No list is complete without Friends!

A list of my favorite shows would not be complete without Friends. Friends premiered on NBC on September 22, 1994 and the rest is history. When the show ended its run on May 6, 2004 it was still very popular. Even now 10 years after the show ended, its popularity has never waned. It would be hard to find someone who has never heard of the six friends. Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe are forever apart of our lives. My sister and I will quote a line to each other and before we know it we quoting entire episode line by line. I swear it happens. Don’t believe me, ask my family.

Each character is important to the show and take even one out, the show would be off. My favorite characters are Chandler, Joey and Phoebe. I love Chandler’s social anxiety when it comes to women. He’s sweet and sarcastic. Joey is a little boy in a man’s body. He’s funny and so innocent in so many ways but he also has some great wisdom that showed him in a new light. Of course, his most famous line “How you doin’?” Phoebe is very eccentric with odd views of the world and I like how it interacts and often conflicts with Ross’s strictly scientific view.

It’s hard to choose my favorite episodes, so I picked my three of my all-time favorites. First, The One With the Embryos (January 15, 1998) where Phoebe is impregnated as a surrogate for her brother and her sister-in-law. The best moments are from Joey, Chandler, Rachel and Monica as they play a harmless game of who knows who better until the stakes are raised. Second, The One with the Football (November 21, 1996). It’s Thanksgiving when everyone decides to play football which brings out the intense sibling competition between Ross and Monica. One of my favorite lines in the show is when Monica is celebrating that her team is winning, “42-21 like the turkey, Ross is done.” Whenever I watch football games and the score is 42-21, I will quote this line. Lastly, The One Where No One is Ready (September 26, 1996) where Ross is desperately tries to get the rest of the gang ready for an event at the museum. This episode has many hilarious lines that I quote all lines but one of my favorites is Joey’s. After Chandler hides his underwear and Ross suggests that Joey not wear underwear, he responds with “It’s a rented tux. Okay? I’m not gonna go commando in another man’s fatigues.” These episodes still cracked me up after so many years.

So what your favorite Friends characters, episodes or line? After 20 years, what about the show still has an impact on you? 

The After House: three mysteries all rolled into one exciting book!

The After House by Michael Phillip Cash is his new ghost story. An after house is in the deckhouse nearest the stern of a ship, a place when the men go to stay of the elements and was said to the safest place on the ship. An old house on Long Island holds many secrets as it could a safe haven or a tomb.

The story begins with Captain Eli Gaspar, sailing off the coast of Puerto Rico, 1840, is hunting whales. He’s been at sea for 13 months and he thinks about all he has missed. When a whale they are hunting rams the ship, destroying it. Captain Eli is left adrift. Flash forward to 2014, Cold Springs Harbor, Long Island where Remy Gallway and her daughter, Olivia are settling in to their new house. Olivia feels as if someone is watching them as strange things happen around the house. Rooms left in disarray, the electric goes on and on and a strange orb is seen around the house. The audience learns that Captain Eli is in the house and is trying to get Remy and Olivia to leave. He soon realizes that they don’t scare easily until someone tries to kill Remy on multiple occasions and Eli feels very protective. He tries to warn Remy of the coming danger.

I enjoyed this story as it has a great mystery about what happened to Eli after his ship was destroyed, what happened to Eli’s wife and children and who is trying to kill Remy. The resolutions of all three mysteries were excited and something I did not expect. This book was a fast read as it held my attention and had me eagerly awaiting the next piece of the puzzle. This is not a ghost story that is out to scare or frighten its audience. It is simply a mystery which involves a ghost who is searching for his family as well as protecting the one in his house. I highly recommend it.

The After House by Michael Phillip Cash is available

on Amazon on the Kindle for $0.99

NCIS: one of my favorite shows

I’m going to do a three part series on my favorite shows. First up, the wonderful CBS show, NCIS, a show which is now in its 12^th season. It is a show about a Major Case Response Team of highly trained special agents of Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). They investigate crimes involving the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps.

The team leader is Leroy Jethro Gibbs (played my Mark Harmon), a former Marine sniper, tough investigator and even tougher interrogator. He relies on his gut instinct as well as evidence. He teaches his team his rules for the job and for life. Gibbs is very protective of his team and in many instances, a strong father figure for them. Second in command and senior field agent Anthony DiNozzo, (played by Michael Weatherly), is a movie-quoting former Baltimore Homicide Detective. At the show’s beginning he was a womanizer and chased anything in a skirt but he has evolved away it since recent season due to his friendship and possible love interest with Ziva David (played by Cote de Pablo). Forensic scientist and Goth loving, Abby Sciuto, (played by Pauley Perrette), is the brilliant scientist who can find even the tiniest piece of evidence. Timothy McGee (played by Sean Murray) is the computer-savvy special agent who can hack his way into any computer to get the evidence needed. Finally, Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard (played by David McCallum), is the medical examiner who has odd stories and tidbits of history which may seem out of place but often fit in with the nature of the case. In recent seasons, Ducky becomes a brilliant psychological profiler.

What I love about this show are: 1) the camaraderie among the characters. Gibbs may be rough with his team but deep down his feels like a father protecting his children. He even tells Ziva, when she asks him if he is lonely, “You’re never alone when you have kids” before kissing her forehead and walking away. That one line sums up the relationships among the team members. They are co-workers but they are also a family. DiNozzo  may mock and ribbed McGee must like an older brother would do, when push comes to shove he would fight to hell and back for McGee. 2) the great mixture of drama with humor. Many of the episodes of NCIS  has some great tearjerker scenes as well as some laugh out loud humor, particularly with Tony. And 3) I like Gibbs’ rules. In Season 10, it was revealed that they are 51 rules as the audience sees Gibbs write #51. Many of the rules make sense and can be applied in daily life. One of my favorites is Rule #11 “When the job is done, walk away.” It’s a good rule to live by and basically means leave work at work.

There have been a few changes to the show particularly characters who are gone whom I do not miss. First, Kate Todd, (played by Sasha Alexander), an agent who was featured in the first two seasons and killed off at the end of Season 2. She was annoying and constantly criticizing and shocked at DiNozzo’s womanizing ways. This character trait confused me because she came to NCIS from the Secret Service which she admits most of her fellow agents were men. So all her time in the Secret Service, she never, ever came across a man or men like Tony? That’s hard to believe. I never felt that Kate melded with the team like Ziva did. Second, Jenny Shepard (played by Lauren Holly) from Season 3 to Season 5. I did not like her attitude of “Oh I’m a woman but the boss now, deal with it” with Gibbs. I didn’t like the constantly alluding to Gibbs and Jenny’s affair when they were partners in the field. I think I tolerated her in the show because she did have some great moments in the show but I think her storyline with La Grenouille dragged on too long.

Even though I love the character, Ziva, I feel her departure from the show was needed because I knew the next step would be to develop the romantic relationship between Tony and Ziva and when that happens it almost always ruins the show. While I miss her interactions with the team, her leaving was the right thing to do. The new addition of Ellie Bishop has me on the fence about her character. I like her but I’m not quite sure how she will fit in with the team. Only time will tell, I guess. I love this show and look forward to watching it every week. I do not watch NCIS: LA or the new spinoff, NCIS: New Orleans because nothing will be as good as Gibbs and his team. 

Honor those who have served on Veterans Day

November 11^th is Veterans Day, a day when we honor and remember those who fought for our freedoms. The purpose of Veterans Day is to honor America’s veterans for their service, patriotism and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good of the American people. A fun fact that I discover is the Marine Corps birthday is celebrated on November 10 (1775) and since the birthday and Veterans Day are a day after one another, the Marine Corps customarily observes both occasions with a 96 hour liberty period.

Veterans Day originated as Armistice Day to honor World War I veterans. November 11^th was chosen to remember the temporary cease fire between the Allied Nations and Germany on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. November 11, 1918 has been called the end of World War I with the Treaty of Versailles officially ending the war on June 28, 1919. On the one year anniversary of the armistice, President Wilson proclaimed November 11^th as the first commemoration of Armistice Day. Congress would make November 11^th a legal holiday on May 13, 1938. By 1954, after World War II required the greatest mobilization of U.S. armed forces and after Americans fought in Korea, the 83^rd Congress amended the Act of 1938 changing it from Armistice Day to Veterans Day, in honor of veterans of all American wars. October 8, 1954, President Eisenhower proclaimed the first Veterans Day.

There are many veterans in my life who served this country with honor. I wish I could name you all, I want to focus on two veterans who means the world to me and to my husband. First, my grandfather Ken Bedard. He was born Charles Kenneth Bedard on March 11, 1922 in Boston, Massachusetts. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he, along with many young men of his generation, answered the call to serve. He joined the U.S. Navy and was assigned to the U.S.S. Kitkun Bay (CVE 71). He served proudly until the end of the war when he left the Navy, met and married my grandma Ruby and begin their lives together in Southern California. Although he never openly talked about his experience in the war, I knew that he held this country in high esteem and did not tolerate any disrespect to the American flag or America’s service men and women.

Another veteran who is very important in my family is my late father-in-law, Joe Y. Lara. Joe was born November 5, 1930 in Los Angeles, California. He joined the U.S. Army after his father’s death in 1946 in order to help support his siblings and would lie about his age in order to enlist. He would be sent to Korea and would be a member of the airborne division. He would serve ten years in the Army before returning home to Los Angeles. He would teach his son the love of this country as well as respecting and honoring her veterans. No matter where we are, if my husband sees a military uniform or something that identifies the individual as a vet, he will take a moment to thank them for their service. This habit I know he will teach our children.

In conclusion, our veterans are very important to us. They volunteer to go to war around the world. They are away from family and friends, often missing life moments that we take for granted all that we can enjoy our life with the freedom that we have. Some veterans come back wounded. Many wounds we can see and many wounds we cannot. On this Veterans Day and every day, if you see a veteran, make an effort to say thanks because regardless of your opinions on war, they sacrificed a lot to ensure your freedoms.

To all the veterans, we thank you for your service and sacrifice. 

Another book for the Did-Not-Finish-List

The dreaded Did-Not-Finish list. Every reader has one. It is the books that were so complicated or convoluted that it makes it impossible to finish and enjoy the story. There are only a few on my list of books I could not finish, most recently I and You by Beverly Garside. When I accepted the request to review this book, I was excited about the story. It was described as a world in which the principles of Ayn Rand of objectivism are applied in the United States in 2098. The pronoun “we” had been replaced with the ideologically correct “I and You.”

When the book arrived, I was disappointed. First, it was huge. It is 8x10 sized with 205 pages. It is the size of some of my college textbooks, which makes it hard to read laid back and relaxed. Second, I didn’t realize it was a graphic novel. Although I do read comic books and graphic novels from time to time, they aren’t my primary reading material. But I tried to give it a go. I read for quite a number of pages and I realized that I was following the story and I really didn’t care about the characters or the events that were taking place.

This book maybe be great and filled with many great insights about society and the society we may become one day. It may appeal to fans of Ayn Rand and her philosophies. I’ve only read one of her books and it was a good book but difficult to get through. If you are a fan of Ayn Rand and her novels and you enjoy graphic novels, this is the book for you. Unfortunately, I could not finish it. 

Will-o-the-wisp: ancient stories and modern explanations

During my research for my Halloween, I came across a phenomena called the “will-o-the-wisp.” Anyone familiar with the Disney/Pixar film, Brave, will recognize the term. In the movie the wisps are the benevolent spirits of the dead who aid the living by leading them to their destinies. However, in the cultural mythologies from around the world, these lights aren’t always so helpful. They are the atmospheric ghost lights seen by travelers at night. It resembles a flickering light and said to recede if approached, drawing the travelers from the safe path. The term wisp comes from the bundle of sticks or paper that is sometimes used as a torch.

In some areas of Europe, wisps are the mischievous spirits of the dead or supernatural beings, like fairies. In Sweden, the wisp represents the soul of an unbaptized person, in the hopes of being baptized, leads travelers to water. Many cultures, like the Finns, Danes, and Irish to name a few, believe the will of the wisp marks the location of treasure deep in the ground or in water. In Asia, the wisps are known as Aleyas, which occur over marshes and believe to confuse fisherman, make them lose their bearings and may even lead them to drown. In the United States, the wisps are often called ghost lights or orbs.

There have been scientific explanations to these strange lights. In 1776, Alessandro Volta thought the lights were caused by methane gas. The theory was largely dismissed until Major Louis Blesson, in 1832, was able to determine that these lights were an ignited gas. He observed the light and after several attempts, he was able to capture some of the lights. The modern scientists generally accepts that these lights are the oxidation of phosphine, diphosphine, and methane. These gases are produced by organic decay and can cause photon emissions thus giving off light.

The will-o-the-wisps have long been seen in literature.  In John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Satan is compared to the “will-o-the-wisp” in tempting Eve with the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner describes “the death-fires” that danced at night. J.R.R. Tolkien used the wisp as inspiration for the lights in the Dead Marshes outside of Mordor, where Smeagol warns Frodo and Sam not to follow the lights. And most recently, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series used hinkypunk, the southwestern English name of the wisp, as the creature who tries to trick the characters to their doom.

It was fun researching the different stories from around the world as they tried to describe what these strange lights could be. I wish I could write about all the cultures that have stories about these strange lights but it was enough information to fill a book! It is interesting to see how the different cultures describe these lights and how the stories appear in literature and even in modern movies. I particularly like Brave’s depiction of them, the benevolent spirits leading people to events that would change their lives. 

A great new story about the importance lesson about stealing

Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis by Carole P. Roman is another great book in this series. The theme of this story is stealing and how wrong it is to take something without permission.

The captain and his crew have approached an ice mountain and the captain wants to take it home. The crew is upset that he wants to take something without permission. The crew refuses to help. Then the aurora borealis fills the sky and the captain decides he wants that instead. The crew decides to recreate the aurora borealis so that the captain have to take the one from the sky.

I enjoyed this book for its use of imagination to teach about the aurora borealis as well as the theme of stealing is wrong. Children will enjoy the characters and the beautiful illustrations. I highly recommend this book for any family and classroom library.

Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis

is available on Amazon on 

the Kindle for $1.99 and in paperback for $9.99