Hello Friends, Family, and Fans,
Come see us tomorrow at the Merivale Mall between 10am and 4pm. We’ll have coffee and books for sale.
It’s our last show of the season, so if you want Christmas presents, this is the best time.
Hope to see you there!
Coffee Shop Between the ‘Verses Google Search
If you were to search Coffee Shop Between the ‘Verses in Google, this is what might show up…
Not really, but these are related to the book!
Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story – JenEric Movie Review
How This Works – Read Other Reviews
Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2024 film Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story.
Story
This is the standard love story where the “prince” meets the uncommon girl and her family and before she knows who he is, they start falling for each other. Then there’s drama when she finds out and eventually they rebuild trust and love. Same plot points as a lot of Cinderella stories.
There’s nothing particularly new in it, but they tie every plot point to the emotion of the movie.
I was worried this would just be a huge ad for the team and it’s players, but it never felt that way. Even with Donna Kelce popping up.
Score: 0.5
Characters
Throw a bunch of standard, but kind, family tropes at a wall and you’ll get the characters from this movie.
That being said, they act the shit out of it. Every line, every look, and every movement is purposeful and impactful. The actors are mostly veteran TV actors and they’re lovable.
The main characters are adorable and have enough chemistry to keep us interested.
Score: 1
Dialogue
The dialogue was pure cheese but delivered so well that it felt deep.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
The camera angles were good and they made Kansas City look like a small Christmas town, which is impressive.
The music did it’s job and was good.
Score: 0.5
Fun
It was a nice relaxing movie that was sweet and still pulled at my heartstrings. Both my wife and I loved it. (We watched it after the kids wree in bed.)
Score: 1
Overall
It strikes the perfect balance between cheese and real emotion with all the heart you’d need from this sort of movie.
Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5
Freddy
I think I was supposed to be frightened of Freddy Fazbear from the video game Five Nights at Freddy’s, but how could I be with such a big smile??
I will write… I hope
Hello my Friends, Family, and Fans;
I’ve been having a hard time the past two weeks with a series of migraines that have been pretty bad. I’m hoping that this is the tail end and it’ll start getting better this week.
Either way, I’m planning a Christmas story and I’m hoping to write it this week. I’m also hoping to write a story for the next Siren’s Song magazine. I’m really nervous for both of these, the first because it involves a character that’s mostly Jen’s, and the second because I’ll be writing Kennedy who is completely Jen. She’s given me permission and she’s going to help but I’m still a little worried.
I really want to write, but between background stress (which I can’t talk about) and my migraines, I’ve found it hard to actually do it. I want to change that, but we’ll see how it goes.
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric
Exceptionalism and the Underdog
Hello my friends, family, and fans;
I saw a post the other day that shook me and I’m still having trouble with it.
The post was a typical leftist meme that said, “We’ve all watched A Christmas Carol countless times but you still blame Tiny Tim for his fate.” I thought it was a little over the top and was looking forward to reading comments roasting the poster for being overly dramatic. Wow, was I surprised.
The comments were mostly about how it wasn’t Tim’s fault but his parents. How they were irresponsible for having so many kids and not being able to support them. I swear I heard Scrooge’s voice asking, “Are there no prisons?”
It makes me sad that people still believe poverty is a character flaw and not a trap. I grew up poor and I saw the shame on my Mom’s face when she had to accept donations so we could have Christmas dinner. The only flaw in character my mother had was her taste in men.
It saddens me that, despite all our fiction promoting empathy and tolerance, people seem to have missed the message. There’s this weird thing in western culture where we all feel like we’re the underdog and anything we achieve is due to our hard work and striving. That applies to the poor, middle class, and billionaires. We all seem to think we’re Cratchit, even when we act more like Scrooge.
Believing we’re special is the first step to treating others as if they aren’t.
Every person is important and deserves life, dignity, health, freedom, and love, no matter what their level of productivity or their lot in life.
This winter is going to be a bad one for a lot of people. If you can, please consider donating to a food bank. We will be making a donation directly to the Ottawa Food Bank.
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric
A Case of Synchronicity Google Search
If you were to search A Case of Synchronicity in Google, this is what might show up…
Not really, but these are related to the book!
Edition is discontinued. Will be available at in person events until a new edition is released.
Jingle Bell Heist – JenEric Movie Review
How This Works – Read Other Reviews
Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2025 film Jingle Bell Heist.
Story
They manage to meld the formula of a heist movie with the heart of a Christmas romance. It was happy, sad, stressful, twisty, and ends happily.
Score: 1
Characters
The two main characters could have been extremely bland but the actors were amazing and elevated them into real, feeling people.
Score: 1
Dialogue
The dialogue was good, especially when the two main characters were talking with each other, but there were times when they are talking about the heist where it felt very unnatural on the exposition.
Score: 0.5
Visuals and Music
The movie had very muted colours but overall was still pretty and well shot.
The music was excellent, melding the Christmas songs with more dramatic score.
Score: 1
Fun
We guessed several of the twists before they happened but didn’t feel cheated by it. Everyone liked it. Not sure it’ll become a yearly rewatch but it was good.
Score: 1
Overall
A fun and well thought-out combination of rom-com and heist movie set at Christmas. The actors are phenomenal and the story will keep you guessing.
Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5
We don’t talk about him
No, really. Shh!
Loved this. The rat was a surprise that he pulled out after I asked for a picture.
Thank you for being awesome!
Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;
We’ve been doing a lot of smaller cons and craft fairs and I wanted to let everyone know how much we appreciate chatting with you. Even when people don’t buy things, we appreciate our con friends coming by and talking with us.
Our friends, fans, and repeat customers make the entire thing worthwhile.
Extra big shout out to the girl who walked by and said how much she’d loved Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers, which she’d bought on Kindle. It was awesome to meet someone we didn’t know, and didn’t sell to, who loved the book. It’s like meeting a fan in the wild. Really exciting.
Also really exciting was hearing about a Reddit post where people were looking for local geeky coffee and several of you sang our praises. It’s always great to hear how much people love our coffee, books, and crochet. Again it makes everything worth it.
Be kind and stay safe,
Éric
