Hey, everybody! Sorry I didn't post yesterday, but there was no news at all. Seriously, at all. Nothing. But, today, now that's a different story. The Campbell County Message Boards are officially back in business!!! And, guess what? I'm a member now!!! As always, I'm under the name "The Old Judge". Seriously, I didn't think it would be that cool, but I went to check it out, and I love it!!! It is fantastic. In my opinion, it's a wonder it ever closed down. Right now, it's off to a good restart, but it would be nice to have a few new people. If you want to join, go to this link http://www.campbellcountymb.com/ . 
The Just Another AIO Blog, run by Alex Jefferson, released his "All Time Top 5 Odyssey Albums Feature" yesterday. You have got to check it out. It really shocked me. He has some interesting opinions. 

I just found out that Down Odyssey Lane has started a feature called "AIO Fun Facts" and a list of future releases for Focus on the Family. I know some of us said this was site was just a complete wash-up and JoyfulG was done. However, she had gone to a weekend camp, which is why we didn't hear from her. The site's back in full swing now, so we can lay those suspicions aside.

Besides that, there was nothing else in the news department, and myself and several other Soda Shoppers were upset because of the lack thereof. So, I decided to do something about it. I got on and wrote The Courtroom Case 003: "The Old Judge's Verdict on Post-Novacom Odyssey". So I hope you enjoy that. It was a different writing style than my other two Courtroom articles, but I think it will be an interesting change of pace. Tell me what you think of it. Also, the Imagination Station has The Soda Shop Message Boards and The Campbell County Message Boards. Well, that's all for now. There's more to come, so stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy Twists and Turns!
                                                                                                                      ---The Old Judge

Today, I have some interesting news. Though I am a member of The Soda Shop, there are two other Odyssey message boards. The Town of Odyssey, the largest and oldest, and Campbell County. Sadly, Campbell County has been shut down for the last month or two due to lack of interest. However, the creator has decided to restart it, but only if he has enough people who want to join. There has been a pretty positive response already, but to reopen it needs several more people. If you want to join, contact Bren at the Soda Shop. Here is the link: http://www.odysseyscoop.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=312 . 

In other news, The Courtroom "Case 002: Should Wooton and Penny Get Married?" is up. I don't know what to do for Case 003, so the TNT Insiders on The Soda Shop are going to choose. If you would like to become a TNT Insider, contact me on The Soda Shop.

Finally, Just Another AIO Blog has a new logo. Once again, Wooton Bassett from The Unofficial AIO Blog did an amazing job, again. This logo is just a small part of the changes this site is going through. In a week or two, there is a "Big Change" going on at this site. Nobody, except Alex Jefferson, the site's creator, knows what this is about. He makes it sound like it's some huge, amazing, mind-blowing renovation. As you can see, he has me on the edge of my seat. Well, that's all for now. There's more to come, so stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy Twists and Turns!
                                                                                                                        ---The Old Judge

Would you look at that! Somebody used my name! Well, sort of. If you look it says "Twists and Returns". The AIO Update has had a lot of news recently, but here's something else new. The AIO Update has released their sixth editorial, titled the above-mentioned name. The link to the article is http://aioupdate.weebly.com/editorial-6.html . It describes all the recent returns of classic Odyssey characters, and his opinions on them. The "he" is David Hilder. He runs the Adventures in Odyssey Update and has written all their editorials. He is a very good writer, and does an excellent job with his website.

Before I continue, I would like to say something. If anybody reads this, you're probably thinking, "Why does this person keep talking about other fan sites? He has a website, he should focus on his." Well, if you'll kindly take note of the title, this is "a hard-hitting blog on anything and everything Odyssey." One of the main goals when I started this was to collect all the AIO news in one place so you wouldn't have to search through EVERY Odyssey fan site out there. You could get on here and find out where to go for new stuff. As an extreme Odyssey fan, and an avid reader, I love to read about Odyssey. When people don't update their websites, it kind of irks me. So, I started this website to give anything and everything about Odyssey, and when other fan sites have new articles or podcasts, features, etc., I'm going to post them on here. So please don't get angry at me. 

Now that I've written a whole paragraph that I didn't mean to write when I started, I'll get to the explanation of The Boredom Buster Podcast logo. News has spread of The Boredom Buster Podcast. The AIO Update has put the links to Episodes 5 & 6 on their websites. The episodes, if you haven't heard them, are interviews with David Griffin. The episodes are available on their website, which is on my Imagination Station page, and on iTunes, too. I finally listened to Episode 6, and it was awesome. I liked that they brought the Guess That Clip! segment back. I was SO sad that it wasn't on Episode 5. David talked about, in my opinion, more interesting stuff than last time. I decided to listen to that episode on earphones. Good idea, right? Well, the first two lines happened like this:

Noah: Welcome to The Boredom Buster Podcast, and we will be continuing our interview with David Griffin.
Hallie:(VERY, VERY loudly) AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Needless to say, my ears rang. Hallie needs to switch to decaf. Just kidding. Anyway, it was amazing, you still continue to impress me, and I can't wait for Episode 7.

Also, because I only have a very small fan base, but they're all faithful to my site, so I decided to reward them with a special behind-the-scenes feature on The Soda Shop that only Twists and Turns regulars can get on. There are some regulars that haven't joined the group yet, but if you want to, contact me on The Soda Shop. Besides that, Case 002 on The Courtroom comes out tomorrow. Well, that's all for now. There's more to come, so stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy Twists and Turns!
                                                                                                                        ---The Old Judge

Now, for those of you that read this, if anybody does, and if you know your hymns, that this is a reference to the hymn "Pentecostal Power". Now, apparently, on the Adventures in Odyssey Twitter account, one of the episodes will be focused on Pentecost. I don't have a Twitter account, so I got this off The AIO Update. This is just a possibility, but if this is true, it will be an Imagination Station adventure where a character will go back and experience the day of Pentecost. That's just part of it,, though. Apparently, as a 25th anniversary tribute, a good portion of the album will be focused on Whit's inventions. So there will be more, too. As far as we know it's The Imagination Station, Room of Consquence, and The Inspiration Station, but, who knows, there might be more inventions that make a suprise comeback. I heard from somewhere, but I can't remember, that the final episode would be a tribute to ALL Whit's inventions. On The AIO Update, after David Hilder posted this news, The Odyssey Team on Twitter commented, "...Keep your ears open for next album... it may or may not have an episode to do partly with that exact thing :)." So, that sounds promising.

On the Twists and Turns side of things, I've put The Odyssey Library on The Imagination Station, and I've updated my trivia feature. On Saturday comes Case 002 on The Courtroom: "Should Wooton Bassett and Penny Wise Get Married?" Now some other fan site news. Several days ago, Wooton Bassett from the Unofficial AIO Blog posted an interview with Noah from The Boredom Buster Podcast. If you haven't checked it out, you need to. Also, today he released his review of Just Another AIO Blog. Speaking of which, Alex Jefferson from previously mentioned website has released his predictions of the fall season.

Sorry that there wasn't much news today, and that that was one of my worse posts. There's more to come, so stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy Twists and Turns!
                                                                            

Hello, again everybody. I was going to post this last night, but I ran out of time. So yesterday was the first day I didn't post something on here. So now I'm making up for it. There's not much Odyssey news out there, so this is fan site news.

First of all, I said The Courtroom would be out on Saturday with my opinions of Penny and Wooton getting married. That's still going to happen on Saturday, but I started The Courtroom a little early. Check it out. Also, I still need more topics to talk about in The Courtroom, because I have like four. So send in some topics, via The Soda Shop or The Town of Odyssey. It's a topic called "Court's In Session!", just like this post. Remember I'll talk about ANYTHING Odyssey, no matter how outlandish.

Secondly, there's a new article on the Odyssey Scoop titled, "Live at the 25: One AIO fan shares his adventure at Adventures in Odyssey's 25th Birthday Bash in June 2012." It is written by Garrett Vandenburg, who is a host on The Odyssey ScoopCast and The Ceiling Fan. He reviews everything that happened that day to him, and he does a good job at pointing out detail that you might not otherwise hear from anybody else reviewing The Birthday Bash. The Odyssey Scoop has a rich history and impressive collection of amazing and well-written articles, and this article keeps up the tradition.

Finally, on June 30th, Kevin McCreary, Mark Jones, Loren Crisp, and Garrett Vandenburg are going to record an episode of The Ceiling Fan, all in the same room. Apparently, this has never before happened in Ceiling Fan history. Though I don't listen to it, I know there are a lot of Ceiling Fan fans out there, so I thought they might like this. Also, this is their first episode since April 7, 2012, so people are beginning to get excited.

Well, that's all for now, so stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy Twists and Turns! ---The Old Judge

Hello, again. Thanks to Alex Jefferson and JoyfulG for referencing Twists and Turns on their sites. This really is a hard site to find. I have to either type in the whole address, or I go to the Unofficial AIO Blog to link to my site, and I'm the person who made this!

Okay, time to explain the very interesting Whit's End Podcast logo. This is my story. I got up this morning, and went online to moderate the Soda Shop. At 3:15 AM Central Standard Time, a new user named Frank posted on The Whit's End Podcast's topic. I had asked Bren a couple of days ago when Episode 74 would be out, because only one episode has been released this year. So any way, Frank posted and said that he was an intern at The Whit's End Podcast for the summer. He said he wasn't sure if he should release this, but to check it out: http://archive.org/download/74Promo/74promo.mp3 Apparently it's a promotion, short though it may be, of Episode 74. When I asked Frank when the episode would be out, Bren said he couldn't tell. So this will have to hold us until then.

Now, some Twists and Turns news. I've updated my trivia feature just a little bit, and I put The Whit's End Podcast and The Official Site on my Imagination Station page. Happy birthday to Fodo14, by the way. He's the host of the Boredom Buster Podcast. If you're on the Soda Shop or The Town of Odyssey, tell him happy birthday. He's helped me quite a bit with getting the word out about my website Also, about The Courthouse. I have decided on a topic to kick it off. It will be my opinions on whether or not Wooton and Penny should get married. I know, it's a controversial topic. As I will try to do, I will give an indepth look, (That's on my logo!), at all aspects of the idea. Now that I've said that, if anybody reads this, I'll be bugged on the Soda Shop about what my opinions are. Well, that's all for now, so stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy Twists and Turns!
                                                                                                                           ---The Old Judge

Before I start and explain the picture I'll say it. Two posts in one day, I try not to do it, but there was so news. First of all, today a new website was released by JoyfulG, a fellow member of the Soda Shop. This website has a nice homepage and logo, I believe it's a parody of "Down Gilead Lane", a blog, and actor biographies as of now. She says she'll update it frequently. The link is on the Imagination Station page of my site.  She did a very good job. Go check it out.

Secondly, I would like to thank the people on the Soda Shop for all the great topics to talk about in The Courtroom. I would like some more topics, just because I would like a larger reserve to have. 

Thirdly, Wooton Bassett put his review of my site on his blog. One of his features on his blog is to review all the Odyssey fan sites and podcasts. He did the Boredom Buster Podcast a week ago, and I was his next target. Gulp! (As you can see, I haven't seen it yet. I'll check it out after I do this.)

Finally, I promised you a recap post of the Birthday Bash, but I didn't go, so all I knew was Chuck Bolte came back for the show and the cover of the new guide was released. This morning I stumbled along a slightly newer site, that has the complete summary of the live show, in detail. It's called "Just Another AIO Blog". Seriously, that's its name. The link to his site is on my Imagination Station page,too. Well, that's all for now, so stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy Twists and Turns! 
                                                                                                                  ---The Old Judge 
                                                                                       

Well, once again my favorite podcast is back with a new episode. BBP Episode 6 was released last night. The title is "BBP Episode 6: Interview with David Griffin Part 2." The summary of it is "Part 2 of our interview with David Griffin, voice of Jimmy Barclay! He talks about some of his favorite episodes, characters, and actors to work with. I already downloaded it. Noah announced on the Soda Shop that it was out, then I went right to iTunes and downloaded it. I love the fact that it's on iTunes. If a new fan wants to hear all the episodes, he can go right to iTunes, they're all on there. 

In other news, people liked my opinions on Abby and Mandie's Adventures in Odyssey Podcast last night, so I decided to add something new to my site. I'll put a post on here when it's finally up, but I'm expecting it to be up Saturday or Sunday. I'm telling you because this is an interactive feature to some extent. It will be called "The Courtroom" as a pun to my name on here. Basically you'll tell me what you want me to talk about on here,(I'll make a topic on the Soda Shop), and then I'll give my opinions on it. Seriously, as long as it's Odyssey, I'll do it. I'll talk about anything from why Maude isn't in the show to why Jay has an imaginary friend named Bob. Of course, if it's stuff like that, it will be mostly just speculation. It could be more serious Odyssey stuff, too, or my opinions on episodes, podcasts, or books. As long as it's Odyssey, I'll do it. Well, that's all for now, so stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy Twists and Turns

Okay, I'm back. This is going to be a very long post, so sit down and get comfortable, and start reading. Anyway, I'm terribly sorry about my last post. I forgot to put in the details about The Official Guide: Second Edition. So, the first part of this post is dedicated to what my opinions are of the upcoming Adventures in Odyssey releases.

First off, in this abnormally large fall lineup is "Adventures in Odyssey: 90 Devotions For Kids". This book contains thirteen weeks of devotions, with sidebars from Whit, Connie, Eugene, and Wooton enforcing life applications. Each week has an individual theme, seven devotions that reference Odyssey episodes, and an activity, puzzle, or game to reinforce the core biblical truths taught during the week. I am very excited about this release, and personally am expecting it to be a good seller. This is only the second Adventures in Odyssey devotional book, the first being "Adventures in Odyssey Devotions". I couldn't find the year it was released, but considering the cover has Dylan Taylor, I'm estimating it was released in the late 1990's. (See below.)

Next comes "The Official Guide: Second Edition". When news of this book was first released, people thought it would be practically worthless. They said it would be the old guide with six albums tacked on the end. I've heard differently, however. Apparently, there will be new trivia for the old fifty albums, along with new photos. This is definitely going on the top of my wish list, and I can't wait for it to come out.

Next up is what us Odyssey fans have been waiting for the most: "Album 56: The Grand Design". We have excuse to be fanatically excited, though. I'll only put the highlights of this album in abbreviated form, because if you'll read one of my older posts, "A Promising Album, Indeed", I got carried away about this album. Here are the highlights: Jason returns to Odyssey, and Joanne comes back on the air, the Room of Consequence, the Imagination Station, and the Inspiration Station come back, the Odyssey Owls will be featured, an episode with Penny, Connie, and Wooton, a highlight for fans in recent seasons, a Kid's Radio episode, and an episode on tithing. And the cover is just amazing. All the inventions. Also, on the Soda Shop Message Boards someone said there would be an episode that was a tribute to ALL of Whit's inventions.

The Silver Celebration, Adventures in Odyssey's 25th anniversary album, is a collection of Odyssey's best episodes ever, and the sequel to Odyssey's 20th anniversary Platinum Collection. Currently none of the episodes are known, but these are the producer's picks, and with over 13 hours of audio entertainment, if the cover is correct, whoever owns this will have hours of Odyssey's best in one little package.

Finally, the Imagination Station Volumes 8 and 9 will release this fall as well, and you can read my opinions for them in "Push the Red Button!"

Now it's time. I know people on the Soda Shop are waiting expectantly for this, my opinions on Abby and Mandie's Adventures in Odyssey Podcast. First of all, Wooton Bassett does an amazing job designing logos. He did this one, and he did mine, too. He's done some non-Odyssey website logos as well, and those are good, too.



Okay, to my review. When I first heard about this, it was because of the Soda Shop. Abby and Mandie are both Soda Shop members, so they were talking about it. Then they only had one episode, and I thought it was neat, but I didn't get around to checking it out until Episode #2 came out. When I listened to it, I liked it, but I would have given it about three and one half stars. See, in the first one, they had an interview with Katie Leigh, and although it was good, it seemed a little rushed. Mandie was very hard to hear in the first two episodes. Episode 2 was good, but Mandie knew what she was talking about, (Good for you!), but because she was over the phone I got about half of it. If any of you listened to it, Mandie did a good portion of the talking that episode, so you got about half of the podcast. It was still good, though. Please don't think I hate this. Wait until the end of the review. I love it when fans do things like this, and doing a podcast with someone who lives in a different state, and trying to plan it and record it all over the phone, that's what is remarkable. These girls have an amazing love for the show. I would have kept supporting them, because they were doing good. Well, tonight I finally got around to listening to Episode 3. My reaction: "This is SO much better quality." Now, don't get me wrong, the other two were good, but this one blew me away. When Mandie talked, what I could hear of her went from 55% in the first two to 95% in this one. And then they interviewed Paul McCusker, longtime Odyssey writer and writer of the Green Ring Conspiracy. It was absolutely amazing. I they keep up that sound quality, they'll be amazing. Now, their podcasts are on YouTube, and I can't give you the links so here's what to look for.

Episode 1 is titled "Abby and Mandie's Adventures in Odyssey Podcast".
Episode 2 is titled "AIO episode review "The Labyrinth".
Episode 3 is titled "Abby and Mandie's Adventures in Odyssey Podcast #3".

The YouTube channel they're on is called "theabbyandmandieshow".

Anyway, they now have a logo, which is good. People can now identify you with something whereas previously they couldn't. In your next episodes keep titling them "Abby and Mandie's Adventures in Odyssey Podcast #" whatever the number is.

All in all, this was a good podcast that got into a groove and became so much better. My current rating for this is 4 and 3/4 stars. Keep up the good work. Well, that's all for now, so stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy Twists and Turns!
                                                                                                                       ---The Old Judge

Did any of you besides me ever wonder what Whit was revealing in this picture?

Well, it could be anything. Nobody knows. Seriously, nobody knows at all. I don't even think the artist did when he drew it. BUT, it could be this. The new cover for The Official Guide: Second Edition!

This cover looks REALLY amazing, especially if that 25th anniversary seal is in the front page. Well, I haven't heard how the show went, but we'll all hear about it soon enough. I'll probably put some recap post on the events of today. Well, that's all for now, so stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy Twists and Turns!
 ---The Old Judge