Copyright
© Copyright 2006-2010 blackbeltmama dot com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
A Plumm Summer
There are many review opportunities that find their way into my email inbox each week; we don’t take them all. But when the opportunity to review a family film that will be premiering this coming weekend showed up, I knew I had to jump at it. "A Plumm Summer" ("With one leap, a boy becomes a man, a brother becomes a friend, and a frog becomes a legend") is the type of film you can watch with your entire family, which is just what we did.
Tonight, we piled into the living room and watched the film together. It was the first non-animated movie in a while that Mr. BBM and I have watched with our kids: Big I, age 7 and Lil C, age 2. "A Plumm Summer" is an independent film and hopes to find a home in the hearts of families across the country, starting April 25th, 26th, and 27th in Birmingham, Alabama.
The film features William Baldwin ("Mick Plumm") and Henry Winkler ("Happy Herb") who has called the movie "the little family film that could." The film also features some adorable kids; the smallest one, Owen Pearse, reminiscent of the little Jerry Maguire kid. He’s just as adorable and maybe even a bit more funny. Told from the perspective of an adult looking back on a summer during his childhood, the film centers around the disappearance of a Superstar Puppet named Froggy Doo, and follows the adventure of these kids (played by Chris J. Kelly, Pearse, and Morgan Flynn) and their families.
The film starts out great and the ending is sweet too. There are some slow moments in the middle with the necessary (and just a bit of unnecessary drama), but that didn’t seem to bother the girls one bit. The little boy in the movie, "Rocky," provided great entertainment for the girls. The always-one-step-behind FBI agents provide some good entertainment for the adults.
It’s not new or earth shattering, but it is a very nice film with a family-friendly story. If I had to compare it to something I’d say there were moments that remind you of "A Christmas Story" set in the summer. With 1968 as its place in time, it can’t help but be endearing.
The film has Dove Foundation’s Family Seal of Approval, was selected as this year’s Heartland Family Movie Event, was SRO at the Cinemagic Children’s Film Festival in Belfast, sold out at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, won the Audience Vote for Best Family Film in Austin and the Audience Vote for Best Picture at the International Family Film Festival last month.
If you live in the Birmingham area and are looking for something fun to do this weekend, take your family to see "A Plumm Summer." Your kids will enjoy the movie and you’ll love that there’s a movie you can finally watch together.
If you don’t live in Birmingham, but do live in other big premiere cities like Los Angeles or Chicago, keep an eye out. "A Plumm Summer" could be coming to a theatre near you very soon!
Because there is finally a nice movie you can watch with your entire family, BBM gives "A Plumm Summer". . .
Turtle Press Winners
This is a bit delayed but still exciting! Sorry for the delay! Drum roll please. . .
The winners of the Turtle Press book giveaway are:
John of Martial Views and Steve!
The winners of the Turtle Press DVD giveaway are:
Dougis and Eric-San!
Congratulations to all! Since Mr. BBM was busy finishing up tiling our kitchen, I numbered and wrote down every name. Then Mr. BBM yelled out random numbers from the kitchen to supply our winners. Not quite as exciting as a webcam live giveaway, but when you’ve been up all night tiling, trust me when I tell you that you don’t want to see BBM today.
Please get in touch with me asap with your mailing address so I can pass them along to Turtle Press!
Ultimate Flexibility: A Complete Guide to Stretching for Martial Arts
I used to train with this great guy. He was a couple ranks ahead of me and he was always so focused on improving himself and his technique inside and outside of the dojo. Knowing that he needed to work on flexibility, he spent an entire summer working on it by stretching with a ladder. I remember him telling me that by the end of the summer, he had achieved only one rung in flexibility and he was disappointed with that. I thought it was a fabulous accomplishment. There’s a fairly big gap between rungs! I need to shoot him an email or something and recommend Ultimate Flexibility: A Complete Guide to Stretching for Martial Arts by Sang H. Kim Ph.D.
If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about flexibility and proper stretching for training in the martial arts, this is your book. Divided into seven easy to maneuver sections, this book has it all. It starts with the "big picture" and explains stretching so that my two-year old could understand it. Next, it’s on to flexibility where issues such as age, gender, activity level and overall conditioning are addressed. Chapter three is all about stretching. There’s also lots of information in this section on stretching properly so as not to injure or weaken joints (I should have had this book months ago). Other chapter titles include: Understanding Your Body, Your Workout Plan, The Exercises, and The Workouts.
Whether you participate at a traditional dojo that teaches striking techniques and kobudo or a training school focused entirely on grappling, this book provides pictures and detailed instructions that map out a perfect warm-up, workout plan, and cool down program that will help improve your flexibility and maintain a healthy (hopefully) injury free body.
Exercises are broken down into body parts that include: the neck, arms, wrist and hand, hip, back, and even foot and ankle exercises. It’s easy to follow too, so that you can see a photograph of how it’s done and just get to it. There’s no Twister-style wondering if you’re doing something right or not.
The Workouts section includes customized workouts for light and full contact, grappling, MMA, boxing, weapons, and high kick flexibility. There are also tips in this section on how to obtain a full split (could have used that during cheerleading try-outs in junior high school) and 20 tips on high kicks.
The great things about this book are that the main points are reiterated plenty. Rereading a section is entirely unnecessary as each section ends with a review of sorts that provides Q & A of the main points for each section. With easy to understand descriptions and such great insight into flexibility and how to safely go about getting it, this book is an absolute must for any serious martial artist.
The only very small drawback to this book is that there are some typo/grammatical issues here and there throughout the book. It’s nothing that prevents one from understanding the content, but it’s just distracting enough for a former English teacher that I had to mention it.
For the overall great content and helpful nature of the book, BBM gives Ultimate Flexibility:
If you’d like to obtain your own copy of "Ultimate Flexibility" simply leave a comment below. Three copies of the book and three Ultimate Flexibility DVD’s are being given away through The BBM Review thanks to the very generous Turtle Press. You don’t even have to be brilliant. Just type in your contact info below and say "Enter Me." Drawings will be held at the end of Admired Martial Artists Month. Don’t miss your chance to win! Enter now!
Flipsides
A pretzel. . . no, a cracker. . . no, a pretzel. . . a cracker. Guess what? Now my little one doesn’t have to decide and neither do you. Keebler’s Flipsides Pretzel Crackers are here and they are pretty fabulous. They look like an elongated Ritz cracker. One side is pretzel; the other side is a cheddar cracker. We’ve only had a day or two to review the product but they’re already a hit in this family.
Of course, my one daughter prefers that none of her food touches anything else, so pretzel crackers happen to be an issue for her. My little one and the adults in the house absolutely adore them though. On the side of the box, they recommend three additional ways to eat the pretzel crackers other than just plain munching out of the box: dunk it, drizzle it, top it. I have to say that I am really looking forward to trying some of their oh so yummy looking suggestions.
For those who are diet conscious, a Flipsides serving is five crackers. In those five crackers there are 70 calories and 30 of those calories are from fat. The thing I’m happy about? 0g Trans fat. There are approximately 9g of carbs in one serving which would have made my day back when I was a gestational diabetic and trying to find something under 15 grams of carb for a snack.
For more information about Keebler’s Flipsides, you can go to their website. For being two really good snacks in one, BBM gives Flipsides:
More Baby Jamz
Happiness is getting free toys and CD’s in the mail. My daughter is getting quite accustomed to it. The UPS and FedEx drivers are taking on a Santa-esque appearance to her lately with good reason. Lately they brought some new Baby Jamz products, created by Solange and Mathew Knowles.
The first new product is the Baby Jamz Jammin’ Microphone. As someone who had closet dreams of being a superstar, my daughter had to wrestle it away from me. It looks real; it allows you to record your own voice with or without a musical accompaniment and is just pure fun. The microphone retails for $9.97 and is a fabulous buy for that money. Your child can push the buttons to play different songs, choose to sing and record along with a song and even speed up or slow down the songs that play. With hot tracks such as "Bingo," "Old MacDonald," "Skip to My Lou," "This Old Man," and "Mary had a Little Lamb," your little one won’t get bored. Mine certainly hasn’t.
My only complaint about the microphone is that while it has an on/off switch, it doesn’t have any volume control. While the other Baby Jamz toys had an appropriate volume, this one seems to be a little loud. It’s nothing a little cotton and tape can’t handle though, and if your child is like mine, they’ll probably cover up the speaker with their hands anyway when they’re belting out their diva tunes.
The other product we were lucky enough to try is the Nursery Rhymes Volume 1 CD. This CD includes favorites such as "This Old Man," "Old MacDonald," and "Skip to My Lou." Keep in mind though, that these aren’t your ordinary nursery rhymes. These tunes make you want to get up off the couch and jam with your toddler. With reggae beats, and hip-hop infused sounds, it’s easy to see why this line is an absolute hit. There is not a single annoying song on the CD. The CD retails for $10.47 and is a great value for a children’s CD that won’t drive Mommy nuts like all the other ones do.
If you are interested in getting your own Baby Jamz toys, you can find them in Walmart stores or online at walmart.com. If you’d like more information about joining Team Mom, where you too can review these types of products, go here.
For the sheer fun and excitement that these products bring to both Mom and daughter, BBM gives these Baby Jamz products. . .
Getting Rave Reviews
BlogHer Review
Go Shopping
Macho Warrior Sparring Gear Set
$69.99And see the rest of our Sparring Gear
at MartialArtsSupplies.com
Martial Arts Pagoda
