The Royal Magician of Oz Trilogy is a 3 volume tale of magic and wonder that recalls the cherished values of friendship, loyalty and courage. These timeless tales of Oz reminds us of the value of overcoming our deepest fears and conquering the challenges that might otherwise defeat us.

Volume One; Magician of Oz, Volume Two; Shadow Demon of Oz and Volume Three; Family of Oz are now available for your reading enjoyment, as well as The Ozian Adventure of Pickleless & Blu.

The Emerald Slippers of Oz
, featuring an Introduction by Roger S. Baum; great grandson of L. Frank Baum, as well as Tails of Oz and Even More Tails of Oz are also
available for your reading enjoyment.

Nomes of Oz is a wonderful adventure for anyone who loves the 1939 MGM film, The Wizard of Oz.

The newest adventure in Oz, entitled: The First Witches of Oz is now available and fast becoming a best-seller in the Land of Oz.

All are available in both paperback and Kindle.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Family Video ; The Last of a Dying Breed... For Good Reason!

Last night, I finally reached my breaking point as I dealt with an ongoing problem with our local Family Video rental store.

Now, I recall as a child whenever we went to the movies, we went once. Sometimes twice if it was a really good movie. After that, the movie was relegated to my memories, never to be seen again. Of course, the one movie that I was able to see on a yearly basis was The Wizard of Oz. It was a yearly Autumn tradition that I always looked forward to.

Then along came the 80's and the novel concept of the VHS tape. Now, we could see movies over and over, and whenever a great movie had finished its run at the theater, it would show up at the video store and we would run to rent it.

In fact, there was a time when video stores were in such great abundance that you couldn't swing a dead cat and not hit one. Kinda like Dollar General stores right now.

Then along came DVD's and their higher quality, added bonus features and greater interactivity found the VHS tape bidding us a fond farewell.I still have a VCR tape deck and a selection of Disney tapes for my grandkids to watch whenever they come over.

So now I come to the point of it all.

Last night, I went down to our local Family Video store to rent The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. We were looking forward to watching it and settled in for a couple of hours of fun diversion.

Alas, it was not to be. The disc turned out to be scratched in such a way (though it was really hard to tell) that it skipped and locked up. Arrrrggghhh!!!!

Now, if this had been the 1st time, or even the 2nd time, I might not have reacted the way I did... but nooooo! This was the 4th consecutive time this had happened in the last several months. Yes, I said "consecutive." I got dressed, headed back to Family Video and politely explained my displeasure.

As I put it to this poor schlub who was working that night, this would be my last time renting a dvd movie from there... or anywhere.

Lately, we have tried Netflix as an alternative to renting videos and have found that this new way of technology is very rewarding and satisfying. Movies coming out on DVD also make it to Netflix nearly at the same time and we have never had a movie skip or lock-up on us with Netflix... and Hulu seems pretty good too!

Yes, video stores were all the rage once, but like the noble Tyrannosaurus Rex, they have all but gone extinct, leaving only Family Video Rex to battle it out with early Hominid Man for dominance (I threw in that last part for you folks who genuinely think that early Man fought against dinosaurs).

Anyways, it has been a struggle, coming to grips with the 21st century, but I am now to the point where I have chosen to give up DVD's and go digital.

No more Family Video for me!

1 comment:

  1. THe Cuckoo family is going the same way. We cancelled our disk and have gone with Netflix and Amazon Prime. Those two things seem to cover all that we might require in watching. Progress is inevitable....but not always comfortable. Oma Linda

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