Maranda Russell's Blog, page 91

New YouTube Vlog Series – Weird & Funny Toys!

So recently I decided to start a new video blog series on my YouTube channel featuring weird and funny toys. I figured it was a fun way to feature my love for unique toys and collectibles, as well as my weird, offbeat and sometimes dark sense of humor. Here is a look at a couple of these newest videos, so feel free to check them out and consider subscribing to my channel on YouTube if you haven’t already!

New YouTube Video: Book Reviews: “Asperger’s on the Job” & “Aspergirls” by Rudy Simone

Hi everyone! I wanted to take a moment to share my latest Asperger’s vlog video. This video reviews two books written by Rudy Simone entitled “Asperger’s on the Job” and “Aspergirls”. Either book is a great pick for anyone who has Asperger’s or who is close to someone that does. “Asperger’s on the Job” has been especially helpful to me lately since I recently started a new part-time job working at an emergency room in our local hospital. This is the first time I have really worked outside the home in five years, so it has been a huge transition for me and has caused a lot of stress, but I feel that it will be worth it in the end! I have always been fascinated by the medical field, especially emergency medicine, so I am eager to give it a try!

If you enjoyed this video, please comment on this post or on YouTube and let me know!

New YouTube Videos – Book Reviews and A Funny Letter from John Oliver

Hi everybody! I’m sorry it has been so long since my last post! Things have just been crazy busy! My mom was in the hospital, I have been interviewing for a part-time job at our local hospital’s new ER (which I got!) and I have been trying to help fight for my husband’s worker’s compensation case benefits (which has been a nightmare!)

Anyhow, I thought I would share a couple of my latest YouTube videos. First is a book review video, featuring some great middle grade reads for kids and families. The first book I review in the video was actually the book that made me realize I might have Asperger’s Syndrome and inspired me to seek a diagnosis, so it is a very important book to me personally.

The other video I am going to share today is a funny letter I received from John Oliver (host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight”). I received the letter in response to sending $1 to John Oliver’s new “televangelism ministry” Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption.

Hope you guys enjoy the videos! If you do, please subscribe to me on YouTube, I post lots of videos there that I don’t share here. I especially focus on Asperger’s Syndrome, book & toy reviews and junk food reviews on the channel. I also do other subjects occasionally.

Now Accepting Requests for Book & Toy/Collectible Reviews on My Vlog!

Hi everyone! This is just a short post to alert all my blog followers that I am now accepting requests to review books and toys/collectibles on my YouTube vlog. The toys/collectibles I am most interested in are those related to pop culture (especially anime & cartoon stuff or items related to tv, movies & music). I am willing to consider reviewing handmade toys or collectibles as well as more commercial items. Here is my most recent toys/collectibles vlog video so you can see how I do them:

For more information about my vlog reviews and information on how to submit a request to have your book or product reviewed, check out my Vlog Reviews page on this blog. Please consider subscribing to my YouTube vlog too if you haven’t already!

5 Observations About the Movie “Jurassic World”

Spoiler alert!

First off, of course I don’t think “Jurassic World” is as good as “Jurassic Park”. Being that “Jurassic Park” is a beloved classic from my childhood with warm memories attached to it, it would be darn near impossible for any sequel to match the emotional impact for me. So, I am not judging “Jurassic World” in direct comparison with the original movie, although I may make some casual observations about the direction some aspects of the film franchise have gone.

1) “Jurassic World” did have some awesome special effects and cool fight scenes. I especially enjoyed the Indominus vs. T-Rex scenes. I did find it a bit abrupt how the Mosasaurus brought the battle to an end, but it was still cool. That was by far the best part of the movie for me, probably followed by the scene where the Indominus is trying to break open that gyrosphere the kids were trapped inside or when the kids come across the ruins from the original Jurassic Park.

2) I didn’t care for Claire, the heroine of this latest film. I read an article online after seeing the movie about how Ellie Sattler from the original movie was a far stronger female character and someone kids could really look up to as a role model, while Claire is kind of wishy-washy and boring. I must say I agree.

3) I liked Owen’s character, but I didn’t buy the romantic relationship between him and Claire. That whole thing felt forced to me, perhaps because as I stated above, Claire seems like such a two-dimensional character without much depth.

4) As for the kids, I liked the younger kid (Gray) but didn’t care much for his older brother (Zach). Zach just seemed sort of boring and forgettable to me. I did like the one scene that showed a bunch of the tourists (mostly kids and teens if I remember right) playing on their cell phones instead of paying attention to the dinosaurs they came there to see. That pretty much sums up society today.

5) The whole Indominus is part velociraptor twist didn’t really come as the great surprise they seemed to think it would be. Personally, I think it would have been cooler had it been revealed that the Indominus had been spliced with some human genes. At one point I thought that might be the case since the creature started showing signs of logicial or manipulative thinking to confuse and trick its keepers, or when it was revealed that it was killing for sport and not for food.

5 Observations about the movie “Jurassic World”

Spoiler alert!

First off, of course I don’t think “Jurassic World” is as good as “Jurassic Park”. Being that “Jurassic Park” is a beloved classic from my childhood with warm memories attached to it, it would be darn near impossible for any sequel to match the emotional impact for me. So, I am not judging “Jurassic World” in direct comparison with the original movie, although I may make some casual observations about the direction some aspects of the film franchise have gone.

1) “Jurassic World” did have some awesome special effects and cool fight scenes. I especially enjoyed the Indominus vs. T-Rex scenes. I did find it a bit abrupt how the Mosasaurus brought the battle to an end, but it was still cool. That was by far the best part of the movie for me, probably followed by the scene where the Indominus is trying to break open that gyrosphere the kids were trapped inside or when the kids come across the ruins from the original Jurassic Park.

2) I didn’t care for Claire, the heroine of this latest film. I read an article online after seeing the movie about how Ellie Sattler from the original movie was a far stronger female character and someone kids could really look up to as a role model, while Claire is kind of wishy-washy and boring. I must say I agree.

3) I liked Owen’s character, but I didn’t buy the romantic relationship between him and Claire. That whole thing felt forced to me, perhaps because as I stated above, Claire seems like such a two-dimensional character without much depth.

4) As for the kids, I liked the younger kid (Gray) but didn’t care much for his older brother (Zach). Zach just seemed sort of boring and forgettable to me. I did like the one scene that showed a bunch of the tourists (mostly kids and teens if I remember right) playing on their cell phones instead of paying attention to the dinosaurs they came there to see. That pretty much sums up society today.

5) The whole Indominus is part velociraptor twist didn’t really come as the great surprise they seemed to think it would be. Personally, I think it would have been cooler had it been revealed that the Indominus had been spliced with some human genes. At one point I thought that might be the case since the creature started showing signs of logicial or manipulative thinking to confuse and trick its keepers, or when it was revealed that it was killing for sport and not for food.

New YouTube Video – “Plantar Fasciitis Sucks! My Experiences with Foot Pain”

Since I have openly talked about some of my health problems and how they affect my life, I have had a few people ask me how I developed the foot condition plantar fasciitis and why it limits the kind of jobs I can do. So, I decided to make a vlog video about the pain and problems related to plantar fasciitis and why the condition has greatly affected my personal and professional life. I didn’t make this video to whine or try to get sympathy, I just wanted to share my story in hopes that I can educate people about the condition and let anyone else going through similar problems know that they are not alone.

New YouTube “Book Talk” Vlog Video – “The Light Beyond” by Dr. Raymond Moody

This past week I reviewed the book “The Light Beyond” written by Dr. Raymond Moody on my YouTube “Book Talk” vlog series. “The Light Beyond” is a book about the spiritual phenomena of near-death experiences which Dr. Moody devoted his career to studying. Dr. Moody’s books have since become bestselling classics in the spirituality/new age book genre. Although I myself have never had a near-death experience, I find the subject fascinating and have always enjoyed reading accounts of those who have had such experiences. I hope you will check out the video and let me know what you think!

New YouTube Vlog Playlists, Featuring Book & Collectible Toy Reviews

I recently decided to start two new vlog series focusing on two of my favorite hobbies/obsessions. The first vlog series is called “Toy Talk” and will feature all kinds of collectible toys (mostly I collect toys based on my favorite characters, so will focus a lot on that). Here is an example of the toy series which features new Mario Bros. collectibles…

The second vlog series is entitled “Book Talk” and will feature reviews of books I have read or am currently reading. I will occasionally throw in a video about one of my own books, but mostly I plan to feature the work of other authors. For one of my first videos in this series, I featured the new book “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck” which is a companion book to the HBO documentary sharing the same name…

Lastly, I wanted to let everyone know that I also arranged playlists for my vlog videos on other subjects, that way it is easy for viewers to find the subjects they are interested in and just watch all those videos if they so desire. Besides “Toy Talk” & “Book Talk”, the other available playlists on my YouTube channel are broken into the following subjects: “My Asperger’s Syndrome Vlog“, “Art & Writing Vlog” and “News & Entertainment Vlog“.

Things I Don’t Understand about Income Inequality

I know income inequality has become a sensitive issue somewhat with people on both sides arguing for their point of view. I don’t mind people having different feelings about the issue and what can or should be done about it. However, there are a few key things I just don’t get when it comes to the subject. I have heard many arguments that make absolutely no sense to me and would like to share my thoughts on them…

1) First off, I want to go ahead and tackle the elephant in the room when it comes to gender income inequality. I WILL NEVER understand why more women aren’t outraged at the politicians who fight against women making the same amount of money for the same exact work. The arguments I have heard from politicians who voted against this issue were weak at best. I do not see how paying women the same pay for the same exact work affects women who want more flexible schedules or who want to work part-time. You know, some men want flexible schedules and work part-time too….but that still has NOTHING to do with people getting the same pay for the same work and the same level of education, which is the real issue in the first place!

2) I have heard the argument many, many times that “people who flip burgers” shouldn’t expect to make a real living doing it. First off, let me say this argument tends to make people sound like real elitist jerks. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with people making more money for harder work or work that takes more education. That is fine, within reason. However, I truly believe that ANYONE who works a full time job should at least make enough for the absolute necessities (food, clothing, housing, health care). Yeah, maybe people who work entry level jobs can’t expect a whole lot more than that, but everyone should at least be able to survive and take care of their family if they are out working a full time job. By the way, I’ve had many different jobs over the years and some of the fast food restaurants I worked at were HARDER WORK than the variety of other jobs I have held, including those that are considered more skilled.

3) Why are the people who say that the poor are that way because they choose to be and are uneducated, often the very same people who do everything in their power to refuse help to those who want to pursue education but can’t afford it? If you truly believe that education is the way out of poverty, why vote for people who constantly cut funding for education in all its many capacities? If you believe education is the way out of the income inequality issue, then fund it! Realize that those living in poverty may not have access to the same educational funds you have. Loans of any kind are hard to get (and pay back) when your family lives in poverty. Also, many people struggle with the ridiculous interest on student loans even if they do manage to graduate and find a job in their field. I know this first hand since my husband has a Master’s Degree in education, landed a good job and still struggles to pay back his student loans (and we live exceptionally simple lives, I don’t even own a cell phone!).