Glenn Perrett

Goosebumps on DVD!

Children like the Goosebumps books by R. L. Stine and the Goosebumps DVDs (Fox Home Entertainment) are fun too. Three DVDs that children will enjoy are One Day at HorrorLand, Monster Blood and A Night in Terror Tower.

Monster Blood contains four entertaining stories. Monster Blood I and More Monster Blood has a boy, Evan, finding a can of green, slimy Monster Blood which starts to grow causing all kinds of trouble. How to Kill a Monster has two children visiting their grandparents who have a monster locked up in the house. The Girl Who Cried Monster is a fun story about a girl who realizes the librarian, Mr. Mortman, is a monster who is invited to dinner.

On Day at HorrorLand features two stories - One Day at HorrorLand and Welcome to Camp Nightmare while A Night in Terror Tower includes A Night in Terror Tower and Stay Out of the Basement.

Goosebumps on DVD are good to watch at Halloween or at other times when children feel like being frightened! Each DVD is close to an hour and a half in length.

Good Book on Garlic

The Complete Book of Garlic: A Guide for Gardeners, Growers, and Serious Cooks
Ted Jordan Meredith
Timber Press
2008, 330 pages
ISBN: 9780881928839

An easy and effective way to save money and help the environment is to grow some of your own food. We ate our own beans, zucchini and tomatoes during the summer. We have also frozen beans for the winter and we dried extra tomatoes and zucchini to be used in soups. We also have enough potatoes and garlic to last us well into the winter. All of this food will save us money and it is organic and didn't have to be transported considerable distance to market.

We grow garlic every year in our gardens. Not only is it healthy for you, but it is easy to grow. We save some garlic cloves and plant them in the fall. After planting, all they require is a little weeding until they can be harvested the following summer and fall.

If you enjoy garlic then you will be interested in Ted Jordan Meredith's impressive book on this allium - The Complete Book of Garlic: A Guide to Gardeners, Growers, and Serious Cooks. In his book Meredith covers many subjects about garlic including: natural history, cuisine, therapeutic benefits, structure and function, cultivation, taxonomy and diversity, diseases and pests, composition and chemistry, garlic groups as well as information on growing and buying garlic and recommended cultivars.

I was particularly interested in the chapter on "Therapeutic Benefits" and enjoyed reading Meredith's information about garlic pertaining to its health benefits. According to Meredith,

"Cooked garlic still contains numerous sulfur compounds and derivatives besides allicin that are associated with a range of therapeutic benefits, including reduction of blood pressure, anticancer effects, and immune system effects."

Meredith also points out garlic's antibiotic effects.

"Many studies have confirmed that garlic is an effective antibiotic on bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses, and that garlic extract can suppress the growth of bacteria that are resistant to commonly used antibiotics."

The Complete Book of Garlic will be of interest to gardeners, cooks and those looking to live more sustainable lives.

Two Books for Halloween

Books consisting of numerous, short, scary stories are ideal to read at Halloween. Two good books are Hell House & Other True Hauntings From Around the World and Ghostly Adventures: Chilling True Stories from America's Haunted Hot Spots.

Hell House by Alison Rattle and Allison Vale (Sterling Publishing, 2008, 208 pages, ISBN: 9781402763106) consists of more than 40 ghost stories from North America (10), Caribbean (3), South America (4), Euroope (11), Australia (4), Africa (5) and Asia (6).

From the United States you can learn about ghosts of the White House, spirits that haunt Alcatraz Prison, Hell House of New Orleans and the Amityville House while in Canada you can learn about the Windigo in the story "Phantom of the Forests" and the reportedly haunted Banff Springs Hotel.

Ghost stories in Europe occur at the Tower of London in England, Castle Coch in Wales and Spedlins Tower in Scotland as well as other frightening tales in Ireland, France, Greece, Denmark, Spain, Poland and Italy.

The stories in other countries are also entertaining and the photos and illustrations are interesting. A section on "Identifying Visitors from the Spirit World" where there are short descriptions of apparitions, ecoplasm, evil spirits, ghouls, orbs, phantom animals, poltergeists, shadow ghosts, wraiths and other "metaphysical substances" is also informative.

Hell House is a good book to add to your ghost stories collection.

Another book of short, frightening stories is Ghostly Adventures: Chilling True Stories from America's Haunted Hot Spots by Christopher Balzano (Adams Media, 2008, 246 pages, ISBN: 9781598696790).

The first part of the book looks at such topics as life after death, poltergeists, channelers and psychics and electronic voice phenomena. The second part of the book looks at specific stories including hauntings in the northeast, in the south, on the west coast and in the midwest and Great Lakes Region.

Appendices on a glossary of terms associated with ghosts and hauntings as well as other resources and paranormal groups are also included.

Book for Researching Family History

The Online Genealogy Handbook
Brad and Debra Schepp
Sterling Publishing
2008, 244 pages
ISBN: 9781402752551

Researching family trees has become a very popular activity in recent years and the Internet is a very useful tool to research ancestors.

The Online Genealogy Handbook by Brad and Debra Schepp offers considerable information about using the vast amount of online information pertaining to researching family histories. The authors look at websites, tools, keeping and understanding records, as well as putting your information online in the form of a website or blog as well as taking to the road to discover more information. They also have a chapter on "Leaving a Living Legacy" where they address ways of sharing your research. According to Brad and Debra Schepp,

"While it's a good thing to have boxes and computer files full of names and dates and documents, it's even better to share all that hard-earned research with other people. Luckily, today's interest in genealogy comes at a time when there are many ways to share what you know and to leave a legacy to future generations."

Some of their suggestions include making your own history book, putting family history information on a CD and making a scrapbook.

Those interested in learning more about their family's history may want to start their research journey reading The Online Genealogy Handbook.

Fletch Lives...and So Do the Stooges!

You can enjoy the funny "Fletch" movies again featuring Chevy Chase as Irwin "Fletch" Fletcher, an investigative reporter who gets got up in a variety of illegal activities - including police corruption and murder.

Fletch (1985) has the hilarious reporter covering the drug trade when he is approached by a man (Tim Matheson) who asks Fletch to murder him as he has inoperable cancer. When Fletch checks his story out he learns that the man's story isn't true and that it is connected to the drug trade that Fletch is investigating. Chevy Chase is very good in this popular movie.

The success of Fletch was followed with Fletch Lives (1989). In this comedy, Fletch inherits a Louisiana plantation. Trouble follows Fletch and he has to solve another murder and deal with the congregation of TV evangelist Jimmy Lee Farnsworth.

You can enjoy both Fletch and Fletch Lives on The Fletch Collection (Universal Home Entertainment).

Those who like classic comedy will appreciate The Three Stooges Collection: Volume Four 1943-1945. This 2-disc set from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the fourth volume of the "fan requested" collection. There are "21 digitally remastered shorts from the 1943-1945 era". And these shorts featuring Moe Howard, Curly Howard and Larry Fine are full of laughs.

Even if you are not a Three Stooges fan you can't help but laugh at their silly antics - particularly Curly's hilarious dances and facial expressions. I enjoyed watching the numerous episodes from 1943, 1944 and 1945 with our children. They liked the  DVDs - even though they are in black-and-white!

The shorts in the collection are:

Disc One - They Stooge to Conga, Dizzy Detectives, Spook Louder, Back From the Front, Three Little Twirps, Higher Than a Kite, I Can Hardly Wait, Dizzy Pilots, Phony Express, A Gem of a Jam.

Disc Two - Crash Goes the Hash, Busy Buddies, The Yoke's on Me, Idle Roomers, Gents Without Cents, No Dough Boys, Three Pests in a Mess, Booby Dupes, Idiots Deluxe, If a Body Meets a Body, Micro-Phonies

Approximately 6 hours of hilarious slapstick comedy on two discs will please fans of these great comedians! Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. Wooop whooop whoooop!!

Hitchcock's "Rear Window"

Looking for a good Halloween movie that isn't full of blood and violence? I suggest Rear Window, the 1954 suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. I just watched this movie for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Universal Home Entertainment just released Rear Window: Special Edition. Besides a good plot and director, the movie has a great cast which includes James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Raymond Burr, Thelma Ritter and Wendell Corey.

Nursing a broken leg and confined to a wheelchair, L.B. Jeffries (Stewart) spends his time spying on his neighbours using binoculars and the telephoto lens from his camera. Jeffries is assisted daily by Stella (Ritter), a home care nurse, and also receives daily visits from his girlfriend, Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly).

When he sees some signs that one of his neighbours, Lars Thorwald, (Raymond Burr) may have murdered his wife he enlists the help of Stella and Lisa along with Doyle (Wendell Corey), a friend who is also a detective.

Jeffries, Stella and Lisa become more involved in the suspected murder as they try to convince Doyle that a crime has occurred, placing themselves in danger in the process.

This classic film received four Academy Award nominations and has been acknowledged as one of the best films.

Rear Window: Special Edition is part of the "Universal Legacy Series" and consists of two discs featuring the digitally remastered film along with production photographs and notes, theatrical trailer and other bonus features several of which pertain to Alfred Hitchcock.

Highly recommended!

Books About Food for Animal Companions

Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook
Jessica Disbrow Talley and Eric Talley
Cider Mill Press Book Publishers
2008, 222 pages
ISBN: 9781933662954

Books such as Food Pets Die For by Ann M. Martin and the huge commercial pet food recall in March 2007 have left people more than a little concerned about what we are feeding our “best friends.” Fortunately, there are books such as Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook which informs us about how we can cook for our canine companions using quality, safe ingredients. The authors, Jessica Disbrow Talley and Eric Talley, founded the Bubba Rose Biscuit Company in 2006 and this book contains over 100 recipes for treats for your canines.

All of the recipes feature organic ingredients and do not contain wheat, corn or soy. Sections, such as “The Pantry List” which lists dry ingredients frequently used in the recipes, “Stock the ‘fridge”, “Substitutions”, “Tools of the Trade” and “Storage Tips” are useful and are at the beginning of the book. There are also nutritional tips in the book as well as other important information. For example, there is a section warning of the dangers of using onions since they are toxic, and potentially fatal, to dogs (and cats) causing “hemolytic anemia”.

If you are interested in taking a more active role in feeding your canine companions, Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook will make an important addition to your cookbook library. It would also make a nice Christmas gift for those on your Christmas list who are fortunate to share their lives with dogs.

Food Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food (Third Edition: New and Updated)
Ann N. Martin
NewSage Press
2008, 202 pages
ISBN: 9780939165568

The first edition of Food Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food was published in 1997, the second in 2003 and the third edition just recently. Ann Martin takes a look at many of the problems associated with the pet food industry. In the latest edition Martin provides a wealth of knowledge on pet food that anyone with a dog or cat would be wise to read.

Martin provides considerable information pertaining to pet food including understanding pet food labels, additives and preservatives, the rendering process, Sodium Pentobarbital, pet food regulations and manufacturers, recalls (including the recent recall of 2007), pet food companies and animal experimentation, natural pet food companies, cooking for cats and dogs along with recipes and a chapter on "Bloat: A Canine Killer" - a potentially fatal condition our elderly husky experienced recently.

In Chapter 12 "Recipes for Cats" Martin offers numerous recipes for those who want to feed their feline friends including a section on "Special Diets for Cats with Health Concerns". Martin also provides lots of information on recipes for dogs including foods to "absolutely" avoid such as chocolate, caffeine, avocados, grapes and raisins, garlic, macadamia nuts and walnuts, xylitol (a sugar substitute) as well as pits and seeds from apples, cherries and peaches.

Martin warns about the dangers of dogs and cats consuming onions too in a chapter on "Cooking for Cats."

"Both onions and garlic contain an alkaloid disulfide compound, which is toxic to both cats and dogs. Cats ingesting onions have been shown to develop a condition called 'Heinz body," where inclusions (denatured hemoglobin) attach to the red blood cells, and this leads to anemia." (page 119)

If you have a dog or cat, you should consider reading this important book.

Stay Tuned for Numerous Posts!

With Halloween almost here, many upcoming posts will focus on Christmas - although there will still be a few Halloween reviews. You can check back regularly to see the latest Christmas books, movies and music.

There are numerous good festive children's books along with some wonderful audio books and other entertaining reading pertaining to Christmas. There are also several good seasonal DVDs, including some re-releases of the classics, available. And, if you are looking to add to your Christmas music collection, there is no shortage of holiday CDs.

To help provide you with gift-giving ideas, impressive DVD collections and numerous books on various topics will also be regularly featured in the coming weeks.

2 Great Sitcoms From the '60s!

Sitcoms in the 1960s were great and two particularly popular shows were My Three Sons (1960-1972) and The Beverly Hillbillies (1962-1971). The popularity of these shows is reflected in the number of episodes. My Three Sons is one of the longest running sitcoms with 380 episodes over 12 years on both ABC and CBS. There were 274 episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies.

You can relive the entertaining sitcom My Three Sons as Paramount Home Entertainment has just released My Three Sons: The First Season - Volume One which contains the first 18 episodes (black-and-white) of the show's first season. The show was about Steve Douglas (Fred MacMurray), an aeronautical engineer and widower who was raising three sons - Mike (Tim Considine), Robbie (Don Grady) and Chip (Stanley Livingston). Helping Steve run the household was "Bub" O'Casey (William Frawley) - the boys' maternal grandfather and Steve's father-in-law.

I remember the show when it was in colour and when Uncle Charlie (William Demarest, who replaced William Frawley during the 1964-1965 season) ran the household. I also remember the show with Ernie (Barry Livingston who is the brother of costar Stanley Livingston and who joined the show in the fall of 1965).

The first year of My Three Sons contained many excellent episodes - several of which were quite creative. There is also an episode featuring George Gobel who is invited to dinner by Bub.

My Three Sons: The First Season - Volume One is good television for the whole family.

Another good sitcom in the sixties was The Beverly Hillbillies which featured the Clampetts, that fun family from the Ozarks moving to Beverly Hills after discovering oil. The Clampetts consisted of Jed Clampett (Buddy Ebsen), Granny (Irene Ryan), Elly May (Donna Douglas) and Jethro Bodine (Max Baer, Jr.) Other regulars on the show included Milburn Drysdale (Raymond Bailey) who was the president of the bank and Jane Hathaway (Nancy Kulp).

Recently released by Paramount Home Entertainment is The Beverly Hillbillies: The Official Second Season which contains 36 black-and-white episodes on 5 discs. Some of the things happening with the Clampetts in season two include Possum Day celebrations, "Christmas At the Clampetts", Granny learns to drive and Jethro graduates from the sixth grade.

Fans of this funny sitcom with a good cast will enjoy the show's second season which includes several special features.

DVDs for Halloween!

Watching scary shows and movies as we near Halloween is fun. The following are some good picks for people of various ages.

The Munsters: The Complete series
Just in time for Halloween is the complete series of The Munsters from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. The 12-disc set contains all 70 episodes from the two seasons (1964 to 1966) that the black-and-white show aired on the CBS Television network. The half-hour sitcom was created by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher who had worked together on another popular Universal Television show - Leave It to Beaver. This impressive collection also includes two feature length movies - "Munster, Go Home" and "The Munsters' Revenge."

Quality bonus features include the unaired pilot episode "Family Portrait" (in colour) as well as "America's First Family of Fright!" which looks at the cast and the show's place in television history, "Fred Gwynne: More Than a Monster", "Yvonne De Carlo: Gilded Lily" and "Al Lewis: Forever Grandpa."

The cast was very good with Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster, Yvonne De Carlo as Lily Munster, Al Lewis (Grandpa), Butch Patrick (Eddie Wolfgang Munster) and Pat Priest and Beverley Owen sharing the role of Marilyn Munster. Some of the recurring guests included Paul Lynde, Dom DeLuise, Harvey Korman and Mel Blanc.

The Munsters is a good family television show (although very young children may be frightened by it). In all, this set contains more than 32 hours of entertainment of this fun show from the golden age of television. Fans of the show or 1960s television will enjoy this wonderful collection.

Filmed in Vancouver, Supernatural is a television horror show now in its fourth season that follows brothers Dean and Sam Winchester (Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki) who battle a variety of paranormal events and supernatural entities.

Supernatural: The Complete Third Season is now on DVD (5 discs, 16 episodes). A couple of the supernatural forces that the brothers fight in season three include the seven deadly sins and the mystery of a ghost ship.

Supernatural is an entertaining show for those who have an interest in paranormal activities. It's definitely not for young children (rated PG) as it is violent at times and quite scary. Besides the 16 episodes there are lots of special features including "From Legends to Reality: Supernatural Effects", "Supernatural Impala Featurette: A Look Inside the Classic 1967 Chevrolet Impala" and a gag reel.

In the "Oldies, but Goodies" category there is Beetlejuice (rated PG). While it may not seem like an old movie, it has been 20 years since Beetlejuice hit the theatres in 1988. Beetlejuice: 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition is on DVD from Warner Home Video.

This classic horror/comedy (the hilarious film is more funny than scary) was directed by Tim Burton and has a recently deceased couple (Alex Baldwin and Geena Davis) requesting the help of bio-exorcist Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) to help them remove the family that has moved into their New England house.

Michael Keaton was brilliant in his role as the gross and obnoxious Beetlejuice and the movie was a great success. There was even a Beetlejuice animated television series based loosely on the 1988 movie. Besides Keaton, Baldwin and Davis, the excellent cast also included Catherine O'Hara, Jeffrey Jones and Winona Ryder.

Bonus features include three episodes from the animated Beetlejuice series which aired on television from 1989 to 1991.