New Amazon Vine Reviews

I have gotten reviews posted for a couple of my latest Vine items. The Secret Scroll was OK as was Allison Moorer's Mockingbird. I had higher hopes for both of these items prior to their arrival, but that's what happens sometimes when marketing and reality collide. While neither was awful, I'm glad I didn't pay for either of them. Wisely's latest CD is proving a bit more promising, but I'm not quite ready to write it up yet.

Until next time...
PH

Champion In The Family

Everyone join me in congratulating Damon and the Jazz of the Mid-cities Basketball 6th Grade League for winning the Silver Bracket of the playoff tournament. They went 4-1 in double elimination play after going winless in the regular season. They capped the week of play with wins this past Friday evening, Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon. Do you think you could play 3 games in 24 hours? Me neither.

Enjoy a couple of pictures from the ceremony.

Until next time...
PH

Scattershooting Saturday

Wow, has it really been that long since my last post? That can only mean that there's a lot of ground to cover so here we go...

One of the things that have been taking up my time lately is that I have joined a book club through Barnes and Noble. The common tie that this has to Amazon's Vine program is that you can receive advanced copies of books to read. However, the difference is that there are fewer of them with more time between. The First Look program is the section of the club that reads and discusses advanced copies of books. I am currently taking part in the discussion for The Sister. I would have never chosen this on my own, but it turned out to be an interesting read. At some point I will be posting a review on the BN website. Stay tuned... One other note, unlike Vine the First Look program is open to anyone who registers for the Barnes and Noble Book Club.

A few weeks ago, Ben and I went back to school - beer school that is! Each month The Covey in Forth Worth has beer school (it will be somewhere on the event page) on the third Sunday. The beer was pretty good, but the "sausage" platter was even better. Would you expect chilled BBQ Salmon on a sausage platter? Me neither but that's what we got. I don't know if it's always that way, but I'd be willing to go back and find out...

Dad and Bobbie were in for a visit a couple of weeks ago. They came to see one of Damon's basketball games. We mixed in a trip to the Fort Woof dog park and a few good restaurants to round out a nice visit. It was a short visit, but we enjoyed it.

Vine has also kept me pretty busy. In addition to the normal monthly newsletter, they had a special "clearance" newsletter the beginning of this month. Between the two, I selected two books and two CDs. I just finished reading The Secret Scroll last night, and I will be posting my review in the next couple of days. My CDs just came yesterday. I chose a couple of pretty different selections: Mockingbird by Allison Moorer and the latest CD from Wisely. I should have something up for both of these by the end of next week. Both artists have enabled streaming of the entire CD on their web sites (Allison Moorer and Wisley) if you are interested. Finally, I am waiting on Now You See Him to arrive. With all the books, I guess you can see where blogging time might lose out...

We also have our house back on the market as of Monday. We are now with a Keller Williams agent based on a recommendation from a family friend. Darin Davis has our listing on his site now as well on all of the normal MLS sites. We hope this is going to be the listing that does it.

And that is what's been keeping us busy for the last few weeks.

Until next time...
PH

Amazon Vine Reivew: Logitech Harmony One Remote

Well this was a little slower in coming that I anticipated, but Amazon had some technical difficulties posting my review after I submitted it last week. However my review of the Logitech Harmony One Remote is now on the product page. While it's a nice gadget, it took a lot of work to make it usable. As such I would say that it is not for the faint of heart.

Until next time...
PH

Song for Your Valentine

If you and your spouse/significant other are both readers of Philip's Corner, you'll need to act fast. I came across a song recently that is about as good of a Valentine's Day song as you are going to find. There is a good chance that you are not familiar with the work of Steve Earle. He's not someone that you are going to hear on Top 40 radio stations. I'm not sure if you will hear his music on any radio station. I had heard of him before, but I found him when I was looking at his wife, Allison Moorer's, upcoming CD. There in the eight pages of "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" I found Steve Earle's CD Washington Square Serenade. On this CD you will find a beautiful duet, Days Aren't Long Enough, between the two who also happen to be married. I think you will find the lyrics are rather fitting for Valentine's Day. Share them with someone you love.

Until next time...
PH

Amazon Vine Review: Thieves & Liars

I've just completed my review of the new Thieves & Liars CD When Dreams Become Reality. The overall reception for this CD has been pretty lukewarm to this point, but I really enjoyed it. You just don't find much these days that would be considered rock 'n roll, and there is no shortage of bad music that is really well marketed. Fortunately, I think that this is a quality CD. Being based on a story from the Bible, you don't have to worry about your kids listening to the lyrics. At the same time it avoids a lot of the watered down fluff that passes for Contemporary Christian music. I apologize if I have stepped on any toes with that last comment, but we will have to agree to disagree.

Until next time...
PH

January on the Vine

The January offerings from Amazon Vine were pretty interesting. They had a number of music selections to choose from, and I opted for a CD from new rock band Thieves & Liars. I've been listening to this CD for about a week now, and I've really enjoyed it. It tells the story of Joseph found in Genesis. I should be posting my review by the end of the week.

In addition they had a few gadgets available - yes, I love electronics. They are essentially toys for grown men. This month I opted to evaluate the Logitech Harmony One Advanced Universal Remote. I haven't spent a lot of time with it yet, but the set up has proved to be challenging to this point. I'll probably be a little bit later in the month with my review on this.

Until next time...
PH