Yeah, I think what helped with it feeling less cliche, was that it had a main goal that we could easily connect to. "We're going on a family outing." Is something we can immediately remember doing with our families. On the other hand, "We're going for a few months (without technology)." Is a bit harder to mentally grasp. The other thing that sets this episode apart from the one with the Barclays, is that it doesn't feel as stressful. The thought of going a month (I can't remember how long it was) without technology, stresses us out very quickly, to the point that we're thinking so much about the decisions WE would make, more than just enjoying the story. Which is excellent for the moral side of things, but awful if you ever want to hear the episode again. Un-tech the Halls was different because it's much easier to think about while understanding that it would be difficult not to use your phones for a day.

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"Let me get this straight. I bet all those non-friends of yours try to embarrass you about your love for that stuff, right? So, you almost feel like you have to hide your treasures away and can only take them out in secret on rainy days when your mom goes to the store to get more liver and nobody is around to berate your sensitive spirit. Is that what you’re saying?" -Jay Smouse

So, I am listening to the latest OAC episodes...er AIOClub episodes.

A Predicament of Biblical Proportions


A Forgiving Heart


ETA:
Where Your Treasure Is


Un-Tech the Halls

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I never commented about Un-Tech the Halls, but I just heard the Oddcast review and thought I should say something. If you want to hear about complaing about the technophobia in this episode, just check out that Oddcast ep on it. For a summary, A. Technology really isn't the correct word for what they were talking about, as technology would include the car they were driving, clothes they were wearing, etc. B. The problem in general with phones/video games/etc. is the users, not the things themselves. People today like to think that books are so much healthier and less distracting than phones, but that is just not true. I can just as much ignore my parents calling me to dinner with a book, as with a phone. Phones are not antisocial, phones are a major source of social interaction today. Etc.

Also, just the story was bad. I live in a place where we get snow every winter, the AIO writers do too, I believe. But someone please tell me of a time they've been able to sled down a hill without the use of a sled. Maybe I just never do it right, or the Parkers slid down a cliff, but I don't know of a single time I have been able to slide down a hill without a sled. Also, don't get me started on a rope made of belts and socks. Except for the tying to the car, why do they even need a rope? I know the Parker kids are much younger than my little sister and I, but we carried our Christmas tree this year from the field up to the Tree Farm barn... a pretty long hike. Christmas trees honestly aren't that heavy, but I guess it depends on the tree as well. They could've easily carried the tree without the use of a rope, but since they were apparently at the bottom of a cliff, it makes a little more sense.

All in all, I did not like this episode. It wasn't funny, the plot was... no, and the technophobia was really bad, even if Chris's wrap up didn't very briefly mentioned that phones/internet can be used in a good way.

I forget about the January episode, so I'll review it after I listen to the second part.

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xo eht haiasi-

Overall One More Name is a wonderful episode, but not on the levels of The Cure, Thirty Jays Hath September, or Journal of John Avery Whittaker. My reason is that Part 2 and most of Part 3 drag and are very slow paced, which drags down my rating. This would have been a better episode if it was a 4-parter, making it better and making it's slow pace better for the episode. I give One More Name 1-3 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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I'm Monty Whittaker's greatest fan. member of the K.R.E

Wait, why would adding another episode help speed up the pacing?

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it's not about 'deserve'. it's about what you believe. and i believe in love

One More Name was really good, I liked it. =)

Ugh. This months episode. *shudders* *prepares for rant* So Jr. Trent is back, that's fun. These kind of episodes go to show how ridiculous this whole "you aren't a Christian unless you have a testimony" belief in modern churches is. It just makes no sense to me, basically all it does is make the "boring" kids seem really awful about themselves and hate every time someone mentions "testimony." I don't even get the point of it. Isn't testimony supposed to be how God has worked in your life? Then how come the norm is telling it in front of church (maybe several times) and you're supposed to have it written out and memorized? Can't it just be a natural, "I have seen God work in me when I was struggling with "x" and I found peace/help/etc.?" It just seems dumb to me. So yeah, to the episode. Jr. Trent is basically Trent's daydreams (which I've never liked) on drugs. They are, the worst. Camilla was cringe-city. The talk with Eva at the end of the episode was good, but not nearly enough to rescue this episode. Also, Camilla sounded just like Rose or whatever the missionary girl's name was. Oh, so another thing. Jr. Trent read and took the literal meaning of the Bible without any outside influence, and nearly got himself killed. Anyone want to explain why that didn't work out for him? Or only in this case does he need someone's guidance in reading the Sola Scriptura? But I guess that passage also is entirely unChristian because it says "work out your salvation."

All in all, not a huge fan. Especially Jr. Trent. That's all.

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xo eht haiasi-

This month's episode was OK. They used Emily's voice actor to voice rose, I'm pretty sure.
(You sly Dogs you ) It had a good message, and overall it wasn't bad at all. It wasn't great either, though. Also, anyone else think that the Secret Agent guy that told Buddy to take the trash out, sounded like Captian Rex?

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*Finger guns aggressively*

It was teh 2nd worst OAC episode so far. that is my stinking on my thoughts.

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I'm Monty Whittaker's greatest fan. member of the K.R.E

I did not like this month Ep. at all! It was so fake, corny, and old fashion. I will spare you from my ranting this time and just say I dont like it very much.

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Wow, was the new one really that awful? I only listened to snippets of it and don't really know what it was supposed to be about. But what I do remember, it did feel like it was trying too hard to make you laugh. Because ~~ shenanigans~~!

It wasn't helped by the fact that it is in between "One More Name" and "Unfair Game" π=3.14159265

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I'm Monty Whittaker's greatest fan. member of the K.R.E

Uhm...why the digits of pi?

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it's not about 'deserve'. it's about what you believe. and i believe in love

We must remember, this was the first episode for this writer.b Paul McCuster's first episode was horrible. "My Brother's keeper" The odyssey writer who's first episode didn't suck was Nathan hoobler, the triangle

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I'm Monty Whittaker's greatest fan. member of the K.R.E

No, Rose was voiced by Kristin Li.

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it's not about 'deserve'. it's about what you believe. and i believe in love

Ah. My bad, They just sounded so similar at the time.

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*Finger guns aggressively*

Yeah, I've noticed that trend among the voice actresses sometimes. (It happens with the actors, too, but not quite as often.) They tend to sound very similar, and it can get especially confusing when multiple young female characters are all in the same room together.

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it's not about 'deserve'. it's about what you believe. and i believe in love

So, I thought this episode was decent. Much better than what everyone is giving it credit for. Personally, I enjoyed it. The moral was original and clear, we got more character building for Buddy, Camilla, and the Deckers. I will agree that many of Camilla's scenes were very cringy but come on, Camilla's middle name is basically Cringe. You can just expect that from her. But I felt like the scene with Eva and Camilla was very sincere, realistic, and sweet. I would almost put it at the same level as the second-to-last scene in Old Tricks. The episode as a whole was ridiculously predictable, but for younger kids, it probably wasn't. And considering the episode was leaning towards a younger audience, I think that's okay.

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"Let me get this straight. I bet all those non-friends of yours try to embarrass you about your love for that stuff, right? So, you almost feel like you have to hide your treasures away and can only take them out in secret on rainy days when your mom goes to the store to get more liver and nobody is around to berate your sensitive spirit. Is that what you’re saying?" -Jay Smouse

Can we address the fact that Camilla's voice sounds older than Matthews now? I don't know that just has been bugging me recently...

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*Finger guns aggressively*

I liked Swept Away but I thought that the conclusion ruined part 2 so I give Swept Away 4 out of 5 stars.

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I'm Monty Whittaker's greatest fan. member of the K.R.E

Uh can we address the fact that she looks like 30 in some of her artwork!?



Totally.

Oh yeah, and I hated A Perfect Testimony. Besides the fact that it was terrible for all the reasons Isaiah the Ox mentioned, including Sola Scriptura! Scripture alone! Yes! And the failure to recognize this concept is what leads into the idea that you have to have a good testimony, but, the Gospel is not about you. It's about Christ. Which is why I also had to disagree with the fact that people such as Rose perform miracles, but I will spare you of the argument because I think that I don't need to, I think that Odyssey just ought to stick to the topics we all agree on. It's like, why do I feel like I have to argue with Odyssey? That has happened on rare occasion, because usually they have something fundamental that we all can agree on.

I died when I listened to Swept Away, it was like the best AIOClub episode. Not the best episode in AIO history for sure. But the best AIOClub episode.

Yep there's my three cents.