The Joshua Yoder Blog

 I just recently completed a recording for my talk show on YouTube with my long time friend Matt Silks who I first met my freshman year of High School. In fact, it has officially been twenty years since I have known him. Which is crazy to me because I don't really get to hang around with many people in this world. With that being said, both me and Matt have gone through a ton of different stuff in our lives. We both had to overcome a lot of darkness, different kinds of darkness, but darkness nonetheless. Trying not to spoil much of my episode as it will not air until the following Wednesday, but there was a lot of talk about our struggles in the past and to be perfectly honest with all of you, I wasn't expecting to really discuss as much as we did. Matt was extremely open to me and it made me open up to him and to many of you who will watch it. About my struggles with self-harming and why things ended up the way they did. But truthfully, it may have been unexpected, yet it felt...

 With the New Year slowly coming upon us, my twin and I went down to the Kountry Kitchen where Chad works and got to enjoy ourselves with the rest of his co-workers at the diner for a little party. I don't get to see some of Chad's friends to often, but when I do, it is always a good time and the other night was no different. Getting to see great people like Amanda and her husband Doug Boozel along with Paul and Lisa. Bri and Amanda were also there along with many others. Of course, my personal favorite moments was just getting to see my twin brother smile and be happy. Which doesn't happen much mainly because of our struggles mentally and being so social awkward. But nonetheless, I was excited to see him having a good time. The food was fantastic, plenty of games being played and lots of laughs. There was even a surprise battle where they started throwing marshmellows at one another. Talk about being a kid at heart lol. It was nights like this, that remind me that sometime...

 One of the most influential video games of all time is 45 years old and is still one of the most addictive games ever in the form of the little yellow dot himself, Pac-Man who made his debut in 1980. Pac-Man was designed by Toru Iwatani along with a small team for a company called Namco and it follows Pac-Man who must eat all of the dots all while avoiding four colored ghosts. This game broke all kinds of records during its historic run. For example, the Guinness Book of World Records has given Pac-Man eight records including Most Successful Coin-Operated video game. In fact, in the original arcade game, the max score you can receive was 3,333,360 points after completing 256 levels. Needless to say I never came close to completing it. But either way, I really loved playing this game. This game had a 10 year head start on me before I was born, but man would I have loved to been around it during the 80s. The first time I remember ever playing Pac-Man was going to a Chuckie Cheeses a...

 One of the best Christmas movies ever in my humble opinion is the 1990 classic, Home Alone starring Macaulay Culkin who plays Kevin McCallister. The movie was written and produced by John Hughes and the story follows the McCallister family who accidentally forget their eight year old son while on a trip to Paris leaving Kevin all alone at his home. Things become even worse when the criminal duo known as the Wet Bandits plan on robbing the house and it is up to Kevin to defend his home. This film has been an impact ever since it was released and has been a stable for Christmas movies to this very day. I mean, this movie had all, laughs, family drama, excitement and the true meaning of Christmas in my humble opinion. What I like the most about Home Alone, is how it talks about no matter what you go through with your family. You still love each other and seeing how the mother fights her way to get back home to find Kevin is truly admirable. I also love the character Marley who repres...

 Christmas is finally here everybody! But prior to that, me and my twin decided to enjoy Christmas eve and deliver some Christmas cards and spend time with some love ones. After getting some supper at home, Chadman and I put together some cards and headed out to see some friends before making it to our Aunt Vic and Uncle Butch's house for a little Christmas Eve party. First on the list was stopping at our long time friends house and came a card to the Silks family where we got to discuss a few things about the year 2025. As always, it was fun getting to talk with them again, of course, I will be seeing them shortly in the near future. Next we got to make a quick stop at the Sacred Heart church in town where we delivered a card and I got to see my old coach Ray Hoppel along with Maddie, her husband Chris and the rest of their family. Thoughts and prayers to everyone at Sacred Heart! Finally! We arrive at Vic and Butch's house and we were immediately welcomed by their grandson Ma...

 WOW! It just felt so nice to just get away from a lot of stress of life and just go and enjoy myself. The other night, my twin brother Chad and I decided to head down to Kish park where they were having their annual event, Shining Light through the Darkness walk through. For those of you who do not know, this event is brought to you by Shining Light which is a non-profit, mission outreach, all volunteer organization who's goal is to spread the Light of Jesus Christ and the meaning of the Christmas season through many displays of amazing lights and other decorations. I have been going to this event since I was a little kid. What I love the most about going to walk around and check out the beautiful designs though out the park. I've always appreciated the amount of time and effort that these volunteers make each and every year. Seeing all of this beautiful artwork being displayed all over the park always brings a smile to my face. Not going to lie, 2025 has been rough, a lot of ...

 This movie was a huge part of my childhood and it helped make me into a complete nerd and proud of it lol. Being a fan of the Digimon series back in the late 90s was such an incredible experience for me, got to watch the anime, played the video games, played the card game. So when I heard that Digimon was coming out with a movie, of course I jumped on it immediately. Needless to say, I was not disappointed with it. It is really insane to me how time really flies especially nowadays and realizing that this movie is now 25 years old. Digimon the Movie came out in October of 2000 and featured four different stories and had characters from both season 1 and season 2. The first story was called Angela Anaconda Short which follows Angela and her friends who go to a theater to watch the new Digimon. The next short story is called Eight Year Ago and it features Tai and his little sister Kari prior to the events of the first Digimon season where they actually discover a digi-egg that had a...

 Today's blog post is about a Hall of Fame football player and Hall of Fame human being in Sam Mills who sadly passed away 20 years ago. Sam's story is incredible and I wish we hear more stories like him. He is the literally meaning of an underdog story. Mills stood 5 feet 9 inches and weight a little over 200 pounds which was what led him to being undrafted in the NFL despite the simple fact that many pro scouts loved his college tapes. Fortunately for Mills, he was picked up by the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars of the USFL and certainly left an impression in the three years the league was around. Being a big fan of defense in football, Mills was the anchor of Stars' famous Doghouse Defense which was a key factor in the Stars winning the USFL title in both 1984 and 1985. Mills then followed his coach from the Stars (Jim Mora) into the NFL after the USFL folded and became a member of the New Orleans Saints from 1986 to 1994 where he as again a focus point in another amazing ...

 With NFL football season in full swing, I thought about writing another football story. But this one was very special to me because it involves someone who is struggling with a disability but still out there being an inspiration. His name is Steve Gleason and he suffers from ALS. 25 years ago, Gleason became a safety in the NFL for the New Orleans Saints and played in the NFL for eight seasons before retiring. The highlight of Gleason's career came in 2006 where he blocked a punt which led to a touchdown for the Saints. What made that moment so special was it was the first game that the Saints were able to play in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina had devastated the city 21 months prior. His football career alone is inspirational because he made it in the NFL after going undrafted. In 83 games played, Gleason had 71 total tackles and two fumble recoveries. Sadly, a few years after Gleason had retired from the game of football, he soon discovered that he had ALS and eventually be...

 Just the other day, I was just chilling out at home and flipping through the channels and I saw that the classic, Wizard of Oz movie was being played so, I decided to watch it again for God only knows how many times lol. The movie itself never gets old, but what many people may not know, is that this movie was based on a novel of the same name. In fact, the book itself is now 125 years old 😮.  That is right, this book came out in 1900 and it was written by L. Frank Baum and was illustrated by W.W. Denslow.  It truly is incredible with how successful this story is for being as old as it is. The story follows Kansas farm girl Dorothy who ends up in the Land of Oz after she and her dog Toto were swept away with their home by a tornado. Dorothy soon realizes that she can not leave the land of Oz until she defeats the Wicked Witch of the West. The Wizard of Oz was so successful that a couple years later, there was a musical adaptation of the story in 1902. After the success ...

 For those who read my blog (Thank you for your support) know that I am a big fan of Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond. Fleming is a big writing influence for me and to see someone who created something so beautiful in stories that become amazing movies. With that being said, the month of December this year marks the 60 anniversary of the debut of the James Bond classic, Thunderball which came out back in 1965. This movie is an adaption of the Fleming novel that came out back in 1961. The film stars the late great Sean Connery who plays 007 for the fourth time in his career.  Thunderball follows Bond as he goes up against Spectre operative Emilio Largo who holds the world hostage for 100 million dollars in diamonds and if his demands are not met, he will launch two nuclear bombs to an undisclosed location which was later revealed to be Miami. Bond searches through the Bahamas where he soon meets Domino the sister of the 00 agent Derval who was killed in the film. It is al...

 Well folks! It is finally here, a day where many of us come together to celebrate and give thanks for another year and the blessings that we have received throughout that year. Today is Thanksgiving! As is tradition, at least for me and my twin brother Chad and I, and that is to watch the Garfield Thanksgiving special. The special was created by Jim Davis who also along with Kim Campbell co-wrote the story. It was produced by Phil Roman with Lorenzo Music (RIP) who returns to voice Garfield. Originally it first aired in 1989 which was just one year before me and Chad were even born and was broadcast by CBS. The story follows Garfield who soon discovers on the calendar that Jon is planning to take him to see the Vet which Garfield does not like and attempts to fool Jon and make him forget. Unfortunately, the plan backfires and Garfield is taken to the Vet. While at his appointment, Jon tries to invite Dr. Liz Wilson over to his house for a Thanksgiving dinner where she reluctantly ...

It is really hard for me to believe that 20 years have past since the unfortunate death of one of my favorite pro wrestlers of all time in Eddie Guerrero. Again, it still feels weird to me that Eddie is gone. I mean he was such a talented wrestler. I remember watching that episode when I discovered his passing. I was in shock, of course the internet wasn't as big as it is nowadays but man it hurt. Eddie Guerrero is one of best wrestlers of my time of watching pro wrestling and is regarded as one of the greatest in-ring performers ever. The matches that Eddie has have with the likes of Kurt Angle, Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, etc were some of the best matches I have ever seen. And he is certainly one of the wrestlers I use when I am playing the WWE video games. He along with many others pro wrestlers have also been an influence in the style of wrestling that I love to watch which is technical wrestling. Another reason as to why I loved watching Eddie was how you could ...

 Well it is that time of the year again. When the cold and snowy weather is about to begin. Inside the house, the adults hang around the kitchen making delicious treats like hot chocolate, freshly baked cookies and some warm bagels. All the while, the little kids play outside whether it be making snowmen, throwing snowballs at one another or making beautiful snow angels. Though the weather maybe colder, but there is a true beauty about it that we never knew. And that is it will soon begin a new. Although I'm not a big fan of the winter weather, I want it to be done. But then again it is always fun to spend a warm night with loved ones.

 Well as everyone knows, Thanksgiving is slowly coming upon us and I thought about writing about one of things I am forever grateful for. And those moments were with my Nan or Grandmother for some of those who won't sure who I was talking about. Reason as to why I am also writing about my Nan is that today's blog post is a tribute to one of the most important person in my life as it is now officially been 15 years since her passing 😭. For years, this was and to some degree still hurts me inside. But as I grow older and maybe wiser lol, I think back and realize how much my Nan would want me to move past it. She knows how much I loved her and how much she meant to me, but it honestly feel like she is telling me to let go of the pain and continue to move forward. Don't get me wrong, I am not going to ever forget her. What I am saying is that I can't let the pain of losing her hold me down among other things. Of course, it is crazy to think that her death has now been 15 y...

 This past weekend was quite a fun ride for me and my twin as we got to witness the return to Lewistown, our older brother Cody who was visiting from New York. Codeman made his way to home safely on Thursday, which I wish I knew that before me and Chad had left our local Wal-Mart because we could have gotten some Nardones Pizza. Maybe next time lol. Again, I was just so thankful that he got here safely, when we returned home, I was happy to finally see him. Gave Codeman a big ole hug! It isn't really too often that I get to hear from him, let alone see him in person, of course being a father of two children now, Love you Lukey, Love you Ava, I can not blame him. By nightfall, we all just got to chill around the living room watching some football. Before we all headed for bed, Codeman suggested about all three of the Yoder brothers spend some time again with each other all day Friday. And hung out we did, Cody had asked us if we wanted to hitch a ride with him in his Bronco and head...

 For those who know me it will be no surprise that I love to talk about B Movies as well as TV movies and last night, I found an old TV film that was released in 1997 called Assault on Devil's Island starring the late Hulk Hogan, Carl Weathers and Shannon Tweed. This movies also featured veteran actors like Martin Kove of Karate Kid fame, Billy Drago (RIP), Trevor Goddard (RIP) and Billy Banks. The story follows Navy Seals portrayed by Hogan and Weathers who after, being betrayed by one of their own. Soon join forces with Tweed who plays as an DEA agent and together, they attempt a rescue mission to free an American Gymnastics All Star team who have been taken hostage to Devil's Island and it is up to them to rescue the hostages. The movie itself had a budget of 4 million dollars which is crazy to think seeing how big movie budgets are nowadays. And also, like mentioned earlier, this film came out in 1997 on TNT. Which is also insane to me because this was during the height of ...

 It is crazy to think that this underrated faction is 30 years old, but nonetheless, the Triple Threat was one of my personal favorite pro wrestling groups of all time. As mentioned earlier, the Triple Threat was formed in 1995 with the original incarnation featuring "The Franchise" Shane Douglas, Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit in Extreme Championship Wrestling. I must saying, although I never saw this version during its original run, getting to see them on the WWE Network and YouTube really was fun to watch. What I like about the trio of Benoit, Malenko and Douglas was how each of them were such great technical wrestlers (which is the kind of wrestling I prefer) and how they could make anyone that they wrestled against look amazing. Sadly, this trio did not last for very long which is unfortunate. I am a bit curious to see how far the original incarnation of the Triple Threat would have worked if it had at least a year under their belts. But one can only ponder. Fast forward ...

 Yes! I'm so excited! For it is Halloween night. A night of scares, costumes and most of all, trick or treating to bring me candy that gives me so much delight. So many different kinds of candy there is no end in sight. It is nearly impossible to resist try as I might. Brings me back to a lot of old memories of when I was a child. So much joy from dressing up in costumes, being around loved ones, letting our little imaginations run wild. When it was over I checked my bag and found chocolate and caramel. And as far as I can tell, there were no more doors to go up to and ring that bell. I will always remember and be grateful of those times of innocence. But it sure was fun to look back and reminisce. Until Next Time! Happy Halloween! God Bless and Be Safe Everybody! 🙏🙏🙏

 With Halloween closing in on us like a good horror monster, I thought I write about one of my favorite shows of my childhood called Are You Afraid Of The Dark. Are You Afraid Of The Dark was an horror anthology series that was created by the dynamic duo of DJ MacHale and Ned Kandel and was aired on Nickelodeon from 1992 to 1996 before being revived in 1999 to 2000 and lastly from 2019 to 2022. Despite the different series, it still centered around the group of teenagers called the Midnight Society. Each episode features the group  as they settle around a campfire during the night at a secret location where one member of the Midnight Society would tell a scary story. However, rather than just telling story, it was displayed for the viewers at home. Each storyteller would begin their tale by saying "Submitted for the Approval of the Midnight Society, I call this story (Story Name). They would then took into the fire some "Midnight Dust" which I recently learned that it wa...

 Yesterday, myself and my twin brother Chad went down to little ole McVeytown for the annual Halloween parade. It is always fun to see the parade because it is always amazing to see people from a small town come together to create such a fun event.  Of course, things didn't start off so good for me and my twin as we were go our way down the Mattawana hill but were halted by the train. Normally, it wouldn't take too long of a wait for us, unfortunately though we ended up waiting for an hour lol. I honestly thought we were going to miss our chance to see the parade, but thankfully I got the time wrong and we managed to find a place to park and we were back in business lol. We got to see some of our friends, some of which were going to be a part of the parade itself. Which to be honest, it is crazy to see them with children of their own. It is just another reminder that time flies and that we should appreciate the time we have. Seeing the excitement and people going after the can...

 Well, this past weekend was quite an exciting time for me and twin brother Chad as we once again set sail and went over to the Heritage Fire Company in Lewistown, Pa to visit our friends from the HWF as they hosted their Heritage Harvest show Saturday evening. Tonight was especially exciting because this show was going to feature one of the greatest tag teams in pro wrestling today, the Machine Gun Karl Anderson and the Big LG Doc Gallows, better known as the Good Brothers. Man, have I been waiting for this moment for sometime now, when my buddy Matt Silks told me that the Good Brothers were going to booked on the show a few months back, I had this day circled in my mind and just couldn't wait to cover this event for Hometown Sports. I must admit though, I was extremely nervous to meet both Anderson and Gallows. I was a fan of both of them before Bullet Club even happened in the crazy world of professional wrestling. I remember seeing Karl Anderson when he was a solo act in New Ja...

With Halloween closing in on us, I thought it be cool to look back into my childhood and remember one of my fondest moments during the Halloween season and that was getting to make Creepy Crawlers.  Creepy Crawlers, also known as Thingmaker was created by a company called Mattel back in 1964. What I found interesting about it, was the simple that it originally used a series of die-cast metal molds resembling bug-like creatures which is then heated in an open-face electric oven heating the mold to about 390 degrees helping shape the mold into the creature. To be honest, this completely surprised me when I read that. For about ten years, this was how people made creepy crawlers. That was until it was discontinued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission because it used heat. Several years later, a company named ToyMax revived Creepy Crawlers with a much safer version in the early 90s. This is the one I remember using the most as a kid. I loved being able to create spooky bugs along ...

 You know a movie is good when it still looks just as good as it did when it first came out and Jaws certainly has lived up to the standard it set 50 years ago. Sorry if I made anyone feel old lol. One of the things that I learned about during my research for this blog was the simple fact that this movie was based on a book that was written by Peter Benchley (RIP) a year earlier. In fact, Benchley admitted that he regretted writing it because he believed that it caused fear and fake rumors about sharks, so he became an advocate for marine conservation.  The film stars Roy Scheider as police chief Martin Brody, who, with the help of a marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss) and a professional shark hunter (Robert Shank), go on a hunt for a human eating great white shark that has been eating beachgoers at a New England summer resort. Jaws was the first major motion picture to be filmed on the ocean and it constantly had issues throughout it's production from going over budget and sc...