I Just Stopped in to Say I Won't Be Stopping In

No, seriously. I decided to go along with what a couple of other bloggers are doing and wait to give my review for "The Jubilee Singers" until all three parts have aired. I debated with myself the past couple days over how to do it, but finally decided that this was the best choice.

This episode was definitely the best of the season so far, and I have nothing negative to say about it, so it'd be a pretty boring review. Hopefully by the time all three episodes have aired, I'll have a pretty balanced review thought out.

Feel free to comment about what you think of the idea and about what you thought of the episode. I'll still be delivering news every time there's something new, I just won't be reviewing episodes until May 22. Unless of course, like the second part is horrible, and then I'll have a very well-balanced review to put out.

Also, if you haven't yet, be sure to vote in Dale Jacobs' favorite Odyssey blog contest at the Odyssey Owl! (Vote for me!)

This Stuff Just Keeps on Coming!

There are loads of information coming from Brock and the AIO team this week. Dale Jacobs from the Odyssey Owl put out the information yesterday and gave his thoughts on it:

• Scientists believe the future is ahead of us


• Blackgaard saga to be released in 2011


• Parker family gets new baby sitter


• Emily Jones solves another case


• Mathew Parker invents new Imagination Station adventure


• Album 52 includes an episode named "As Fast As I Can"

We went from knowing the title to alot of other things as well. So that is a lot to take in in one sitting, so i am going to break it down for you.

Well I really don't know what the first one is about. Im guessing it has something to do with the City Hall clock tower.

The Blackgaard saga will be a collection of all the episodes that Blackgaard was in. So Daring Deeds and Sinister Schemes, Waylaid in a windy city, and Darkness Before Dawn.

Also, the most exciting part of this post... I managed to get a picture of the new Album 52. It is the picture at the top of this post.

In other news, the Official Adventures in Odyssey Podcast has a new and exciting podcast for us:

Bob and Jesse interview Zach Callison on his role as Matthew Parker and hear about his work on “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” Plus: hear the title of album 52!

This is a very informative podcast and just gets me more excited for the "Ask the Parkers" podcast.

So we've got a lot to look forward to this fall with Album 52, "Cause and Effect" hitting stores at the same time it airs on the radio. Keep checking in for more information as AIO's 51st season draws to an end.

More Secrets Revealed

There is a new video podcast up at the Official Adventures in Odyssey Podcast Blog, not to be confused with the Adventures in Odyssey Blog.





It features Brock telling us about a new video podcast for Mother's Day. I'm not sure of all the details because I was concetrating more on what was going on behind Brock. Look closely, and you will see something that Blodyssey has been dying to see ever since the fake album art for Album 52 got out.

Also, for anyone who is following it, the second edition of The Odyssey Scoopcast is up. It provides a recap of all the new information and surprises being revealed around Blodyssey in the past week or so. Kevin McCreary, creator of The Ceiling Fan Podcast is the host.

Finally, the second heartcast is out on The Heart of Odyssey. And the 24th episode of The Ceiling Fan is up as well. It's pretty funny. Their podcast has a reputation of exaggerating and doing hilarious interviews.

That's all the info for now. Keep on the lookout for more updates and secrets revealed in the near future.

Arin's Judgement

For anyone who cares and hasn't yet looked at the other blogs:

Arin's Judgment, the second installment of the Passages repackaging project is out. Each book in the Passages book series, written by Paul McCusker, is being re-released a second time with a new look. Each new book will contain a new cover with a computer-generated image, and, I believe, an eight-page color insert in the middle of the book. I'm not sure if there will be a map included in these most recent releases. When they were re-released in the early 2000s, they came with a map attached to the back, but they may or may not do that again.

I've only read two of the books in this series, but the two that I did read were some of the most well-written, exciting books that I'd ever read. Paul McCusker does a fantastic job as an author. Check out some of his other AIO books here.

Also, if you haven't yet, check out the re-release of book #1, Darien's Rise. This book has also been made into a radio drama, and others are to be recorded as well.

This Episode Was...

I don't have much to say, nor do I have much time in which to say anything about this episode, so I'm going to go away from my usual long, organized reviews, and just do what all of the other blogs are doing and tell you some points I had on this episode:

• I loved hearing from Connie again. And there was great writing for hers and Eugene's characters. Probably because it wasn't just Tim Hodge writing. Paul McCusker apparently had a part in it too. That's probably why "Abuelita" was included and all of the characters remained true to their personalities.
• Olivia sounded a lot better in this episode. I just wish they wouldn't have said that she was eleven. She sounds more like fourteen/fifteen. But they probably didn't want to have her that old so that she wouldn't have to deal with teenage issues, since this is a show for 8-12- year-olds.
• I noticed something a little weird--when Olivia walked away and broke down, she sounded a lot like Connie. I guess that was just her actress' adult side coming out. And her wanting to go back in time with the Imagination Station reminded me of the AIO book "Strange Journey Back" in which Mark Prescott tries to go back in time and change the day that his dad left his mom.
• This episode reminded me of the episode where Connie has, like fifteen different things to do every day including writing for the Odyssey Times, and Whit teaches her how to manage her time, and she gives, like ten of those things up. Sorry for the run-on sentence, but I don't remember what the name of the episode is. (Comment if you know the episode I'm talking about!)
• This was a very real-to-life episode. More so than we've really ever seen in Odyssey. It sounded like a real-to-life girl having real-to-life trouble juggling real-to-life activities. But the episode, as some of the other reviews suggested, was somewhat lacking. There wasn't much action, and when there was, it was Olivia. There was only one storyline involving one kid, so it definitely seemed to be missing something.
• I liked hearing from Whit again. Mr. Stojka seemed to do a much better job in this episode. And I loved hearing him give advice from the Bible. If Andre isn't yet saved, at least these episodes can have a positive witness to him.
• I had never heard the word "flake" used any other way than to refer to a light, flaky object before this episode. I thought that that was kind of weird.
• I loved the ending with Chris. It reminded me of the old days when Chris had a lot more to say before and after episodes.
• And, finally, I wanted to say something about Red Hollard. Although we didn't hear his voice in this episode, we still found out a little more about his character. It was surprising to hear that he is active at Whit's End. I thought he was just going to act as a neighbor character to the Parkers. He seems like a mix between Wooton and Bernard, and I could probably get used to having him on the show a lot. But I would be very sad if Bernard was replaced by him.

Okay, so I guess I did have a lot to say. But I was just too lazy to try to make it look more organized. You guys are lucky I finish what I say I'll... Overall, this was a pretty good... I give it a...

Just kidding! I give 7/10 stars. Please comment!