The Joshua Yoder Blog

 With a brand new Street Fighter movie out, I wanted to look back on the original live action Street Fighter movie which hit the theaters back in 1994. Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as Colonel William Guile and Raul Julia (RIP) as the evil M. Bison. The film also features Ming-Na Wen as Chun Li, Damian Chapa as Ken Masters, Kylie Minogue as Cammy White, Bryon Mann as Ryu, Grand L. Bush as Balrog, Robert Mammone as Carlos "Charlie" Blanka, Gregg Rainwater as Thunder Hawk, Peter Tuiasosopo as E. Honda.  For the Shadaloo Warriors, there is Andrew Bryniarski as Zangief, Miguel A. Nunez Jr as Dee Jay, Jay Tavare as Vega, Wes Studi as Sagat and Roshan Seth as Dhalsim along with some original characters made for the movie. The plot of the film follows Guile and the others as they attempt to track down M. Bison and his organization who hold several A.N. Relief Workers hostage and demands the world pay 20 billion dollars within three days or he will kill the hostages. Now, I must say...

 It is no secret that myself and my twin brother Chad are fans of the Power Rangers, so when I found out that one of my personal favorite rangers Johnny Yong Bosch (Adam) had written and directed his own movie called Spades. Now obviously I am little bit behind in terms of watching and reviewing this film but, nonetheless, here it is. When Chad and I saw an opportunity to watch it, we took it and am I glad we did because I really enjoyed the film. For those who don't know, Spades stars Jason Narvy as Detective James Bishop a War Veteran dealing with a heavy dose of trauma after losing his friend Jimmy during the war and the later his wife, discovers that a vigilante named Spades is running around killing criminals. To make matters worse, his daughter who he was trying to reconnect with, ends up being kidnapped by a group of traffickers and must find a way to rescue her. I must say, I really had a fun time watching this movie. I have always appreciated seeing people trying to make t...

 Well this weekend surely was quite eventful for me and my twin. For one, our little niece and nephew Lukey and Ava came down to visit from Long Island along with my older brother Codeman and his lovely wife Christine. While Cody went with some friends to check out the Penn State White Out game against the USC Trojans, Me, Chad, Christine, Lukey, Ava and our mother went down to the McVeytown Fire Company for their Pumpkins and Prevention event. Lukey was pretty excited to carve a pumpkin, but even more excited to be coloring Halloween characters like ghosts and bats. Ava tried to walk on a feet a little bit, she is getting so much closer to being able to walk on her own. We got to see plenty of our friends at the event as well. As we walked into the Fire house, Chad and I got to see a face we hadn't seen in a while. His name is Ronnie Yoder and he was helping out his kids carving out a pumpkin. Ronnie was always a creative guy and it was pretty cool to see him and his kids being cr...

 Some of the younger generation made find this hard to believe, but things like YouTube and even the internet itself wasn't always what it is today. In fact, you can make the argument that this fun little show helped shape the platform to where it is now, in my humble opinion. It is called LonelyGirl15. This is an American Science Fiction thriller web series which was created by Miles Beckett, Mesh Flinders, Greg Goodfried and Amanda Goodfried. The story revolves around a young lady named Bree who is on the run from a mysterious and scary group called The Order who poses their "religion" called the Hymn of One.  LonelyGirl15 was presented through video blogs or vlogs with it originally being recorded with just Bree talking to the viewers. When it was first launched in 2006, it quickly became popular with many viewers, at the time, believed that what they were seeing was actually real and that Bree was a real person talking about her daily life. Now, I do not know if they ...

 Who would have thought a simple little pro wrestling promo would still have a major impact 30 years later. It is absolutely insane to me how much people still talk about the Austin 3:16 promo. I was recording an episode of my YouTube show with my friend Nate Blazer the other day and I had brought up how it was 30 years ago when Austin cut the promo that launched him to the moon. Interesting fact I had learned about this was Steve Austin had played college football at North Texas State (Now North Texas) and he had worn number 96 on his jersey. Then became Stone Cold Steve Austin and cut the promo in 1996. Crazy how the world works sometimes. What I also had always found interesting about it was how Austin was not suppose to win the 1996 King Of Ring when he did, but because of a mistake by Triple H, He was put right into position and to say he made an impact is putting it mildly. I can not even imagine what everybody was thinking backstage when it happened, let alone the fans in th...

 WOW! Speaking of milestones and trying to be more positive in my life, I have done something that I honestly wasn't sure of and yet somehow I did. And that was to create a YouTube Channel and my show has now gone for over a year now. After so many years, I finally decided to give it a shot and see what happens and with a huge help from my older brother Cody, I managed to launch my show. One of the reasons as to why I wanted to find a way to open up to other people and get to learn about them and find ways to build connections whether it be from music, faith, sports, video games, writing, mental health, etc. I want to build a play where people can be just safe to be themselves and grow closer together with each other and God. I wanted to create bridges for people to connect with one another and learn about each other and discover that we have way more in common than we actually realize. When I launched my first show, I was incredible scared, scared to death even because I was not s...

 Well folks! Summer has come to an end and we are now within the beauty of Fall weather, but today I wanted to look back this past Summer and reflect on some things. Mainly because, this past Summer, I was doing a lot of reflecting and trying to be more positive in my life and honestly, it hasn't been easy for me to be positive, especially in today's climate. But nonetheless, here we go everybody. One of the biggest things I have been working on this past Summer was writing about my Aunt Jane who tragically passed away 40 years ago. I was extremely nervous about doing this because I wasn't sure how my family would react to it. And I was totally grateful for the kind words and encouragement from them as well as all of the help with photos and fun little stories about her. I am very proud with how it turned out and again, forever grateful to my family for helping me along the way. Rest In Peace Aunt Jane! However, something else has been happening a lot this year that has me ...

 This past weekend was quite fun for me and my twin as the last three days, we got to hangout at our local fair here in McVeytown. The Rothrock Fair has been something our little town has been trying to build these last couple of years and I think it is really cool to be able to be with friends and create strong bonds for the community. Chad and I decided to check out all three days of the event as the fair was featuring a band for each of the three days. On Thursday the band Steel Ridge performed, then Friday, Chris Woodward and Shindiggin lit up the stage before last but not least, Hillbilly Diesel finished the weekend off. Thanks to all three bands for providing us with some great entertainment. Of course, I can not talk about the Rothrock Fair without talking about the delicious food. There were plenty to choose from for me and my twin. The first day, Chad and I met up at the Pretty Little Pancakes stand where Nick Knable and his wife Brooke and I got myself some cookies and cr...

 Just the other day, I had written a blog post about Street Fighter 2 which celebrated 35 years since it was released. While I was working on it, I quickly realized that another incredible game came out 35 years ago too. And it was called Streets of Rage. As kid growing up in the 1990s, I was major fan of Sega and this game was one of my go-to games to play for the Sega Genesis. I just took the cartridge, put it in and along with my brothers, had ourselves a good time deliver justice in an unjust world. Which makes sense especially since the story follows three ex-cops who turned vigilantes in order to battle a local crime syndicate which is led by the evil Mr. X who have corrupted the local government. You and/or fellow gamer get to choose between three different characters. Whether it be Adam Hunter, Axel Stone (My personal favorite character) and Blaze Fielding. This cool side-scrolling beat em' up fighting game allows you to use up to 40 different moves, like headbutts, backsla...

 Not too often you see a video game come along and make an impact like this one did. 35 years ago Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior was released to the arcades thanks to a gaming company called Capcom. Now what I had found interesting about this game during my research, was the year gap between Street Fighter one and two. You see, the original Street Fighter came out in 1987, so when two arrived, it had been a four year gap. I can't speak for Capcom or any gamer back in the early 90s, but it felt as though there wasn't much expectations for this game when finally was released. But holy crap did it ever score big. Street Fighter 2 was the best selling game since the "Golden Age of Arcade video games". Heck! A few years after it was released, it was revealed that nearly 25 million people have played the game in the United States alone. An even crazier stat, was when the game was brought to the SNES system, it became Capcom's best selling video game for 20 years. ...

 This past weekend marks a brand new season for Fall Sports. I had not one, not two, but three different football games to go cover for Hometown Sports. The first one was this past Friday as I made my way back to good ole Mount Union High School to hangout and watch some football between them and the Tussey Mountain Titans. It is always good to see some familiar faces like MU Baseball coach Tim Hicks who joined me at the Press Box as well as coach Chuck Hand and Head Coach Jamie Brumbaugh along with many others. I also got to see my cousin Cory who was a graduate of Mount Union and had a nice chat. Of course, I must admit, I was very happy to see the Trojans be healthy this season and pray that it stays that way. You see last year these poor guys got caught with the injury bug and could not finish the season. The Mount Union Trojans though took care of business and came out victorious 42-7. Congrats to them and again praying for them to stay healthy this season. Next up was Sunday ...

 It is crazy to think this game is 10 years old this year. Persona 5 came out back in 2016 being published by Atlus and follows a group known as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts as they battle against the corruption that have filled into the hearts of people in authority. The story follows a young student who came to the aid of a young woman who was being attacked by a politician. The politician used his influence and framed the young man into being put on probation for a year. This young man would soon gain the power from Igor and his two assistants Caroline and Justine and eventually earn his codename, Joker. This game is considered by many to be not only one of the greatest role-playing games ever, but one of the greatest video games of all time. And understandably so, the gameplay was amazing, I loved the concept, the story, the characters, the music and of course the Personas. Speaking of the concept, I love the whole theme of fighting against corruption in the world. I mean bein...

 Any of you guys ever get the feeling when you watched something, only to re-watch and realize how far a head of its time it was. Well that certainly fits with what I am writing about on my blog today and it is the early 90s classic, Point Break. Point Break stars the always great Keanu Reeves along with the late, great Patrick Swayze (RIP) as Johnny Utah and Bodhi. The film also stars Gary Busey, Lori Petty, and John C. McGinley. The story follows rookie FBI agent, Johnny Utah, a former Quarterback at Ohio State who assists Senior agent Angelo Pappas in investigating a string of bank robberies by a group called the Ex-Presidents. Although they never rob the vault, they only grab the cash from the tellers and left within 90 seconds. Pappas' theory is the criminals are within the surfer community and Utah is tasked to infiltrate and see who could be the Ex-Presidents. He soon becomes friends with Bodhi (Swayze) and his gang of surfers and quickly discovers who they really are and it...

 This past Saturday, Chadman and I decided to check out Bingo Night over at the McVeytown Fire Company building. Chad's friend and member of the Fire company, Doug Boozel had invited us over and so we went in and see how it was going. And it was going quite well when we had arrived tot he building, it was pretty full of people, at least over a 100 people all looking to hit Bingo. This was their first event hosting since the opening of the new Firehouse so I am sure there were plenty of nerves going into it. Can't say I blame though especially trying to raise funds to help keep the company building going and protect those from dangerous fires. There were some raffle ideas being sold a the event one being a Kitchen Aid, another being a Ninja Air Fryer and lastly, a car trailer. There were some cash prizes as well as lottery tickets, purses and wine. Of course, you can not have a Bingo night without some delicious food. There was some chicken, potatoes, vegetables, rolls, applesau...

 Crazy to think that this movie is 30 years and in my humble opinion, still holds up today and it was The Phantom. This movie was based on the comic strip character which was created by Lee Falk all the way back in 1936. The movie stars Billy Zane who plays The Phantom/Kit Walker and is joined by Treat Williams (RIP), Kristy Swanson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, James Remar, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (RIP) among many others. Simon Wincer was the director of the film while the screenwriting was done by Jeffrey Boam who has done such great work like The Lost Boys, Lethal Weapon 2 and 3, Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. The story follows The Phantom as he learns that the evil Sengh Brotherhood as well as Xander Drax, a power-hungry business man trying to unite three skulls and take over the world. Unfortunately, when the movie was originally released in 1996, it had received a mixed reviews by critics. Which was sad, but at the same time not surprising considering how many of the pulp fiction ...

 This weekend, myself along with my twin Chad were chilling out on the streaming service Tubi and we saw that Nevermore: The Raven Effect was recently added to it. Being pro wrestler fans, we had always wanted to watch this documentary. The only problem was we didn't have it on Amazon, but now it was here and we were going to take full advantage of it. Now again, this film was already a year old, so bare with me on this. Also, anyone that knows me when it comes to professional wrestling, I enjoy more of the actually wrestling part of it, I am not really into the hardcore style. That is with respect to those who do like my twin. With all of that being said, I really did love the Raven character. Growing up as a kid I first saw Raven on WCW and just something about him I could relate to and honestly, I wasn't sure what it was. As I grew older, I soon realized why I did relate to him, I felt like an outsider and didn't fit in anywhere. And watching this movie, I really could n...

 The older I get, the more I want to look back at some of my favorite things from my youth. As I have researching, I discover that one of my favorite bands how an album which is now 35 years old this year. It is called Blood Suger Sex Magik by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Originally, this album came out in 1991 and many people to this very day, consider it one of their best if not their very best album ever made. In fact, it was named one of the best soundtrack of the 1990s and honestly, I can see why it was. Now I must admit, being born in 1990, I didn't get to hear the album as it happened. I wish I did, but thankfully, I grew up around an older crowd and it was there when I first got to listen to them. And it was AWESOME! In fact, the only other RHCP album that sold more than this one did was Californication which also came in the 90s, 1999 to be exact. Blood Sugar Sex Magik peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and led to what many consider to be the reason for the alternat...

 I remember my dad would always tell him how he is feeling so old because some of the bands he listened to as a kid. I am now starting to get that way myself as I am realizing that a ton of bands that I listen to as a kid are now reaching big milestones. One of those bands is a Christian rock band called Skillet who this year will mark 30 years since their debut album. Although a number of people have played in the band, the current lineup to Skillet are the husband and wife duo of Jonathon Cooper who is the Lead Singer as well as Bass and Korey Cooper who plays rhythm guitar, keyboard and backup vocals. Along with them you got Seth Morrison who is the lead guitarist for the group and of course, you can not go without the drummer and fellow singer Jen Ledger. The group has had such great hits like Comatose, Whispers in the Dark, Monster, Hero, Awake and Alive, Feel Invincible, Looking for Angels, Sick of It. Heck! Their song Legendary was used as an intro to Monday Night Raw. My pe...

WOW! This blog post has certainly been something special to work on because it was something that I have been wanting to do for my family for some time now and at last, it has been completed. Being in such a large family like mine is, we have gone through a lot together in our lives. Recently we lost my Uncle Rick and Uncle Dave as well as my cousin Brett and my Uncle Rocky before that. Rest In Peace to you all! Miss you greatly! 🙏🙏🙏 So my goal was to help bring back some happy memories for my family! The reason I chose to write this was for one, this year marks 40 years since the tragic death of Aunt Jane. And second, honestly, I never got to know her, so I wanted to help get the family together and learn about her. As you see, she had passed away in 1986 while I was born in 1990. And boy! Did I ever learn a lot about her 😁. The common theme throughout my journey into learning about Aunt Jane was that she was such a kind and gentle soul who cared deeply for her family. Here are so...

 This past weekend was quite eventful to say the least for me as well as my family. My older brother Cody along with his lovely wife Christine and two little rugrats named Lukey and Ava came from New York to spend some time with us and join us for the Yoder family Summer reunion over at Greenwood. As always, getting to see my niece and nephew is nerve wrecking for me and my twin. Mainly because we are both extremely socially awkward. Well I must say though, Little Lukey was well behaved for a six year old. Of course he was spending most of his time creating whirlpools lol. And then, Miss Ava was just talking away with us and would be nonstop crawling around the house. Of course, poor Christine wasn't able to get many breaks as Ava just kept crying every time she walked away. Of course, it was great to see my big brother Codeman. Don't really get to see or hear from him much, but when you are a big time video editor for Turner Sports, You got a lot going on 😁. Nonetheless, it w...

 With it being Summer all, I wanted to look back at an old Summer blockbuster movie that amazingly, is now 25 years old. I am talking about the Fast and Furious movie starring Vin Diesel and late Paul Walker and it was originally released in June of 2001. This movie also features Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Rick Yune, Chad Lindberg, Johnny Strong and Ted Levine. Based on an article written by Ken Li which was about illegal street racing, it soon became a screenplay written by Gary Thompson, David Ayer and Erik Bergquist. The story follows Paul Walker as Undercover Agent Brian O'Conner who is sent to infiltrate a street racing  crew who are under investigation for a series of hijackings and soon finds himself in a very complex friendship with the group leader Dominic Toretto (Diesel). Movies like this was one of the reasons why I became a fan of Vin Diesel. He did an incredible job as Toretto and witnessing the chemistry between him and O'Conner was awesome to watch. ...

 Hello everyone, as you all know, I love to write and tell stories whether it be my poems, short stories, sports, religious/spiritual, etc. But I also like to use my writing to help others who are in need and today is one such blog post. I became friends with the good people of RTC Auctions who promote local auctions here in our little community. Every week when they come to Mattawana, me and my twin always enjoy going to see them and what they have to offer for each auction.  Unfortunately, I had recently discovered that a member of their family had been in a terrible motorcycle accident. His name is Zach Seitz. Sadly, Zach was in-between jobs when it happened and was not insured and the medical bills started to pile up on him and his family. So today, I wanted to help promote a special event that will be happening on July 19th. There will be a Benefit ride for Zach and his family. Whether it be motorcycles, cars and or trucks, all are welcomed to join this ride which will be...

 In an other blog post, I had written about celebrating 30 years of the film Space Jam, well today, I wanted to look back on another fun thing I did as a kid and that was playing the video game of the same name which also came out along with the movie it was based on. Space Jam the game, was created by Acclaim and was released for the Sega Saturn and Playstation. It was 3 on 3 basketball 2D game where you can choose to play for the TuneSquad or Monstars. There were some cool mini-games through it all as well including being Daffy Duck trying to find Jordan's uniform while trying to avoid the family dog Charles. You also get to play as Bugs who is trying to find water bottles that contain Michael's secret stuff (Water) 😂. What I love the most about this game is just how simple of a game it was. Me, Chad and Codeman would play this game for hours. Plus big brother Codeman is a major Michael Jordan fan during the youth in the 90s. This game used the same engine as NBA Jam Extreme...

 It has been a long time coming, but this past weekend I finally got to finish a replay of one of my personal favorite video games ever, Jade Empire. For those of you who do not know, Jade Empire was created by Bioware and was published by Microsoft Game Studios back in 2005 on the original XBOX. The game was inspired by Chinese mythology and it follows a spirit monk who is the last of his kind. The main character along with his allies, are on a quest to rescue his Master from evil forces as well as save the Water Dragon. One of my favorite features in the game is the moral system that has been put in place throughout the game where you get to make choices whether it be for good (Open Palm) or for evil (Closed Fist). Each choice you make during the game will heavily impact where the story will go where you will either become a hero to the people or become the very evil you sought out to destroy. At the begin of the game, you get to choose between a male or female protagonist before...