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Do You Remember the “Little Mister” Books?

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Sometimes when I’m bored, I like to walk through the local Barnes & Noble store and see what’s going on. I like Barnes & Noble – there’s a lot of fun stuff in that store and lately, you never know what type of books you’ll stumble upon. For example, when I was in there last week I noticed that the folks behind the “Little Mister” books are publishing them again. Take a look:

      

Do you remember these books? Mr. Happy, Mr. Noisy, Mr. Funny, etc. I saw them in the store the other day and it was like a throwback to my childhood so I had to snap a picture and post it here on the blog to share with everyone. Did anyone else read those books? I think that my Mom bought me most of them – they were entertaining for a little kid!

Book Review: Stop Acting Rich …And Start Living Like A Real Millionaire

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Oddly enough, I scheduled this entry to be automatically uploaded back when I was in Chicago, but something must have screwed up in the back end system because it never appeared on the blog. No worries, though, because the content wasn’t lost and if you’re reading this, then the entry uploaded as planned!

If you’ve been reading JerseySmarts.com or Joe’s Journal for a while now, then you know that I like reading books about self-improvement including eating better, understanding the human body better, and using money better. Stop Acting Rich …And Start Living Like A Real Millionaire by Dr. Thomas J. Stanley falls into the latter category as this book focuses on how real millionaires spend their money. Sure, we all think that we know who a real millionaire is (the flashy people you see on television and maybe one or two families in your community that live in a bigger house and have nicer cars), but the truth is that some of these folks are only what Dr. Stanley terms the “glittering rich.”

In other words, these are the people who want to live the rich lifestyle without actually having the dollars to back it up! I prefer to call these folks idiots.

What I found most interesting about reading this book is that as you go through each chapter and Dr. Stanley writes about how real millionaires live versus how people who want the prestige and status associated with being rich live, I was amazed at how many people in my own life popped into my head. For example, did you know that most millionaires drive Fords, Chevrolets, and Toyotas? And I’m not talking about the “high end” brands that are associated with each of these companies, either. True, you might expect most millionaires to be riding around in Mercedes-Benz automobiles or BMWs, but the scientifically-researched data proves those assumptions false.

And that is another thing that is great about this book, namely that Dr. Stanley uses scientifically-compiled data to make the points for him. He doesn’t approach this subject with a predetermined mindset where he is attempting to prove that millionaires spend their money in a certain manner (frugality) versus a different manner (splurging). All he does is compile the research and explain what the data mean. Frankly, it’s refreshing to read a book about money that isn’t pushing a certain agenda or method of using one’s scarce financial resources. This book just simply tells the read how real millionaires choose to spend their money in their daily lives.

Again, though, I was struck by how many people came to mind as I read through the book. Using the car example above – how many of us know people that are driving around in cars that cost upwards of $50 thousand? The research shows that there is a strong chance that those individuals are not only not millionaires, but likely struggling to put away any funds for retirement. Think of another example – how many of us know someone who has a “fascination” with certain inanimate objects like watches? Did you know that most millionaires spend less than $150 for their watch? And they usually own one or two at the most. But don’t we all know someone who has to have that thousand dollar Rolex? Talk about a waste of money.

Audiobook Review: Brain Rules

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Unfortunately, it has been a while since I posted a book review on the blog and that is mainly because I’ve spent so much time working on a variety of other projects. However, author John J. Medina might say otherwise – he might suggest that I’m not working out enough and thus, I’m not utilizing my brain to the fullest extent of its potential (and he’d probably be right).

Today’s entry focuses on an audiobook that I recently listened to called Brain Rules by John J. Medina. This is one of the few audiobooks that I’ve actually listened to and it was very enlightening. And since this was a book that I listened to and recommend, I thought that the best way I could show you why you should pick up a copy of Brain Rules is by using audio-visual techniques! With that in mind, below is an introduction to Medina’s Brain Rules as well as an interview that he did with a television station.

Before you watch those two video clips, though, I’d like to share with you one of the truths that I learned by listening to this book and that is that the concept of multitasking is a lie because multitasking is not possible. Now, I know there are some people out there who will read that sentence and say or think something like, “Yeah, maybe it’s not possible for you because you’re a dummy!” First of all, I’m smarter than you so eat it (just having some fun hear, my dear readers). Second, and more importantly, I felt the same way when I heard Dr. Medina say that multitasking was impossible.

However, Dr. Medina talks about how the idea that a person can focus his or her brain on a variety of active functions at a single time is ludicrous. He uses a great example of some kid who is working on a paper for school and then receives an instant message from a girlfriend. The rules required for addressing and writing the paper are much different than the rules required for addressing and writing the girlfriend. And while the kid might be able to minimize his paper and talk to the girlfriend for a few moments before bringing the paper back to his computer’s desktop and working on it again – for those few moments that he typed to his girlfriend, he hasn’t focused on the paper. Instead, he has switched his brain’s functions (and associated rules) very quickly from one task to another and probably didn’t achieve as great a success in either task as he could if he focused solely on it alone.

Think about it. Do you know people who think that they are masters of multitasking? I bet you do. And now think about it again – are those people really masters of multitasking or do they just “get by” after rapidly switching their focus from one task to another task to another task and on and on?

Interesting stuff. Anyway, enjoy the videos below.

Pretty interesting, huh? Here is Medina being interviewed by a new station. This video, in particular, is a great exposition on what you’ll find out by reading Brain Rules. The interviewer does a great job of extracting some crucial “brain” information from Dr. Medina and I think that you’ll enjoy this interview.

If you have a great interest in the way our bodies work and in the way our minds function, then I think you’ll really enjoy Brain Rules. If you’ve already read (or listened to) the book, I’d be interested in knowing what you thought about it and what you thought about Dr. Medina’s suggestions about the brain. Feel free to use the comment box to share your thoughts!

Congratulations Mike – The Biggest Loser for Spring 2010!

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Not much to say in this post other than a major congratulations goes out to Mike, the winner of NBC’s The Biggest Loser Spring 2010 season! Talk about a great story, here is a guy who lost 264 pounds after starting at 526 pounds. That is unbelievable – absolutely amazing. And, in truth, he looks like a completely different person. The picture that I posted below doesn’t even do the man justice – he was even skinnier and in better shape during tonight’s finale. I’ll try to get a picture from tonight’s finale uploaded to replace the image below. I’m just baffled at how much weight this man lost. It’s really awe-inspiring.

Even though Mike won (and, of course, he was the odds on favorite to win because he was the biggest contestant in show history), Daris has to have undergone the biggest overall transformation. Here’s a guy who looked horrible with his ultra curly hair and big fat man boobs, but wound up shedding 168 pounds, running a 26.2 mile marathon in 4 hours, and actually has significant muscle definition in his arms and shoulders. Daris should be extremely proud of himself – he literally transformed his body and his life. Great job!

The same goes for Ashley, who went from a massive girl weighing 374 pounds to a hottie weighing 191 pounds! Amazing! Ashley lost 183 pounds and no one even gave her a chance of winning when the season began. Ashley looked great at the finale, she really did. And you can tell by her attitude and demeanor that she has the drive and spirit to lose another 50 or even 60 pounds. Once again, The Biggest Loser has taken a girl that most guys would walk by without a second look and made her into a stunning woman that will definitely make guys turn their heads. What a transformation.

Tonight’s finale should be an inspirational wake up call to everyone who thinks that they can’t do it; that they can’t lose weight. Just look at O’Neal (lost 153 pounds) and Sunshine (lost 114 pounds) – those two may not have won the big bucks, but they looked absolutely awesome! Side note – I’m a big fan of O’Neal and Sunshine, but O’Neal’s sons (Sunshine’s brothers) have got to be the biggest fans of their Dad and sister than anyone on the planet! I love when those two guys go crazy whenever they’re around their father and sister. It’s fun to watch!

But, back to people looking good during the finale – the same goes for Darrell (lost 189 pounds). That man lost a ton of weight as did Sherry from the pink team. Awesome, awesome transformations. Cheryl looked great, too, but I think that Sam might have been a little bit too cocky for his own good. Same for Koli. But in the end, the two of them looked great after their weight loss transformations – good for them!

And congratulations (again) to Koli for being the at-home winner of The Biggest Loser competition! Not only does he look great and did he rid himself of all of that excess weight, but he takes home $100,000, too. Not so bad!

If I had any issues with tonight’s season finale of The Biggest Loser, it was that NBC (and all television networks, really), draw these finale shows out way too long. Thankfully, I started watching the show at 8:30pm and rewound my DVR back the extra half an hour so I could fast forward through the commercials and the extra parts of the show that I’ve already seen (look, if you’ve watched the whole season then you’ve already been through each of the contestants’ ups and downs so you don’t need to be reminded of them before each weigh-in). Unfortunately, though, I caught up to the real time version of the show relatively quickly – by 9:20pm. So…for the last 40 minutes of the show I had to suffer through the ridiculous commercial breaks. Blech.

Actually, I guess it’s not that bad since I was able to write the bulk of this post during the dead time in the last 40 minutes of the show. 🙂 Another complaint – the show ends too quickly in the last few minutes. Why not show 2 – 3 minutes of the post-weigh-in celebration and maybe even had a brief interview with the winner? Why cut straight to a promo for a new show or an upcoming show? Bad move.

Oh, and I hated seeing Melissa and Lance again. Talk about two wretched people. I’m not a fan of that Melissa woman – I just don’t like her no matter what she does or says. She’s a sneak who thinks that she’s getting something over on everyone each time she speaks. Dirty snake. She’s the reason why lawyers have bad reputations.

But, once again, a major congratulations goes out to Mike for being this season’s The Biggest Loser champion, $250,000 winner, and an amazing inspirational story! Great job!

TV Review: The Series Finale of 24

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Last night we saw the end of the television phenomenon known as LOST and tonight we were treated to the end of FOX’s smash hit 24. Both of these shows were incredible in their ability to draw in a sustained, rabid fan base and both will be missed incredibly by their faithful fans. And, thankfully, both of these shows were wrapped up the right way. Tonight, at the end of the 24 series, we witnessed the set up that we knew was coming – for the coming 24 movie.

The series finale of 24 had a lot of good points. Here are some my thoughts, in bullet point format:

  • How great is Cherry Jones as President Allison Taylor? That woman can show emotion and the pains of being a national and global leader better than any other President that they’ve had on 24 to date. If they make a movie, I hope that she makes the cut to play the President.
  • The confrontation between President Taylor and Dalia Hassan (played expertly, brilliantly even by Necar Zadegan) was one of the most emotion-packed, skillfully performed scenes on television during the entire spring season on any channel. This was the scene where President Taylor threatened to bomb the IRK into the stone age if Hassan didn’t sign the peace treaty later in the afternoon. Amazing, amazing work by these two extremely talented actresses. Brilliant.
  • Oh, by the way, can anyone play the hateful, scorned woman better than Zadegan? Absolutely amazing performance. When she snapped at President Taylor that there was nothing else to say after the Russian President arrived, you could almost feel the thought of, “You filthy bitch,” ingrained in her words. That’s hatred right there!
  • And what can you say about Kiefer Sutherland’s performance as Jack Bauer? Not only was be great on tonight’s series finale, but he played the most convincing anti-terrorist, patriotic American that I’ve ever seen on television. Sutherland should rest easy knowing that he has single-handedly created and dominated the anti-terrorist character that all future anti-terrorist characters will be measured up against.
  • How surreal was the end of the first hour of the finale when Jack put a sleeper hold on Chloe O’Brian (performed by Mary Lynn Rajskub) and knocked her out? Of course, Chloe got her revenge by blasting Bauer in the upper chest before the CTU team came in.
  • And I don’t know about you, but how great is Gregory Itzin at playing the weasel of the show, former President Charles Logan? That’s some good, scumbag acting right there!
  • If I had to choose one person that made tonight’s series finale better than could have been expected, it has to be Cherry Jones. She slightly beats out the great performances put on by Necar Zadegan and Gregory Itzin. Absolutely wonderful job tonight. The way that you could see every emotion on President Taylor’s face throughout the show was a marvelous job.

Talk about a powerful final half hour of television. Between President Taylor’s withdrawal from the peace agreement, Charles Logan killing his assistant and then popping himself in the head, and Jack Bauer getting ambushed and kidnapped and then ultimately set free by President Taylor and Chloe – what more could you have asked for in an action-packed finale?! In fact, this finale was so packed full of storyline arcs and action that the two hours seemed to fly by in no time whatsoever.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that FOX deserves kudos for not piling on billions of commercials during tonight’s finale like ABC Television did with the LOST finale last night. Putting aside any differences that I have with the FOX Broadcasting Company (like the fact that they cancel shows too quickly – Family Guy or Arrested Development, anyone?), they do know how to create a good and proper send off for their shows once they’ve reached the end of their road. And part of that proper send off is not insulting the fans of the show with an inordinate amount of commercials.

Good job, FOX.

One of the last things that I want to say about this, the final season of 24, is how great of an impact the secondary characters had on this season’s show. Not only were regulars like Itzen and Rajskub excellent at their roles, but the introduction of Katee Sackhoff of Battlestar Galactica fame and Freddie Prinze, Jr. of preteen movies fame made great additions to the regular cast. And so did John Boyd as Arlo Glass. The one thing that you can always say about the folks at FOX is that when they’re looking for a computer nerd to fill in a seat at CTU, they know how to find the people with the right look for the job!

Another parting thought – as I said after last night’s LOST finale, I’m glad that this show is over because now I get an hour back in my life each week! Amen! Finally, any coincidence that 24 ended on May…twenty-fourth?! Ah, maybe that’s just the leftovers of last night’s LOST series finale! Anyway, what did you think of tonight’s series finale of 24? Good? Bad? Indifferent? Feel free to post your comments on the show!