957 became a critically-acclaimed movie in 1999 with its simple innocence.

What are your insecurities today? Have you signed up for Writers4Writers? (Come on – Nancy’s book ROCKS!) Ready to kick of 2013 with a blogfest? And know any of the answers to the animated film trivia questions…?

Ninja News, Gifts, Animated Movies Trivia, and Three Years Ago Today...

Ninja News

Thanks again to all the participants of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Every month you guys share the most amazing things and work so hard to encourage one another. It’s just amazing. Special thanks to my co-hosts this month, LG Keltner and CM Brown. You did a fantastic job, ladies. I’ll be contacting potential co-hosts for December this weekend.

Karen at A Peek at Karen’s World is hosting her annual blog awards again! Nominate your favorites now.

Michael Offutt’s sequel to Slipstream, released last May, is out now – Oculus! Check his site for ordering options. Congratulations, Michael! You’re a writing machine. You’ll have three books out before I even finish editing my third…





David Powers King won the I’m Thankful for my Readers Blogfest, hosted by Tara and VikLit with his poem, Who Ate My Pie Crust? Well deserved win, because it was hilarious. I was even mentioned:

I asked her - no luck, so I expanded my riot,
by asking Alex Cavanaugh, a starship pilot.
"I hope you catch a red-handed culprit soon,
but I have 100 comments to write before noon!"

(And yes, I did write a hundred comments before noon that day!)

Don’t forget the I Miss You Blogfest is next Friday! Perfect time to show your appreciation for special blogger buddies. 

 

Gifts

I received several cool gifts this week. My publisher said soon I’ll get more mail than they do!

I won a zombie package from Susanne at Putting Words Down on Paper which included these cool items:

And I was completely surprised to receive two bags of Hot Tamales from Angela Brown and Gwen Gardner! Thank you so much, ladies! You are both super special.

I need to ask for Hot Tamales more often!

Three Years Ago Today…

I started this blog.

I’d signed the contract for CassaStar and my publisher told me to get my butt online.

I had no followers. My blog was plain. And my first post was a lame “Hi, I’m Alex…”

And now, three years later… whoa!

Almost 1700 followers, over 500 posts, and my blog definitely isn’t plain anymore. (Can’t confirm the non-lame posts though.)

This journey has been nothing short of incredible. I’ve made so many awesome friends and you’ve been supportive beyond my wildest hopes.

Thank you everyone for your support, your comments, and your friendship. It means the world to me. Today, I am not just a man of few words. There just aren't words to describe my appreciation.

Think we should celebrate with some Hot Tamales, don’t you?

Movie Trivia Time!

Animated films this time!

1 – What film won the first ever Best Animated Film Oscar in 2001?

2– Who voiced Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

3 – What was Disney’s first animated feature movie?

4 – What animated film featured rats and singing slugs?

5 – Who voiced Gru in Despicable Me?

6 – What was Disney’s 50th animated feature movie?

7 – Who voiced the title character in Rango?

Did you enjoy the IWSG posts this week? See some cool new books and news today? Envious of my gifts and the Hot Tamales? (I’ll share!) Know any of the animated film trivia? Going to see Skyfall or Lincoln this weekend? And where were you three years ago today…?