Dear Focus on the Family,

  This week in school I had to write a business letter to someone and so (of course) I wrote to Focus on the Family.  First of all I should say that I do not really agree with all of the criticism of albums 51 and 52. They aren't my favorite albums but I do really like them. I think that we should give FOTF suggestions but I don't want to constantly be telling them that they are doing a bad job. I want to be encouraging to them since I do LOVE AIO. So here is a portion of that letter.

Dear Focus on the Family,

I am a big fan of Adventures in Odyssey. I have been listening since I was six years old, and I now have all 52 albums.  I listen to it every day and love reading “The Official Guide.” I have really enjoyed the past two albums that you have put out even though they have gotten a lot of criticism from AIO websites and reviews. But there are a few suggestions that I would like to make.

A lot of people have said that they want the “old Odyssey back” and I think that what they mean is that they miss seeing Connie and Eugene growing in there relationships with each other and God.

It seems to me that Connie has lost a lot of her personality. And what I mean by that is that she used to always be falling and then getting back up and learning from her mistakes. She was always seemed like so much fun to be around. Now she is more irritable and Katie Leigh’s acting seems to be a little bit over the top.

I would also like to see the kids of Odyssey being more spiritual. I miss it when I would hear kids making spiritual choices for themselves; such as in “Choices” when Lucy had to make the decision of whether or not to write the article about evolution. Or where Robin chose not to go to the party in “The Courage to stand” and when she decided to study her bible in “A Worker Approved.”  Those are episodes that now, at fourteen I can still apply to my life.

Review: Stage Fright

  This Review is of a not yet aired episode, but it does not contain any spoiling information.

Stage fright

Summary:

Barrett Jones couldn’t be more excited about getting the lead role in the school play. But when his first practice is interrupted by a mysterious booming voice, Emily Jones must investigate the “phantom of the school play.”

Review:

  Plot/Writing:  I really loved this episode! I thought that it was both exiting and suspenseful.

  I was glad to hear that there was a new theater and theater owner for the first time since album 15. And by doing this they avoided the questions of what happened to Edwin Blackgaard.

  The one thing that I didn’t enjoy was at the beginning when Emily and Matthew were checking to see who got what part in the play. Emily again was so bossy telling Matthew what he did and didn’t want. I thought that it was unrealistic and annoying.

 

  Acting/Characters:  I was very glad to see the character of Priscilla Peterson is back. I was thinking that she would only be a one time character. The only problem that I had with her is that Gatlin Green (Priscilla) sounds a lot like Christina Puccelli (Emily) and it’s hard to tell them apart.

  Humor:  I thought that the character of Charlie Stolfitz was really funny! I loved the voice that Jess Harnell did for him.

 

  Lesson:  The lesson of this episode (in my opinion) was the best of the season. It dealt with irrational fear, which I have a lot of. And it also discussed not letting fear scare you out of pursuing your talents.  

  Overall as I have said many times through out this review I LOVED it! I give it 5/5 stars.

 

Review: Wooton's Broken Pencil Show

Wooton’s Broken Pencil Show

Summary:

In a last-minute replacement, Wooton Bassett hosts his own Kid's Radio show and is forced to ad-lib for a half-hour. Will his show have a point?

Review:

  Plot/Writing:  The plot of this show did not follow the usual structure of an episode; that’s okay but in this case I didn’t enjoy it. Between Eugene’s Science by design, Connie’s car alarm going off and Wooton’s Captain absolutely show I thought that it was too confusing.

   Acting:   The acting in this episode had the usual ups and downs of an Odyssey episode. I thought that Jess Harnell did a wonderful job in both Wooton and Captain Absolutely.

  On the other hand I did not like Andre Stojka’s performance much as Thug Clockripper so much. His voice was a little bit too high and sounded kind of annoying.

    Humor:   Of course this episode did have some funny moments since it was focused around Wooton but it was not as funny as I had hoped for. I thought that the funniest part was when Wooton did the wrap up of the show.

  

  Lesson: The lesson, due to the writing and plot was also confusing. I didn’t really see how Connie’s car alarm going off, the science by design and the fact that entertainment should have a point really connect.

  Overall I thought that this episode was a little bit sloppy and disorganized, but at times was humorous I would give it a 3/5.

Odyssey: Stuck in the past

  The Odyssey scoop posted an article today written by Marvin Grant about the fact that Odyssey is really stuck in the past. I did both agree with this article and disagree so here are my thoughts.
  The matter about Katrina I thought was way over exaggerated. From the article, I got the impression that the Odyssey team had said that they were not going to bring Katrina back but they did by popular demand. But this is what I herd from FOTF, they actually didn't want to bring Katrina back for simply the sake of saying hello. They wanted to bring her back later when they really had a place for her.
  And also in a "Thankstaking Story" Eugene did mention Katrina and when he did he spoke very highly of her.
  On the other hand what I did agree with was the fact that Eugene and Connie shouldn't be fighting quite so much. I mean Connie and Eugene are both adults and Christians and even though nobody is perfect I think they should be doing their best to overcome their bickering.
  I do think that it would be good for them to get on with their lives. They should be showing some sort of growth as Christians after twenty-two years. So anyways I thought that this article was well written and did have some good points. If you want to read it go to http://www.odysseyscoop.com/articles/article36.htm

Album #53 Cover

 This is the first view of the cover for album #53! Or maybe they are tricking us and it's really #54 since they made them at the same time. Well I guess we will find out soon! It looks like the picture is of Whit, Matthew and another girl it might be Connie, Emily or maybe a new character completely.

  I was also wondering if anyone would mind if I posted some reviews of episodes that haven't come out yet, so if you do please comment.

Priscilla Peterson

  This is my drawing of Priscilla. Or at least it's what I think she looks like. This is actually the first time I have ever drawn a character without knowing what they really look like. I was a little bit disappointed when I scanned this drawing and saw that it isn't as dark on the computer as it is in real life.
  For those of you that don't have album 52 Priscilla was in "Opposite Day,"Stage Fright" and "The Malted Milkball Falcon."

Dotty and Nono

This is a picture hat I drew last summer of Dotty and Nono from the "Great Wishy Woz." (Album 35)

  This is the picture that I was basing it off of.

Mystery of the Clock Tower Review

  This is a review of both parts to "Mystery of the Clock Tower", but don't worry I didn't give anything away.

Mystery of the Clock Tower

Part 1 and 2

Summary:

Part 1

  Eugene Meltsner and Matthew Parker investigate why the clock tower at City Hall seems to be stuck at 11:45. Could it have something to do with the anniversary of a lost love from twenty years ago?

Part 2

 In spite of Eugene's best efforts, the computer that controls the town clock is not responding and now the clock has begun a backwards countdown to a potential disaster. But who is behind the plot and why? Is a broken heart to blame? Can the mystery be solved before it's too late?

Review:

  Plot:  First off I should say that I did like the plot and writing of these two episodes. While it kept my interest the whole time I thought it was a little bit complicated. I think that they should try to keep the plots simple for the age group that they are writing for. It’s hard to get a balance between the two extremes of being too complicated and being boring.

 

  Acting: This was the first appearance of the new Odyssey mayor, Spencer Hicks. I thought that Dave Fennoy did a wonderful job! I really love his voice. I hope he starts to become more of a main character.

  I think that Andre Stojka is starting to get used to his role and I think that I as a listener am getting more used to him. The only think that he could work on is his Whit laugh I think it’s still a little bit too high and not quite gentle enough.

 Lesson:  The lesson for these episodes was being sure your sins will find you out. I found this episode to have a very spiritual aspect to it witch is always nice. I don’t like an episode as much when the lesson is so vague.

Over all I loved this episode and I thought that it was a great choice to start the season off with. I would give it 4/5.

Ten Facts

  For my first post I thought I would simply list ten facts about me.

  1. I love Adventures in Odyssey

  2. I am a Christian

  3. I have a Australian Shepherd dog named Sprocket

  4. I love to draw (especially odyssey characters)

  5. I like to write

  6. I am home schooled

  7. I have a boy cat named Lilly
  8. My favorite color is yellow

  9. I am 14 years old

  10. I live in Northern California (nowhere near the ocean)

                                                                        

Later on you should be able to expect me to write about my thoughts about Adventures in odyssey. Post reviews, and some of my drawings of Odyssey characters.