Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief Review

To contact us Click HERE
Logan Lerman plays Percy Jackson, the main character in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. If you like the Harry Potter movies, you are going to love Percy Jackson & the Olympians. Now let's not even try to compare this movie to Harry Potter because the Harry Potter movies are classics, but the point here is that those who like Harry Potter, will like Percy Jackson.

Percy Jackson is a regular high school kid who seems to have problems with dyslexic. In school he is studying Greek mythology but Percy has no idea of what an important role he will play in the future of the universe. Brandon T. Jackson plays Grover in the movie, he is Percy's best friend in school but knows a little more about Percy than Percy does. Percy in reality is half god, he is the son of Poseidon and he has been accused of stealing Zeus's lighting bolt. Percy's first strange encounter happens when he is at school being taught by Mr. Brummer, who is later revealed to be Chiron. While there, Percy is attacked by one of his other teachers who is a evil and turns into a monster while trying to get the stolen sword from Percy. Grover then explains to Percy that he is a half blood and then takes him to the land of the Gods. Once there, Percy discovers who Mr. Brummer really is and also discovers that Grover is part lamb. This is why in the real world, Grover used crutches and is also the reason that Mr. Brummer had to act like he needed a wheelchair due to him really being a centaur, they had to hide their identity. Alexandra Daddario also plays a big role in the movie as Annabeth Chase, who is the daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. She sets out on the quest and becomes part of the threesome dual of Percy, Grover, and Annabeth.

It is later in the movie discovered that Luke(played by Jake Abel) is the real lighting thief. Luke is another halfling blessed with his father's unequalled speed, the son of Hermes takes Percy down on a rooftop and corners him, picking up the stolen thunderbolt. He questions Percy's heritage as son of Poseidon. Percy sees several water towers atop nearby buildings and concentrates, breaking the tanks open and gathering the water to deluge Luke. Gathering some of the remaining water and shaping it into a trident, Percy says that he must be the son of Poseidon after all. Hurling the trident, he catches Luke between two of the prongs and casts him into the river.

Annabeth and Sally meet up with Percy at the Empire State building. Annabeth activates a hidden secret elevator that goes up, far past the roof of the building, to Olympus. Sally, as a mortal, is unable to venture forth onto the divine ground. Annabeth and Percy rush to the hall of the gods.

Inside the hall, Zeus and Poseidon are anxiously watching a time-dial as the other deities of the Greek Pantheon sit around them. Zeus announces that midnight has come and the deadline is passed. Just as he is about to pronounce judgement of war, Percy and Annabeth rush into the hall bearing the thunderbolt. Zeus demands its return, and Percy gives it to him, and then reveals Luke as the true lightning thief, explaining that Luke resented all the gods for not caring about their children, and he wanted them to destroy each other so the demigods could rule Olympus. Zeus accepts Percy's explanation and declares peace.

Percy mentions that he and Annabeth escaped the Underworld only because Grover stayed behind. Zeus realizes that Percy wants him to return Grover to the living. He is cynical toward the request, but agrees. Zeus declares the convening of the gods to be adjourned. Poseidon asks to speak to Percy, and Zeus agrees.

Percy is naturally resentful that Poseidon was never around, and that he never got to even meet him. Poseidon acknowledges that Percy was only seven months when he left him and Sally. He says that being with Sally and him made him start to forget his duties and become human, which Zeus didn't approve of, leading him to pass a divine rule prohibiting the gods from having any contact with any children they sired. Poseidon manages to come to terms with Percy, saying he never wanted to leave him or Sally, and was in fact with him in heart and spirit, even if Percy didn't know he was near. He promises that while Percy might not see him again, Poseidon will always be there with and for him-- in his heart, in his thoughts, and in his dreams.

Sally brings Percy back to Camp Halfbreed, where he can fulfill his destiny as a demigod. Although she will miss him, she says it's where he belongs. She also says that she is finally kicking Ugliano out of the house, now that he has served his purpose and she doesn't need him anymore.

Percy is welcomed by everyone back at the camp, and Grover shows him that he's finally gotten his Satyr horns. Chiron starts to admonish Percy for disobeying his orders and leaving camp without permission, but then says that this is why Percy is now his favorite student-- many times he simply has to follow his own instincts. He then sends Percy to suit up for more training.

Final review:

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is a great movie for those who like fantasy type movies. The movie will really entertain those into Greek mythology as it displays characters such as Zeus, Hades, Athena, Poseidon, Medusa, and many others. I really liked the movie and the only complaint I have about it is one character in the movie. Though he did a decent job in the movie, Brandon T. Jackson did not do a overall great job playing Grover in the movie. Why? Because I noticed throughout the movie that he was supposed to be the funny guy in the movie, but in reality he was not funny at all. He was supposed to be the one who would bring humor to the movie but it was just not there. I believe that someone else could have filled this role way better. Overall, a decent movie to see.

Grade: 7/10

Evony Game Review

To contact us Click HERE
I have been known to play online games such as checkers, monopoly, and others but have never been involved in online reality games. I don't know why but a couple of months ago, I registered with Evony and began playing. Once registered, I had a town that I had to name and build up. The game first reminded me of the old Sim games, where you had to build up your population and build the population by keeping residents happy. I would soon discover than Evony is much more than that though. One thing that really lures people into Evony is that it is free to play. Yes, absolutely free, though paying for tokens can really enhance your game experience and speed things up. I have not paid a penny though playing, and though I may getting things done a bit slower than a player who pays for tokens, my towns and military have been growing at a decent pace.
Your goal on Evony is to build up your city and army in order to expand your territory and conquer other enemy players or NPCs. Just as you can attack others though, you can be attacked also. The three main screens of interface is separated into three parts, the world map, the town and the city. In the world map, you’ll find other NPC & player cities, valleys (resource fields) and empty slots where you can conquer to progress further into the game. The city is where you can build farms, sawmills, quarries and iron mines to increase your resource production. The town is where you’ll construct most of your buildings for advancement. Military training and research is also constructed here.
The game starts you off in a random (usually the newest) server in an empty town with only a Town Hall and your job is to build up the stranded city, army and slowly conquer your way through. Building new facilities, researching, and training troops requires an X amount of time to complete. The lower level the facility, the quicker it will take. The first building you’ll develop is the cottage which takes 1 min and 15 secs, but the second level will require twice as much time and as more levels are acquired, the longer it will take. Some buildings can even take over 12 hours.

Each city in Evony is limited to constructing 1 building at a time. You cannot set a queue to build a second or third building when one is finished. This requires a player to come back and check on the progression very often. Its not about how much time you spend on the game once but how many times you spend on it through out the day. As you acquire more and more cities however, you will have more than enough tasks to spend your whole day playing.

Other than gathering resources, consistently upgrading buildings you’ll also need to manage your taxes, population and the loyalty of your citizens. You’ll also need to appoint a mayor which we’ll get to shortly. Unlike most RTS games you’ve played, the ideal tax rate for Evony depends on two major factors, idle or actively playing. The population will effect the amount of gold you’ll receive from taxes, production, and how many units you can recruit into your army.
Always having enough resources to continuously construct new buildings may get difficult, thus you’ll need to put good use of the market place. In the market place, you can buy & sell food, lumber, stone and iron. You can even create offers or bids and wait until your price is met. However, there is a small auction fee.

Once you’ve created an inn and a feasting hall you can hire a Hero to lead your army or become a Mayor. Each Hero has 3 stats, politics, attack and intelligence. Politics will decreases your cities construction time and resource production. Higher attack increases your combat and how fast your units will be trained. Intelligence shortens the time required for research and scouting ability. Your heroes will acquire experience points through combat, mayor duties or through items. There is an hourly fee for maintaining a hero, and the salary will vary depending on their level. You can dismiss and replace heroes at anytime. A hero is also required to lead your troops into combat.

There are a variety of military units available ranging from infantry, archers, cavalries, mechanical units and transporters. All units has a maintenance cost of X amount of food. Their movement, health, attack and defense can be upgraded with research. Training new units will require taking away civilians from your overall population.

Once you’ve developed your army and have a hero in place, you’ll need to go to the World Map screen to conquer new lands and territories. There are 3 basic types of land that can be conquered, valleys, empty lots and cities. Valleys provide additional resources, empty lots are used to build new cities and cities can be plundered and if attacked enough times you can even take it over. However, if you are attacking a player city, and if that is their only city, you will not be able to take it over.

The combat in Evony is calculated through their algorithm, no actual fighting is visible. Its either a win or loss and the results are reported in writing. You lose x amount, they lose x amount and etc. Attack, defense, health and even movement is factored into the calculation. For example, you’re attacking with warriors, cavalries and archers, the archers will start off in combat because of their range followed by cavalries and then warriors last. In result, if your archers do enough damage, you may win without even going into melee range. Or your cavalries will take more damage than your warriors because they arrived in melee combat first. The rally point has an exercise option which servers a skirmish for battles and will calculate the results. Your research and hero attributes are not factored but it does give you an idea of what to attack with.

As your city grows, you will gain Prestige points which is basically a rating of how well you are doing. There is an overall ranking that is compared among all other players in your city as well. As you progress, you will be able to acquire new titles and ranks. Some ranks are extremely difficult to acquire, it requires gold and medals (which are very rare to find). The medal drop rates on new servers are about .1% or less. The easiest way is to spend a few dollars and purchase the medals you’ll need. The higher the rank, the more cities you can control, up to a total of 9.

There are many different types of items available in Evony which can help speed your production, moving your city location, experience points and much much more. When you first start, you’re given a TON of items to try out and help enhance your gameplay. Items can also be acquired by quest rewards and using real money.

Alliances are what most MMO players know as guild or clans. By joining with other alliances, you can have friends who can offer assistance through knowledge, resources, raids and much more. Possibly even scaring another player from attacking you if they know you’re in a well rounded alliance. Each alliance can only have a maximum of 100 players and have a ranking of their own.

Final Review of Evony:
Evony is a very addictive game so whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, one has to judge themselves. I really enjoy the game as I usually am doing other things on the Internet and always keep a browser open with Evony. Lately, my towns had really been building up lots of resources in the millions but then it finally happened. I was attacked by someone with a way stronger army than mine and all of my resources were taken. My goal now, to build up a strong military and get revenge on this guy. Will take some time though! Evony is a very good game, if you are willing to fork over a few dollars, you can really get a upper hand in Evony.
Grade: B+

Anytimetrafficschool.com Review

To contact us Click HERE
For those who get a traffic ticket, the last thing that they want to happen is to have the ticket reported to their auto insurance company and having their insurance premium rates raised, this is when traffic school comes handy. Traffic school is offered to those who receive a traffic ticket. Once the traffic school is completed and the courts receive a certificate of completion, the ticket will not be reported to the DMV, which of course means that your auto insurance company will not know about it.

Those who wish to participate in traffic school can either complete the class at a physical location, or do it online. There are many different traffic schools that one can use to complete their traffic school online. My review of traffic schools is not common, as I do not get many traffic tickets, so hopefully this will be the only traffic school review I ever do. Your local court house can supply you with a list of online traffic schools, or you can find them online. I personally found a list of online traffic schools from my local courthouse website. There was a long list of online schools to choose from but I ended up choosing one called anytimetrafficschool.com.

Once I registered with anytimetrafficschool.com, I was able to read chapter by chapter and take the test for each chapter once done reading.For example, read chapter 1, then take the test for chapter 1. Read chapter 2, then take the test for chapter 2, and so on. You can do all of this before you ever make your payment to anytimetrafficschool.com, which will be around $20.00. Once you are done with the 8 chapters and have passes the test, you are required to make payment to anytimetrafficschool.com. You then have to take the finals test and once you pass this test, you are all done. Anytimetrafficschool.com will then fax over your certificate of completion to the proper court house and you are done. It is best to check with your local court house a few weeks later to make sure that they received your certificate of completion. Most traffic schools will deliver as promised but if there is a problem, just contact them and they will surely correct the problem.

You should know something about online traffic schools, this is not limited to only anytimetrafficschool.com but all traffic schools. When you are required to read a chapter, there is a time limit set where as you can not just click on the tab to take the chapters test. If you are a fast reader, you will have to wait for some time before you can take your test. What I did was just browse real quick through the chapter, leave my browser open, and just do other things I needed to do on the Internet while waiting. Then I'd go back and take the test, finish and pass, then open up the next chapter. The test are not really hard, they were really easy for me. I didn't really have to do a deep study of the chapters. that's just me though, I have been driving for almost 20 years and certainly know how to drive. Then why did I get the ticket that I received? Because I was running late to work and going 95 MPH on the freeway, a costly mistake on my part. Trust me, I had to pay harshly and think I have learned my lesson.

For those who need a great and uncomplicated online traffic school. I would highly recommend anytimetrafficschool.com.

Grade: A

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief Review

To contact us Click HERE
Logan Lerman plays Percy Jackson, the main character in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. If you like the Harry Potter movies, you are going to love Percy Jackson & the Olympians. Now let's not even try to compare this movie to Harry Potter because the Harry Potter movies are classics, but the point here is that those who like Harry Potter, will like Percy Jackson.

Percy Jackson is a regular high school kid who seems to have problems with dyslexic. In school he is studying Greek mythology but Percy has no idea of what an important role he will play in the future of the universe. Brandon T. Jackson plays Grover in the movie, he is Percy's best friend in school but knows a little more about Percy than Percy does. Percy in reality is half god, he is the son of Poseidon and he has been accused of stealing Zeus's lighting bolt. Percy's first strange encounter happens when he is at school being taught by Mr. Brummer, who is later revealed to be Chiron. While there, Percy is attacked by one of his other teachers who is a evil and turns into a monster while trying to get the stolen sword from Percy. Grover then explains to Percy that he is a half blood and then takes him to the land of the Gods. Once there, Percy discovers who Mr. Brummer really is and also discovers that Grover is part lamb. This is why in the real world, Grover used crutches and is also the reason that Mr. Brummer had to act like he needed a wheelchair due to him really being a centaur, they had to hide their identity. Alexandra Daddario also plays a big role in the movie as Annabeth Chase, who is the daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. She sets out on the quest and becomes part of the threesome dual of Percy, Grover, and Annabeth.

It is later in the movie discovered that Luke(played by Jake Abel) is the real lighting thief. Luke is another halfling blessed with his father's unequalled speed, the son of Hermes takes Percy down on a rooftop and corners him, picking up the stolen thunderbolt. He questions Percy's heritage as son of Poseidon. Percy sees several water towers atop nearby buildings and concentrates, breaking the tanks open and gathering the water to deluge Luke. Gathering some of the remaining water and shaping it into a trident, Percy says that he must be the son of Poseidon after all. Hurling the trident, he catches Luke between two of the prongs and casts him into the river.

Annabeth and Sally meet up with Percy at the Empire State building. Annabeth activates a hidden secret elevator that goes up, far past the roof of the building, to Olympus. Sally, as a mortal, is unable to venture forth onto the divine ground. Annabeth and Percy rush to the hall of the gods.

Inside the hall, Zeus and Poseidon are anxiously watching a time-dial as the other deities of the Greek Pantheon sit around them. Zeus announces that midnight has come and the deadline is passed. Just as he is about to pronounce judgement of war, Percy and Annabeth rush into the hall bearing the thunderbolt. Zeus demands its return, and Percy gives it to him, and then reveals Luke as the true lightning thief, explaining that Luke resented all the gods for not caring about their children, and he wanted them to destroy each other so the demigods could rule Olympus. Zeus accepts Percy's explanation and declares peace.

Percy mentions that he and Annabeth escaped the Underworld only because Grover stayed behind. Zeus realizes that Percy wants him to return Grover to the living. He is cynical toward the request, but agrees. Zeus declares the convening of the gods to be adjourned. Poseidon asks to speak to Percy, and Zeus agrees.

Percy is naturally resentful that Poseidon was never around, and that he never got to even meet him. Poseidon acknowledges that Percy was only seven months when he left him and Sally. He says that being with Sally and him made him start to forget his duties and become human, which Zeus didn't approve of, leading him to pass a divine rule prohibiting the gods from having any contact with any children they sired. Poseidon manages to come to terms with Percy, saying he never wanted to leave him or Sally, and was in fact with him in heart and spirit, even if Percy didn't know he was near. He promises that while Percy might not see him again, Poseidon will always be there with and for him-- in his heart, in his thoughts, and in his dreams.

Sally brings Percy back to Camp Halfbreed, where he can fulfill his destiny as a demigod. Although she will miss him, she says it's where he belongs. She also says that she is finally kicking Ugliano out of the house, now that he has served his purpose and she doesn't need him anymore.

Percy is welcomed by everyone back at the camp, and Grover shows him that he's finally gotten his Satyr horns. Chiron starts to admonish Percy for disobeying his orders and leaving camp without permission, but then says that this is why Percy is now his favorite student-- many times he simply has to follow his own instincts. He then sends Percy to suit up for more training.

Final review:

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is a great movie for those who like fantasy type movies. The movie will really entertain those into Greek mythology as it displays characters such as Zeus, Hades, Athena, Poseidon, Medusa, and many others. I really liked the movie and the only complaint I have about it is one character in the movie. Though he did a decent job in the movie, Brandon T. Jackson did not do a overall great job playing Grover in the movie. Why? Because I noticed throughout the movie that he was supposed to be the funny guy in the movie, but in reality he was not funny at all. He was supposed to be the one who would bring humor to the movie but it was just not there. I believe that someone else could have filled this role way better. Overall, a decent movie to see.

Grade: 7/10

Power Player Super Joystick Power Striker Review

To contact us Click HERE
The power player super joystick is simply a joystick that you plug into your television and are able to play the video games that are directly built into the joystick. There is no need to load any cartridges or disk because all of the games are built in already. The video games that are included in the super joystick are old school games such as Galaga, Defender, Burger Time, Millipede, 1942, dig dug, Mario Brothers, super Mario Brothers, and so many more.



I was certain that I would have to write this post and share my experience with the power player 76000. It was so cool playing all of the video games that I used to play at the arcades when I was just a little kid. Here I was, a grown man still enjoying these old school video games just the same as I did a long time ago. The video games on the power player striker are exactly the same as you remember them. The power player comes with a second joystick that can be used in games where two players can play at the same time such as Mario Brothers. You remember the original Mario Brothers don't you? Not Super Mario Brothers, I'm talking about the original one where Mario and Luigi play at the same time.
Everything about the power player is great except for one thing. The A/V wires that come with the super joystick kind of suck. They will last you a while, but chances are that they will end up messing up on you, but it is alright as you can pick up a good set of wires for only a few bucks at one of your local stores. This little thing should not even be a deciding factor in deciding if you want the power player or not. The A/V wires will work that come with the game, my point is that if you don't take complete care of them to the fullest, they will end up messing up on you.
The power player goes by various names such as the power player super joystick, power player 76,000, or power player striker. The power player is a great thing to buy if you are into the old school games. Simply put, it is a great purchase!
Below you will find a link to a place I know of that sells the power player super joystick. The regular ongoing price is usually $30 to $50.

Power Player 2010 at Amazon

Grade: A+

So many different toddler safety harnesses out there for children

To contact us Click HERE
In this day of age, with the world being so dangerous and all, many parents have opted to use child harnesses when taking their young children out into crowded places. Child harnesses strap around the small child's shoulders the same way a backpack would, but unlike a backpack the harness has another end that the parent holds on to that prevents the child from wandering away to far. Most toddler harnesses are recommended for children 18 months and up. They are especially useful for children when they are 2 or 3 years old, seems like this is the age where they really like to explorer and wander on their own. The straps on most toddler harnesses will grow with your child. You can easily adjust the straps to fit your child as he/she gets bigger.
Toddler harnesses come in many cool styles today, this makes it easier for your child to accept wearing a child harness because they will actually enjoy wearing it when it is of a character they love. Harnesses of today come as almost any animal that you can think of such as butterfly harnesses, dog harnesses, elephant harnesses, frog harnesses, monkey harnesses, rabbit harnesses, or anything else that you can think of. These toddler harnesses even come in characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Winnie the Pooh, Nemo, and so many more. Because of this it would be wise to know what your child likes before you get them that harness. You are going to want them to like the harness they have because it will be like their best friend going with them everywhere they go. If you wanted to you can even have them choose one when you are shopping for one either out in a retail store or online. That's right, if you find some cool toddler harnesses online, you can ask them which one they like and you will then know. Unless of course you already know what they like.
If you are interested in getting a fun toddler safety harness for your child, we have included a few pics below of some of the most popular animal toddler harnesses. These are not the only ones, just a few examples of what's out there to give you an idea. Clicking on the link below will show you even more toddler harnesses.
Child safety harnesses to me are in general a great invention to help keep your child safe. Anything that comes to child safety will always get a great grade from me, unless of course it is a useless piece of junk that does not keep the child safe. Child safety harnesses definitely are not junk.

If you are interested in getting safe safety harnesses that your child will actually enjoy wearing you will want to check out West Coast Superstore. They have all kinds of different types of animal harnesses. STAY SAFE!