I haven’t been able to write a blog entry for a little while now because I have been incredibly busy at work. But, I finally have a few minutes to regroup and thought I’d post a few observations or opinions I’ve had lately about a few things …

• A Reba, a Reba … go get the CD: I saw a program on CMT the other day about Reba McEntire’s new album called “Reba Duets.” It was a good show. They interviewed Reba and talked with some of the many singers that are featured on her duets album. They also gave a little sneak peek at some of the duets, which all sound pretty great. Some of the people that have the good fortune to sing a duet with Reba are LeAnn Rimes, Don Henley, Faith Hill, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill and others. The CD also features the popular tune played widely on the radiowaves today with Reba and Kelly Clarkson, called “Because of You.” And, you’ll never guess who else does a duet with Reba. Apparently, he wrote the song and presented it to her. I would never have pictured the two of them singing together but the song is actually very beautiful. It has a soft, romantic Celtic-feel to it. Even when Reba first heard about Justin Timberlake presenting her with a song, she was taken aback. She was afraid it would be a little too sexual and not her style, but Timberlake totally impressed Reba and the rest is caught on the CD. I need to buy the CD at some point. I can almost guarantee that it is pretty darn good. If you’ve already bought it, make a comment here and tell me what you thought of it.

• A good one for the kids: I am so glad Kayla is at the age where she is starting to be interested in movies that aren’t animated. Don’t get me wrong. I love movies like “Toy Story,” “Monsters Inc.” and “The Incredibles,” but once in a while, it’s just nice to watch a movie where no animation is involved. We rented “Firehouse Dog” the other night and let me tell you that it was a wonderful movie for a little kid. It had a real plot to the story that holds a child’s attention, and the dog is cute as a button. It is about a dog who is an actor but winds up in an unfamiliar place where a young boy takes him in (unwillingly at first). The movie teaches great lessons like the wonderful camaraderie among firefighters and the importance of going to school and listening to your parents. It’s a good movie to rent if you are looking for something kid-worthy that is not a cartoon.

• Reality bites: I watched the first episode of “Kid Nation” the other day and I must say that it was INCREDIBLY BORING! I was so disappointed in it. All that hype, and this is all it is! I know kids aren’t that boring. I guess they just act differently because they know they are on camera and it does seem more like a leisurely few months at summer camp rather than a rigorous, difficult challenge for the kids. Let’s hope the episodes get better, but I probably won’t be tuned in to find out.

• What a good show! I saw “Ghost Whisperer” tonight with Jennifer Love Hewitt. I haven’t seen it for a while. I think the one I caught has already aired before though because it said the season permiere of the show would be on next Friday. Anyway, this show was so fantastic. I love this show. A little girl who can see the future and things like that said to Hewitt, “I am sorry. This is what I saw would happen.” And, Hewitt said, “What? What are you talking about?” as she looked behind her and saw her life-less body on the ground. The Ghost Whisperer had turned into a ghost herself. She later came back to life, but learned during the near-death experience that she has a brother. Hence, the set up for this next season of shows, I suppose. The writers for the show are really incredible. Good show to catch.   

• What? Are you kidding me?: I don’t get to have soda too much these days. Most of the time we just have water and milk at home in the fridge, so soda is kind of a special treat when we go out to eat. I was all excited about getting a large, delicious Coke to drink on my drive to New Bern. I pulled up to the drive-thru speaker and ordered my Coke. The lady actually said, “I’m sorry, we have no more large drink cups.” I’m sorry what?!!!!***@@@!! How could a fast food place run out of large drink cups? That is their business. Doesn’t someone take inventory and say, “Hey, we are running out of large drink cups.” And they couldn’t go to one of the other McDonalds restaurants in town (oops, I slipped) and take some of their large cups just to get by? Unbelievable. That’s like The Daily News running out of newspaper rolls to print on. I got the medium-size Coke but I wasn’t happy.

• It’s fair time!: Don’t forget, the big Emerald Isle 50th Birthday Celebration is tomorrow. The N.C. State Fair is coming up too and Daughtry is going to perform during the fair. Daughtry is awesome. Also, set to perform at Dorton Arena is Ruben Studdard, Sara Evans, Anthony Hamilton, Kellie Pickler, Josh Turner, Steven Curtis Chapman, MercyMe, Trace Adkins and cooking queen Paula Deen. Look for a write-up about the state fair in a future Max. Oh, I just looked on the N.C. State Fair Web site and Paula Deen and Daughtry are sold out already. That was pretty quick. I guess I expected Daughtry tickets to go quick though. Visit www.ncstatefair.org for more info.   

• Have your say: Speaking of Max, I am trying to rework things but it is going to be kind of at a slow pace. There’s just not enough time in the week to do the changes I would like to do to Max quickly. The first thing I would like to do is see if we could open up the Keepin’ It Reel section of Max to the public. I was wondering if maybe the public would be willing to write a review of a movie and send it in and then we would pick four or five of the best ones to put in the print edition of Max with the people’s name, where they are from and possibly their picture (not sure about this part). Anyway, I am still hashing out the details on this, but if those of you out there (I mean, the two people that read this blog) think people would be interested in contributing to Max like this, place a comment here and let me know. I would like to get Max to be more interactive and have more input from the community for its content. Let me know what you think of the whole readers’ submitted movie reviews idea, or comment and let me know what you think of Max in general.