Jubilee Singers

Well Friends, time sure flies, doesn't it? The final installment of the Jubilee Singers airs this Saturday and I'm excited for the conclusion! For those who wondered, I have indeed held off listening to my cds until the episode airs on the radio. It's been tough, but I made it! I know I am way behind on reviews, but they will come eventually!

My life has been INSANE the last few weeks. I'll spare you the details, but it has been full of funerals, weddings, wedding planning, hospital visits (my Oma fell down the stairs and broke her wrist) and writing thank you notes. My wedding is in 17 days - YAY! It's coming up fast! After that, my husband to be and I decided to go on a road trip back to Virginia and we are going to stop in Colorado Springs so I can show him Focus on the Family - super excited about that and to see my friends there again!

I'll try to get in a few more updates when I can and hopefully some reviews as well. Thanks for your patience and prayers everyone! They are greatly appreciated!

Sarah

Album 52!

Hey everyone! Boy have I got news for you today! I just got out of a super secret meeting with my contact at Focus and I have been authorized to reveal some exciting news to you all about Album 52! I know some of you are on the Town of Odyssey and have heard rumors about the new title for 52 as well as cover art for it. Well, have i got news for you! First of all, the title has been officially released and it is...drum-roll please.........

Album 52 - Cause and Effect

Now, on to the cover. The one released is not actually correct, but I can tell you that the real cover contains 3 main characters in a clock tower trying stop something from happening. Dun Dun Dun.

As for the released cover and other information like that, in the future, I'd simply wait until it comes officially from Focus before trusting it, because as we have learned sometimes stuff that is leaked isn't always accurate.

Cause and Effect also contains single part Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes - YAY!!! I don't remember the last time we had a Thanksgiving Episode! Excitement!

Also there is the brand new Family Fun Panel - on each new release/re-release as a short video. Brock and Diane will be in each with a family trying to complete a certain task. Each album has a different challenge and you must buy the album to get the instructions for it. If you complete the challenge let Focus know and you can get a button that has the album name on it and picture and what the challenge was. The challenge in album 3 is based off the episode "Karen" and involves writing a letter or a card to someone who is hospitalized or in a nursing home. Album 4 is building a volcano like Robyn and Oscar.

There is also a new book series called The Imagination Station for ages 6-9 coming out this fall. Books 1-2 will be released Fall 2010 and 3-4 in Spring 2011. Authors are Marianne Hering and Paul McCusker.

Finally, I know some people have been complaining about the new families on Odyssey and how the kids seem disrespectful and whiny. My response to hat is," You mean you dislike them because they are real?" ;) When asked about his thoughts on the matter, Brock Eastman, Product Marketing guy at Focus said,

"If the kids in Odyssey were perfect they wouldn’t be very relatable to the situations you face every day. Plus wouldn’t that just be boring? Let’s hear an example: (Begin episode) Here Mathew I’ll help you clean your room. Oh thanks Olivia. (End episode)"

I heartily agree Mr. Eastman.

Well all, that's all I have for you today. I hope you enjoyed it! ohh also be sure to check out the brand new AIO page on Facebook!

Sarah

The Inspiration Station Part 2 Review

Finally! It's here! Sorry it took me so long to do this guys, but here it is. Hopefully I'll have the others up soon too.

Oooh - Eugene on coffee - scary thought.

I love the scene with Whit and Eva. Reminds me of the old episodes where parents came in to talk to Whit about things.

So apparently only Whit, Connie, and Eugene work at Whit's End anymore.

Connie's addiction reminds me a lot of the Twilife zone episode about the chicken - what was that? Addictions. Also Zachary in A Touch of Healing (I think that's the ep I wanted)

Ok So we learn who Whit's friend is - Mortimer - a man/character in Whit's new invention. I have to admit, I was shocked when I heard this character because he sounds EXACTLY like Finnian Jones from the Lamplighter Theatre broadcast - down to the big library and fast train. I'll hold back most of my thoughts on this for now and explain why in a future blog. However, I will say that while at first I felt cheated that it was the same character with the same voice by the same actor as lamplighter, I was informed by my sources that basically if there were such a thing as coincidences then this would count. Once I found that out, I liked it much better - he is a great character!

Also the scenes with Mortimer are extended on the cd.

The Thomas Alva Edison reminded me of the Potential in Elliot. :) I also like that they made the story different though. I never knew the connections between some of these inventors. :) Mortimer did a great job encouraging Matthew to keep inventing. The blank book idea was cool.

Heehee a Whit messing up the town clock. The team really has a thing for the clock. The videos, Malachi's Message, and I'm sure there are others.

Good lessons for Matthew - if God has given you a talent or a gift, keep at it even if you mess up. You never know where that mess up might take you.

I love Connie's backtrack about people asking her to talk - that is something I do too - accidentally exaggerate then catch myself and have to backtrack down to reality.

It really is depressing to see who you can be then have it not last and feel like you can never be that person. This whole segment with Connie really reminds me of me. Everyone knows or thinks they know who they should be - at least what they think other people think they should be - but very few of us (like none) are actually capable of living up to that expectation. We have to remember that the only expectation that matters is God's. I struggle with this so much at times always feeling like a failure, and God reminds me that I'm not. That and everyone else before me felt that way too. Isaiah, Peter, David, and so on. It also reminds me of the Relient K song Who I am Hates Who I've Been.

Great redemption scene with Matthew and Eugene as well as Whit and Connie.

I love how they worked in all the people from the "Get Your Voice on AIO" promo from a while back. *tear*


Overall, I like how they wrapped up together and the messages presented. Very applicable to real life. Classic AIO in my opinion. 4/5

Thoughts on Act Like Odyssey Entries

Ok people, here are my thoughts on each entry!

1. Broken Window - Rodney is great! I love the British Whit! Great job and I love the flashback to Connie's date! It's sad that I know the episode so well, I can tell where they skipped lines! lol. Rating: A

2. Snow Day - Alex reminds me of the kid who plays SJ in the Blind Side. I love Snow Day and they did a good job getting the whole episode in! A-

3. Jumbo Fork - LOL! That was cute! I loved the rake! :) B+

4. Real Time - LOL!!!! They pulled an e-Trade stunt!!!!! AAAAHH!!!! I love the talking baby! And the little boys are just too CUTE!!!!! Also, the Captain sounds great! Ok the cuteness factor totally has me in tears - EEK!!!!! (wow I used a lot of exclamation points for this one lol) Loved the recap they give. So minus the fact that they totally played to the viewers cuteness meter, it was great! A

5. By Dawn's Early Night - really long intro. Lucy is actually pretty good though. B

6. Young Guns Bonanza - Good job. This is one of those shorties that I've heard too many times though. They did good! B+

7. Dadenstein - fun special effects. Dadenstein was good but the rest was kinda eh. B

8. Sam Maritan - Lucy is cute and it's pretty well done. A-

9. Champ of the Camp - Actors are great! I liked this one! A-

10. Fairy Tale Action News - sheep and shepherd boy are cute! ok Correction: Shepherd boy is ADORABLE!!!!! Good video! I liked this one a lot! A

Well I'm heading over to cast my vote. To keep from swaying you in a certain direction, I'll keep my vote a secret until after voting has closed. Head on over to Whit's End to vote!

Act Like Odyssey Contest

Well the entries are in and the new official podcast is out! Its a video podcast with clips from the top ten entries. Head over to whitsend.org to watch each of them in full and don't forget to vote! I'll post my thoughts on each sometime tomorrow if I get the chance.

I'm still going to review the episodes that have aired as well, I just got slightly busy with wedding planning stuff. Oh and the surprise is still cooking! Thanks for your patience!

News about Album 52

So I have heard from a little birdie that Album 52 is being recorded over the next several days in Burbank! And guess what - there is a Christmas episode! YAY!! Looking forward to it! :)

New email!

YAY!! Our new email address is officially up and running! It is the same as before just at gmail instead of hotmail. It is

a i o f a n p o d c a s t at g m a i l . c o m

(ignore the spaces. I just put them in so bots can't read it and start spamming everything again). I have not updated the link under contact us yet as I am planning on replacing that link with a security image that bots can't read (also known as a captcha) - like the ones with random letters you have to type in when registering or logging in to gmail or amazon etc. If you have any questions you can leave a comment or send an email. I will check the old email for the next thirty days and after that, we probably won't get anything from the hotmail account.

In other news, I might have a surprise in the works for all of you. Stay tuned.

Finally, Game for a Mystery airs today. Turn on your radio, or hop on over to www.whitsend.org/radio for a listen.

Sarah

Deleted Scenes!

YAY! So I just discovered another GREAT reason to buy Take it From the Top. First, of course is to support Focus on the Family so they can keep making new episodes. Second, the really cool insert about each of the characters in the album and behind the scenes info. Third however, is that there are pretty awesome deleted scenes in the album. So far I've gotten two or three in The Inspiration Station part 1. (you can hear the Parker family discovering Matthew's tinkering as well as Connie having a nightmare leading to her return to Whit's End) Both are worth a listen! Part two has some extended scenes with Mortimer in the Library (which is as far as I am right now)

This discovery has solidified my choice (I hope) to not listen ahead so I can notice the differences.

Reviews are coming soon, I promise, but now that I know there are differences, I want to re-listen to both versions of each show aired so far again.

Feel free to point out any you noticed in the first three episodes of the season!

Sarah

Clutter

I apologize everyone for my disappearance over the last week. I had a crazy week in Virginia doing wedding planning with my Fiancee, and I had to take a last minute exam which I passed and I am now an official graduate of Liberty University - YAY!!!

I returned home today and had a wonderful surprise waiting for me - Take it from the Top! At the moment, I am not sure if I should listen to all the episodes now, or be patient and wait for each episode to come out. I seem to recall when we first learned that the albums would be released at the same time as the radio episodes, that I was adamantly against "cheating" and listening to the album. I may be able to hold off, but man is it tempting to listen especially since I was not expecting to get it! Some god friends of mine *wink* surprised me and sent it to me, so friends, Thank you! heehee!

In other news, Clutter aired this weekend and if you have not heard it yet, hop on over to www.whitsend.org to listen.

Unfortunately, my fiance ran out of time to show me some of the blogger tricks, but he should be able to do so remotely, so there should be some cool pictures and stuff up for you soon. (and for those who are wondering, I will post a wedding picture of us both after we get married)

Finally, don't forget the Act Like Odyssey contest going on now until March 31! Hurry and get your tape in for the possibility of winning all 51albums of AIO!

Ooh and Chris got back to me while I was away and gave his thumbs up for the new email address. I will make a separate post about that within the next two days and let you know when it is live.

Later all!

Sarah

Inspiration Station Part 2 is UP!

Hey all, part 2 is up and here it is! listen here or hop on over to whitsend.org/radio to take a listen!

Running Time: 25:28

I took a quick listen but need some time to gather my thoughts before posting about the episode. That and I'm flying to Virginia in the morning to see my fiancee and friends from college for about 10 days - yay! But don't worry - this is actually good for the podcast/blog! "How?" you may ask. Well, I'll tell you! My fiancee is a tech whiz and he has agreed to help me/teach me how to use this silly blog so I can actually post audio stuff and pictures etc - all the smart stuff Chris knows how to do, but didn't get a chance to teach me before he left (sound familiar anyone?) so YAY! Hopefully I will be back and improved in a few days with the help of my amazing fiancee Eli! also, starting sometime at the beginning of next week, we will have a new e-mail address that I will post as soon as everything is settled!

Sound good?

As always, post your thoughts and let us know what you are thinking!

Love ya,

Sarah