March 16th Simon Kidgits Club Rise Of The Guardians Event at Newport Centre, NJ

March 16th Simon Kidgits Club
Rise Of The Guardians Event
Newport Centre, NJ

On Saturday, March 16th, the Simon Kidgits Club will feature exciting 
displays and activities inspired by DreamWorks Animation’s hit film
Rise of the Guardians, which features the Easter Bunny, Jack Frost, 
Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and Sandman—together for the first time!  
Arriving on Blu-ray and DVD on March 12th,
the movie tells the story of how these beloved heroes protect the
hopes and dreams of children everywhere.  Children and their parents are 
invited to come by the Newport Center Mall and take part in 
Rise of the Guardians-themed arts and crafts activities and have a 
chance at winning some terrific giveaways!
Diane Sullivan
Email me at ELGeorgia@aol.com

Let’s Chat With Nuclear Cowboyz Javier Villegas

Let’s Chat With Nuclear Cowboyz 
Javier Villegas
Interview between 

Diane Sullivan and Javier Villegas
Nuclear Cowboyz
March 16 & 17
IZOD Center, NJ

Diane: How old were you when you started having an interest in motocross?

Javier: I was probably five years old when I started liking motocross, but at that moment my family didn’t have money to buy me a dirt bike. It took my dad two years to save enough money to buy me a motorcycle.


Diane: When did you realize that motocross was something you wanted to do as a career?

Javier: When I was 17 years old I was finishing school and I still didn’t know what I wanted to study in college, but I did know that I love riding my dirt bike. When I was 17, I was still living in my country (Chile) and down there, is almost impossible to make a career as an athlete. It took a lot of effort and a lot of training to make it happen, but I don’t regret it one moment.


Diane: What has been your most exciting moment so far?

 
Javier: My most exciting moment was when I became world champion in 2011, it was a long year and but the victory was a reward of so many years of hard work.


Diane: Scariest moment?
Javier: My scariest moment was when I broke my femora in 2007, it was my first time breaking a big bone and it was very painful, made me think if I really wanted to keep riding, but a few weeks later I was ready to start recovering and get back into my bike.


Diane: What is your next goal?
Javier: My next goal is to become the best freestyle rider in the world, I know it is a hard goal, because there is so many good riders out there, but I’m going to work hard to achieve it.


Diane: I believe Nuclear Cowboyz is new to you. What are your thoughts on it so far?
Javier: Nuclear Cowboyz is a very fun show and I enjoy all of the riding I get to do, especially when I’m doing it with my friends, we get to jump at the same time and do tricks at the same time, it’s very cool to look over and see the tricks mid air while I’m alongside the other riders. It’s also neat to be part of such a big production that includes more than freestyle… We have fireballs, fireworks a neat laser show, acrobats, dancers and much more! It’s a show everybody has to experience.

Diane: How does your wife feel about your career? Would you like your own children to be involved in FMX?
Javier: My wife is very supportive, she’s always helping me make this easier, she wakes up very early every morning to go practice with me, and she’s always there to take care of me if something happens. About my kids, I just want them to find something that makes them happy, if it’s freestyle, great, if it’s something else, great too. The only goal in life is to be happy.

Special thanks to Javier Villegas for this wonderful interview. All opinions are that of Diane Sullivan. Email me at ELGeorgia@aol.com To read more about Nuclear Cowboyz click here!

Giveaway: Eight O’Clock Coffee and Food Pairings Chat!

Giveaway: Eight O’Clock Coffee
and Food Pairings Chat
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and, for many, it isn’t complete without coffee. Eight O’Clock Coffee brings more than 150 years of expertise to the breakfast table, turning this morning meal into an experience to savor – complete with perfect coffee pairings.


Oatmeal is a classic way to start the day – simple, filling and hearty. Topped with some fresh fruit and almonds or walnuts and honey, its flavor goes from bland to grand. This mild-flavored breakfast food goes well with a lightly roasted coffee like Eight O’Clock Coffee’s French Vanilla or Hazelnut. Eight O’Clock Coffee Roaster Brewing Tip: Mix half a serving of Ground Hazelnut and Ground French Vanilla to deliver a Sweet and Nutty flavor.

Sweet breakfasts cooked on the griddle, like pancakes, waffles and French toast, are usually topped with syrups, jams or whipped cream. To offset all that sweetness, go with the bold flavor of an espresso or dark-roasted coffee. Eight O’Clock’s Dark Italian Roast hits the mark and is perfect for espresso aficionados. Eight O’Clock Coffee Roaster Brewing Tip: Add a dollop of Whipped Cream in place of Milk or Cream and savor the European experience.

The traditional American-style breakfast of Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, or a hearty Ham steak is a match for Eight O’Clock Coffee’s Original Roast. Whether you like your eggs fried, scrambled or sunny side up, this medium roast coffee is an ideal choice to balance the savory flavor of egg dishes.  Eight O’Clock Coffee Roaster Brewing Tip: Set aside a ½ cup of coffee to create a toast mopping red eye gravy to garnish the Ham Steak.  Full recipe provided (Foodnetwork.com).

Quick grab-and-go breakfasts, including breads, muffins and bagels, pair well with all Eight O’Clock coffee varieties.  Try a variety which appeals to your taste today!

From meals on the run to a lovely weekend breakfast in bed, Eight O’Clock Coffee offers a wide range of gourmet coffee varieties to complement a morning mealscape. America’s Original Gourmet Coffee is available in Ground, Whole Bean and Keurig® K-Cup packs, so whether you prefer the experience of brewing a whole pot or the convenience of using single-serve K-Cup® packs, there is an Eight O’Clock Coffee for you. To get the latest from Eight O’Clock, be sure to like their Facebook page atwww.facebook.com/EightOClockCoffee.

GIVEAWAY
Our friends at Eight O’Clock Coffee are going to make one reader very happy with two bags of
Eight O’Clock Coffee Dark Italian Roast. Yum! Contest ends March 20th at 11:59pm.
Winner will be notified by email and have 24 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen.
USA only. Enter on the rafflecopter below. Eight O’Clock Coffee is responsible for prize delivery.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

OZ the Great and Powerful Activity Sheets

OZ the Great and Powerful
Activity Sheets
In honor of OZ the Great and Powerful 
Now in theaters we have some awesome
activity sheets for the kids(of all ages) to have fun with 
after the movie. I have a feeling at least one of my children will have this 
Finley mask on by bedtime tonight!
Disclosure: All materials provided by Disney Pictures.
Diane Sullivan Email me at ELGeorgia@aol.com

Disney’s Oz the Great and Powerful In Theaters Now

Oz the Great and Powerful

Disney’s new film Oz the Great and Powerful follows the Wizard himself as he first arrives in the land of Oz. But if you think that’s all there is to it, you’re as dead wrong as the Wicked Witch of the East is, well, dead.


The story centers on Oz, played by James Franco, who is immediately established as a conman in magician’s clothing. In the film’s black and white opening, we see him pulling the wool over the eyes of the people of Kansas, both on and off the stage. Oz is theatrical, cunning, and shrewd through and through. Yet when his double-dealing catches up with him, and he angers the circus strong man, Oz sees only one option– escape. He hops aboard a hot air balloon, and faster than you can say, “We’re not in Kansas anymore,” he is whisked away by a tornado to the land that bears his name, where he quickly becomes embroiled in a power struggle between Oz’s three witches.

As the Wizard makes his way across the land of Oz, there is no shortage of familiar faces and places to the average moviegoer, for even if you’ve only seen The Wizard of Oz once, you’ll be sure to recognize the Emerald City, the yellow brick road, munchkins, flying monkeys, and of course, the green-skinned Wicked Witch of the West.

But just who is this Wicked Witch? We meet three different witches when the Wizard arrives in Oz– Theodora (Mila Kunis), her sister Evanora (Rachel Weisz), and Glinda (Michelle Williams)– but none of them appear as the Wicked Witch we’re all familiar with… at least until about halfway through the film. The way that Oz the Great and Powerful handles the transformation of one of these witches into the villain we know is undoubtedly one of the better elements of the film. (I would like to add here, though, that fans of Wicked must beware– this movie tackles the origins of the Wicked Witch of the West according to the works of L. Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz.As such, it does not fit with Gregory Maguire’s alternate take on Oz in Wicked, or the musical that is based on it. Don’t look for Elphaba here.)

Oz the Great and Powerful is a wonder to behold from beginning to end. Visually it stuns, presenting the land of Oz in its crisp and whimsical beauty, particularly in 3D (a well-used and welcome addition to this film.) Danny Elfman’s haunting score defines Oz as well, giving equal merit to both the lighthearted and magical aspects of this land and to its shadowy and somewhat frightening dark side. Speaking of frightening, fans ofSam Raimi‘s Evil Dead films will be pleased to see that the director has not lost his zany and macabre tendencies, particularly in his use of stalking, first-person camera at times, his almost comical treatment of the dangerous twister that brings the Wizard to Oz, and a hilarious cameo from Raimi’s muse Bruce Campbell.

All in all, Oz the Great and Powerful is a delight– a film that can appeal just as much to a childlike sense of wonder as it can to an old soul or classic movie lover who respects the original Wizard of Oz, not that the two are mutually exclusive! It is, in short, not agreat film, but more than that– it is a good film. (Trust me, once you see it, you’ll know what I mean.)

Disney’s “Oz the Great and Powerful” hits theaters today, March 8.

Disclosure:Special thanks to Louis Sullivan http://aftercreditsroll.blogspot.com/ for this awesome Guest Blogger post. Screening passes provided by Disney Pictures. All pictures provided by Disney Pictures.