The Heart of Odyssey

Hey! There's a new blog out called "The Heart of Odyssey". Our blog community just keeps getting bigger. It is very well done and the guy who runs it knows how to use his computer.

They have put out their very first podcast today except it's called a "heartcast". Very funny. It made me laugh, which is somewhat hard to do. It is a very original idea and I look forward to hearing their reviews on episodes. It'll be a good thing to listen to while we're waiting for Chris to come back from his missions trip so that he and Sarah can start reviewing some episodes for The Unofficial Adventures in Odyssey Podcast.

Also, I'll be adding some new pages to the blog under the poll. Tell me what you think in the comments.

Don't forget to put those questions in for "Ask the Parkers"! I don't know how soon the podcast is coming, but you'd best get them in quick because I doubt they'll ask 600 questions. The ones closer to the top will probably be the ones asked.

So go check out "The Heart of Odyssey" and be back on Monday for my review of "Finish What You..."!

Big Things Are Happening!

There was a conference call meeting at Focus on the Family on Tuesday. Brock Eastman, marketing director, e-mailed all of the bloggers a phone number for a room at FOTF where there would be a question-and-answer session for those who had questions about Album 52.

Audrey S., who writes AIO Insanity, and Sarah Benson, co-host of The Unofficial Adventures in Odyssey Podcast were among those who attended the meeting via telephone. I, alas and alack, did not find the meeting something worth attending, until I read Audrey's post yesterday. I will be getting most of my info from hers and Sarah's posts.

Here are a few things that were discussed at the meeting:

• The title of Album 52 is confirmed as being "Cause and Effect", while the album art previously released at CBD's website and AIO Wiki was just a fake cover. The real one will look much cooler with three main characters looking around for something in a clock tower. Also, it has been confirmed that there will be two one-part holiday episodes. One Thanksgiving and one Christmas.


• A new book series by Paul McCusker and Marianne Hering called "The Imagination Station" is set to come out this fall with books 1 & 2. Books 3 & 4 will follow next spring. These will be chapter books directed toward 6-9-year-olds.


• There is a new feature in all upcoming album releases/re-releases called the Family Fun Panel. You will be able to pop one of the CDs in the album into your computer and watch Brock and Diane Ingolia go into different families to try to complete challenges given in the video. Watchers are encouraged to do these activities with their families, and those who do, and contact Focus will receive a button with the album name, art, and challenge name imprinted on it.

Hopefully more updates are coming soon. Keep on the lookout.

Also, new from the Official AIO Podcast Blog:

Ask the Parkers!

We will be interviewing the Parker family kids on a future podcast.

Do you have any questions for the actors behind the voices? Let us know in the comments below and your question might be answered on a future podcast!

This sounds like a very fun opportunity, at least for me. I'm still not sure if they want you to ask questions of the fictional characters or of the actors. I asked mine as if asking the actors. I can't see why they'd want to have us ask the characters anything. I don't know about you, but I think it'd be exciting to hear my name read before my question is asked on an Official Podcast. Get those questions in and you might just appear on a future podcast! Keep watching for more updates!

Hola!

Hoy estoy vando reviso semana esa capitula: "La Visita de Abuela"! Yo muy quiero capitulo esa y el es un capitulo que yo escucho otra vez y otra vez.

My guess is that most of you reading cannot understand much of what I just said. Is that how you felt when you listened to this week's episode? If I weren't taking Spanish this year, that's probably how I would have felt, and this episode wouldn't have been as fun for me as it was.

Here is a translation of what I said:

Today, I am going to review this week's episode: "Grandma's Visit"! I really liked this episode and it is one that I would listen to again and again.

I don't know if it's just because I listened to such a bad episode yesterday morning, or because the episode was that good, but I would definitely label this episode my second favorite of the season. I'm going to review it the same way I reviewed yesterday's.

Positives:

• All of the acting was amazing! There was not one actor who did a bad job in this episode. The casting was excellent and everyone sounded great. Even Whit, whom I was not expecting a good performance from did a terrific job. Since he was behind the counter as the advice-giving, listening Whit, I expected him to sound fake again. But he nearly nailed the performance this time. I also thought that Amanda Troop did exceptionally well as Eva. I'm liking her character more and more every time I hear from her.
• I liked the family relationships in this episode. The Parkers came together to make room for their large family and I can relate to that. I loved the playful banters between David and Eva. They are a great example of what a mom and dad should be for each other and for their children. I appreciated how Eva stood up to her mother after trying to go along with her with the wedding plans. It reminded me of "For Better or For Worse" when Eugene and Katrina get married, and Katrina's mother wants things to go along with tradition.
• I liked that the kids were the narrators and Whit was the one hearing the story. It gave the episode a unique twist and I was sort of reminded of "I Slap Floor" where Bernard tells a crazy story to David and Mandy Straussberg.
• The episode had good messages about forgiveness, respect, and family.
• We finally know why the Parkers had to meet in the bathroom! I had forgotten about it until I heard this episode.

Negatives:

• I agree with those who said that this episode at some points felt like a soap opera. Sometimes it got a little too mature for the target audience. Most of the members of my family hadn't yet learned what eloping was. I found it interesting that Rosalita's love for Rodrigo was so weak that she would elope with her ex-fiancee and leave him in the dust. This aspect of the story sounded like nothing we've ever heard before in Odyssey except maybe in "The Question About Tasha".
• There was no mention of anything spiritual in the episode, and while the episode had a good lesson and good values, I would have appreciated hearing Whit talk about what God intended marriage to be or something along those lines.

Overall this was, again, a great episode and one that I could listen to many times and keep laughing. I give it a 9/10, just below "Target of the Week". It was good to hear from Bob Hoose again, and I was glad to hear that he's not leaving Odyssey as my April Fool's joke stated.

I was interested to see that next Saturday's episode: "Finish What You..." is written by former Veggietales writer, Tim Hodge, and I believe this is his first episode. It will be interesting to see how it turns out. You only have one day left to vote in the poll!

When I'm Right, I'm Right

I didn't like this episode very much at all. It got a little better near the end, but there were a lot of objectionable elements in it, at least for me. I'll address the episode by giving the positive and negative elements. Negative first:

• There was a lot of disrespect toward parents, particularly Mr. Jones. As in the episode, "And That's the Truth", we need to be honest, and yet caring and respectful. There wasn't much of that, just a lot of needing to be painfully honest on Emily's part. I don't know who Kirby Atkins is, but he/she definitely has different views than Paul McCusker on telling the truth.
• I didn't like that a kid who sounds like an 11-year-old had a girlfriend from school whom he meets with privately and accepts hugs from. And when did we find out that Barrett was older than Emily? She sounds way older than him.
• I didn't like the namecalling or bickering between Emily, Barrett, and Jay. Jay is definitely more of a bully than Rodney Rathbone ever was. He is mean and he hits where it hurts. The kids in this episode sounded like any other kids of the world, not godly, Christian kids from a small town middle school.
• They didn't really address that what Emily did was wrong. She shouldn't have been messing with her brother's love life (even if he shouldn't have one to begin with). The only good message in this episode was a slightly noticeable message to take advice, and long for wisdom and discernment.

Positive:

• I was glad that Mr. Jones talked to Emily near the end, and that there was a message about asking for forgiveness again.
• One thing that was kind of positive was that Matthew took action against Emily's wrongdoing. He told her that what she did was wrong and that she shouldn't do that to her brother.
• The acting was good, I think Barrett's actor found the right voice because he sounded good. We heard from Matthew again, and I'm sure we did in "Grandma's Visit" too. Hopefully we get a break from him in "Finish What You..."

Not much to say on the positive side of things. This episode could have been any other radio drama of the world, and that's not what Adventures in Odyssey is. There was an okay message, but over all, I didn't like this episode. I give it a 3/10.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for my review on "Grandma's Visit", and check out my review for "For the Birds" if you haven't already. Also, vote in the poll; it closes on Thursday.

"For the Birds" Was for the Birds

Just kidding. I liked this episode. Phil Walton and Paul McCusker did a good job of putting both storylines together. I want to review the episode by giving my thoughts on each character:

• First of all, Whit, of course! I didn't like Andre's voice so much in this episode. It seems like he can do a good job in the inventive Whit area, and in the baseball commentator area. But so far in this season, when the writers have put him behind the counter as ice cream-maker and advice-giver Whit, as a friend of mine put it, he sounds fake. I'll hopefully get used to him soon enough but for now, he just doesn't cut it for me.
• Connie didn't have too big a part in this episode, but when she was talking, I think she did a great job and I was glad to hear from her again. It seems like she's gotten over her obsession with the Inspiration Station. She just doesn't seem like Connie when she's that kind and patient and caring and sweet. It's been interesting that we haven't heard about the Inspiration Station at all since the first two episodes of the season. Hopefully there will be more episodes describing more of what it does in the near future. By the way, when did Connie learn to cut and style hair?
• Eugene played a big part in this episode as expected. I found it weird that birds were drawn to only his hair. Doesn't Connie have practically the same color of hair? And more of it, for that matter? Why weren't the birds attracted to her? Also, Eugene seemed a bit out of character concerning his fear of the birds. I mean, I guess I'd be scared if birds were chasing me and trying to bite my head, but it's not like Eugene, as an adult, to scream like a little girl, especially around other adults. The first scene was especially weird. There isn't really any chemistry between Camilla and Eugene, or between Camilla and friend.
• Wooton was definitely back to character today. He was back to his usual quirky self with funny, useless information. I love the scene where he describes to the Parker family why he named his moose Dexter and how nearly immediately after that he becomes sober with the fact that Dexter is barely moving. And then he offers to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but decides not to, for fear of blowing him up. :D I laughed out loud a couple times. I hope we get to hear more of Wooton in the upcoming episodes.
• It seemed weird that Mr. and Mrs. Parker believed in the Parker Family Curse without really believing in it. They seemed to give past tragedies concerning pets as a reason for not allowing Camilla to have a pet. I greatly liked the relationship that David seemed to have with Camilla. He acted as the spiritual leader of the family, which is what fathers are supposed to be to their wife and children.
• Olivia's voice keeps getting better. She now sounds more like a fifteen-year-old and that's how I picture her. I thought it was kind of funny that Mrs. Parker was the one who killed her pet. It would be just like my mom to sit on a small pet, paying no attention to the fact that it was there. My mom is the reason we don't have any pets in our house. She doesn't like them.
• Matthew only had a few lines in this episode, adn one of his lines was something I didn't like about the episode: "They had a suicide pact." Referring to the dead goldfish. It was funny, but a little too mature for 8-12-year-olds. Also, a few other bloggers and I noticed that Matthew has been in every episode this season. I could use a little break from him.
• I liked hearing a lot from Camilla, and her actress did a good job. I liked that the ending of the episode was unexpected and realistic: The bird died, which I definitely didn't expect, adn we don't hear of her getting a dog. So I guess the sound designers get out of having to record for a dog yet again. : )

Overall, this was a great episode. The ending with Chris was a little corny, but still enjoyable. I'll give this episode an 8.5/10. Check back tomorrow for my review on "When You're Right, You're Right", which I haven't even heard yet. Also, vote in the new poll.

Go check out the important things that happened while I was gone if you haven't already: The Winner of the Act Like Odyssey Contest, and The Odyssey Scoop Surprise Revealed.