NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: MARS

  ** A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review**

Are you ready to blast off on a space adventure to Mars?  National Geographic's six-part television series MARS immerses you into a realistic representation of a futuristic mission to the red planet.  Academy Award-winning producers Brian Grazer and Ron Howard merge a sci-fi drama with an educational documentary by interspersing interviews with real life astronauts, engineers, scientists, and other space experts within a scripted fictional story about a journey to Mars. It's really well done!

If you missed watching MARS when it first aired on the National Geographic Channel last year, the series is now available to purchase on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital Download.  This show filled with incredibly informative segments about astronomy and space travel as well as a suspense filled adventurous tale really captured my family's imagination and was very entertaining to view.  Plus the home video edition also includes features such as a bonus episode (Before Mars: A Prequel), a behind-the-scenes documentary (Making Mars), and interviews with the cast and crew.

What would life be like on the first human colony on the fourth planet from the sun?  It would obviously be much different than life is here on Earth. Ask your kids what they think it would be like, share with them this informative fact sheet, and have some fun giving them a chance to fill out the form below where they can list what they would pack for their adventure.





Watch MARS together as a family and compare the astronauts experience in the show to what your kids though it would be like.  Since we saw the show, my kids have been interested in going outside to gaze for Mars in the night sky through a telescope and have wanted to learn more about how someone can actually become an astronaut.  If this National Geographic television series sparks the same interest about space travel in your kids as it has mine, you'll want to visit, makemarshome.com, which allows people to see if they have what it takes to be an astronaut for a Mars mission through an interactive online experience.

The television series, based upon the book How We'll Live On Mars (2015) by Stephen Petranek, tells the story of a multi-national effort to send astronauts to explore Mars set in 2037.  It revolves around the crew of the Daedalus, which includes mission commander Ben Sawyer (American), systems engineer Hana Seung (American), physician Amelie Durand (French), roboticist Robert Foucault (Nigerian), geochemist Javier Delgado (Spanish), and geologist Marta Kamen (Russian), who will be the first people to set foot on Mars.  As they engage in their adventure, viewers are shown flashbacks of the characters preparing for the mission from four years before lift off.  Interview segments with actual modern day experts are also incorporated into the fictional story explaining how today's technology will be utilized or enhanced to make such a mission feasible in the future.

In the first episode, as the Daedalus prepares to land on Mars a critical system on the space ship malfunctions.  Attempting to avert a disaster, the mission commander is critically injured.  While Commander Sawyer's efforts get his crew's boots on the ground, they find themselves 75 kilometers away from where automated rockets from Earth had previously dropped supplies waiting for them.  How will they survive with limited resources and no easy way to get to their planned landing site where all their vital supplies are stored?  And how do they treat Sawyer's serious injuries when the closest hospital is more than 200 million kilometers away?  You'll have to start watching to find out!  Be aware though that there are life and death situations impacting the crew of the Daedalus so parents should take some discretion about whether the show is suitable for their children to watch based upon that.  It was fine for my 8 year old twins to watch but every child is unique.

If you want to learn even more about Mars, National Geographic has also published a companion book to the television series.  MARS -- OUR FUTURE ON THE RED PLANET is a wonderful 288 page hardcover book filled with 200 color illustrations and photographs.  The book combines science, technology, photography, and art to illuminate how Mars is the next frontier in space exploration.

Thanks to National Geographic you can now explore Mars without the hassle of traveling a million miles to get there.  Let MARS spark your family's imagination and curiosity about space exploration, science, and technology.

 
For more information about the television series, visit: channel.nationalgeographic.com/mars

KATE & MIM-MIM DVD - "THE MIMILOO ZOO"

I had the chance to goof around with Mim-Mim from the popular Disney Jr. cable network television show KATE & MIM-MIM this summer and have to say that bunny is sure a lot of fun to hang out with.  Of course anyone who has seen this animated show for preschoolers that focuses on the friendship and adventures of a 5 year old girl named Kate and her favorite stuffed animal, a plush bunny named Mim-Mim already knows that.  In the show, Kate and Mim-Mim travel to the land of Mimiloo for imaginary adventures where they are joined by magical friends that live in this land of make believe  named Lily, Tack and Gobble.  If you haven't seen Kate & Mim-Mim yet now is a chance to catch up on some of their past escapades which are being released on a new DVD coming out September 20, 2016.  "THE MIMILOO ZOO" DVD will feature six fun filled tales plus a bonus video called "Mimiloo's Creatures."

In the story "The Mimiloo Zoo," Kate's trip to the zoo gets canceled because it's raining, so it's off to the fantasy world of Mimiloo! In Mimiloo, animals made out of bushes are being created for Gobble and Tack's AMAZING new fruit garden inside their AMAZING new hedge maze.  When Mim-Mim accidently spritzes the animals twice with Gobble's powerful presto potion, they come to life and things quickly get wild.  With the animals creating a bit of havoc, the gang needs to fnd a place for them to live and Kate knows the perfect location.

The DVD also features the story "Lily and the Unicorn."  Lily has always wanted to see a unicorn, and now is the perfect time as beautiful shimmer flowers, which unicorns love to eat, are blooming.  After searching all day, the gang finally locates a whole garden of flowers.  When the garden starts to float away, with Lily, who can save her?

Additional stories included on "The Mimiloo Zoo" DVD include, To Catch a Critter, Follow the Leader, Kate's Turtle Drive, and Kittens & Mittens.  The DVD run time is approximately 65 minutes. You can order the DVD online from Shop PBS or look for it at retail locations across the United States.  For more information about this television series and its characters, visit  kateandmimmim.com

THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS: petMOJI Character Creator

Are you excited about THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS arriving at movie theaters on July 8, 2016?!  My kids have been drooling to see this movie since the trailers started popping up at theaters and on television last year.  Of course we're going to go see it!

While waiting for the theatrical release have some fun with ILLUMINATION'S The Secret Life of Pets petMOJI character creator.  Visit this special website where you can create a custom cartoon of your favorite pet.  Also keep an eye out for an app coming out soon for iOS and Android devices that will feature sticker packs and a custom keyboard. For more information, visit www.mypetmoji.com/

THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS story revolves around a Manhattan apartment building where a dog named Max has his life as a favorite pet turned upside down when his owner brings home a sloppy mongrel named Duke.  Max and Duke have to put their quarrels behind them though when they find out that an adorable white bunny named Snowball is building an army of abandoned pets determined to take revenge on all the happy-owned pets and their owners in their building.

Comedy superstars Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet and Kevin Hart make their animated feature-film debuts in The Secret Life of Pets, which co-stars Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Hannibal Buress, Bobby Moynihan, Steve Coogan and Albert Brooks.  Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and his longtime collaborator Janet Healy produce the film directed by Chris Renaud (Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2), co-directed by Yarrow Cheney and written by Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio and Brian Lynch.

Marvel Republishes Dark Horse's Star Wars Comic Books on Comixology

There is a lot of hype this week about Marvel's first new Star Wars comic book series since it stopped publishing a monthly serial in 1987 that is debuting on January 14th, but with a little less fanfare Comixology recently began selling digital editions of previous stories from a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.

Dark Horse Comics which published Star Wars titles from 1991 - 2014 and lost its license for the franchise this year is having their work redistributed now through Marvel.  The Dark Horse Star Wars titles have now been re-branded "Marvel"  logo and a "Legends" banner which differentiates these non-canon titles versus the brand new comic books from Marvel debuting this year which are considered part of the official extended Star Wars story under Disney's new franchise management plan.  Now consumers can purchase the original Marvel Star Wars comic book series (1977-1987), the Dark Horse publications, and the new original series Marvel is now creating in digital format from the Comixology website.  Previously the older publications had been available through Dark Horse's own online marketplace www.digital.darkhorse.com.

People who have purchased Star Wars comic books in a digital format from Dark Horse in the past can still access those titles through their website or mobile apps but can't purchase any additional Star Wars publications from them since their license ended at the end of the year.  If you bought Star Wars digital comic books from Dark Horse in their end of the year fire sale right before they lost the license in December 2014, don't despair because you can still access them (I flipped through a few of mine online today with no problem) and you still got a good deal.  I purchased "Han Solo at Stars End" for .99 cents from Dark Horse in December and it is now being sold for $4.99 on Comixology and I purchased "Star Wars: A Long Time Ago Volume 3" for $4.99 and it is now being sold for $19.99.  Since I tend to read my digital comic books on my iPhone and iPad, I actually prefer the Dark Horse app because it provides a better ios user experience than Comixology does since it was bought by Amazon.com and limited its interface with Apple devices to support its new parent company's Kindle devices.


If you didn't pick up the Dark Horse titles last year though, they haven't vanished and are still being published just by a different company through a different website.  Marvel also has a good relationship with having its new titles available digitally through Comixology so you now will be able to pick out the new stories featuring the Star Wars universe as they come out along with the Avengers, Captain America, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spiderman, the X-man and other superhero titles available via the site.

Nickelodeon Goes Dark to Encourage Kids: Get Out & Play

You'd think that a multimedia company that makes its money by providing children focused television programing and online services would be the last ones to pull the plug on their content to encourage kids to get outside and play; but Nickelodeon is doing just that!  In an effort to promote that children's television viewing, video game playing and online use should be balanced with outdoor active play time, Nickelodeon is going dark on September 20, 2014 in recognition of Worldwide Day of Play.

Beginning at 9 a.m. through Noon on September 20th, Nickelodeon will air special messages featuring stars from some of its most popular live-action series, including  Sydney Park and Tylen Jacob Williams (Instant Mom), Curtis Harris and Breanna Yde (The Haunted Hathaways) and Paola Andino and Nick Merico (Every Witch Way), that will encourage children and teens to take time to be more physically active.  Than at Noon, Nickelodeon will sign-off, not just the main Nick cable channel but all of is television and online outlets Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Nick Jr., TeenNick, Nick.com, NickJr.com, Nicktoons.com, TeenNick.com, and the Nick App for mobile devices, until 3pm.  While the network is turned off a message encouraging TV viewers and online visitors to go out and play will appear.  When Nickelodeon's channels, websites and app resume normal operations at 3pm, messages promoting getting outside and playing featuring highlights from "Road to Worldwide Day of Play" events that Nickelodeon sponsored in my hometown of DETROIT, MICHIGAN, San Diego, California and Virginia Beach, Virginia over the summer will continue for the remainder of the day.

If you didn't make it to one of the three summer kickoff events to Worldwide Day of Play, there will be thousands of events across the country taking place on September 20th hosted by Nickeldeon's national partners, including Afterschool Alliance, the Association of Children's Museums, the Boys and Girls Club of America, Girls on the Run, the Girl Scouts of the USA, Key Club/Kiwanis, the National Environment Education Foundation, NFL PLAY 60, Playworks, Right to Play (USA Gymnastics), Roller Skating International, Save the Children, the United States Tennis Association, Up2Us, USA BMX and the YMCA, to encourage kids to get off the couch and out of the house to spend some time playing.  Click here for a list of links to all of these national Worldwide Day of Play partners to check and see if they are hosting any events in your area.

The United States Tennis Association is probably one of the most active partners this year in holding and promoting events tied to Worldwide Day of Play.  Visit their website and you can enter your zip code to find an event near you.  I found one of their events going on 5 miles from our house.  You may also want to keep an eye out for other local tie-in events being promoted in your own community by various organizations.

What are some of the reasons why it is important to get kids outside playing?  Playing outdoors helps build up immune systems, provides exercise, stimulates imagination, promotes problem solving, and provides Vitamin D.  Check out a nice article from Mommies Magazine on this topic.  Add to this list that our family likes to get outside and take a few trips to our local zoo throughout the year to get a good dose of Vitamin Z too!

So how are you going to get out and play for the Worldwide Day of Play?  I know that we'll be out playing soccer that day.