Wil Owen is a resident of Plano, Texas. Like much of the population of the greater Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, he is not a native Texan. However, he still considers this state home as it is the longest he has lived in any one place.

With a father in the military, Wil had the opportunity to live in Europe, Asia and both coasts of the U.S. as well as several states in between. After earning a master's degree in computer science in 1995 from Auburn University in Alabama, he headed to the Lone Star state.

As a programmer, Wil has worked for a variety of industries including space (NASA), defense (TI and Raytheon), telecom (Nortel) and tech support (IBM) -- not necessarily in that order. Since shortly before 9/11 was ingrained in our minds forever, Wil has worked (without much fear of layoffs) at an airline that has continued to bring in profits for years following that incident, despite the heavy downturn in the industry. How did that airline succeed where others have failed? They're "Just Plane Smart."

What Wil likes most about Rambles.NET is the freedom to review entertainment material and give an honest opinion without worrying about sponsorships or repercussions -- well, at least until it was mentioned that he lived in Plano. Wil pretty much writes the way he talks (except in this case where he is trying to write about himself as if he was another person).

Wil lives with twin boys, three cats and a dog, all of whom fight over his lap whenever he sits at his computer to write reviews. Wil's favorite pastime is scuba diving, which he first got into back in 1994. He also has a private pilot's license but will admit that he is not a natural ace as Top Gun convinced him he would be in the mid-'80s. Finally, Wil loves to travel and explore the world, observing other cultures and experiencing their cuisine. He is rather envious of those people who work for National Geographic or Lonely Planet, but tries to make up for it whenever he gets a chance to use his passport.

Reviews by Wil include:

CDs:

Mary Abraham
The First Five

Ray Abshire & Friends
For Old Times Sake

Alexandra Youth Choir
South African Choral: Songs of the Alexandra Youth Choir

Altramar Medieval Music Ensemble
Celtic Wanderers: The Pilgrim's Road

Amethystium
Aphelion
Evermind
Odonata

Eric Anders
More Regrets

Joyce Anderson
The Girl I Left Behind
Right Where I Should Be

Ann-Marita
Ann-Marita

Antibalas
Talkatif

Argenti
Argenti

Yasko Argirov
Hot Blood

Badi Assad
Verde

At the Racket
Mirth-Making Heroes

AvaLoon
I Can Go Anywhere

Aztec Two-Step
Days of Horses

Beldock & Watson
Just Like You & Me

Bharat Nepali Party
Himalaya Roots: Traditional Music of Nepal

Big Blue Hearts
Here Come Those Dreams Again

Bio Ritmo
self-titled

Lee Boice
Sacred Spaces

Brobdingnagian Bards
Memories of Middle Earth

Brother
Pax Romana MMV

The Browne Sisters & George Cavanaugh
Ready for the Storm

Bruce & Lisa
Gifts of Love

David Burgess
Silver Nuggets & Fool's Gold

Frank Cassidy & Friends
Tin Air

Stella Chiweshe
Talking Mbira: Spirits of Liberation

Stephen Cohen
Stephen & the Talk Talk Band

Conjunto Jardin
Floreando (Flowering)

Johnny Coppin
Keep the Flame
The Winding Stair

Coyote Poets
Unmistakable Evidence

Heather Dale
Call the Names

Mason Daring
Sunshine State

Kyle Dawkins
Conasauga

Anjuli Dawn
Reason

Arby DeCamp
Sleep by Numbers: Lullabies for Children of All Ages

John DeGrazio
Abandoned World

Gigi Denisco
Too Close for Comfort

Mamadou Diabate
Tunga

The Dilettantes
This Small Town

Craig Dillingham
Almost Yesterday

Dezi Donnelly & Mike McGoldrick
Champions of the North

Stephanie Dosen
Ghosts, Mice & Vagabonds

Dromedary
Live from the Make Believe

Egschiglen
Zazal

Eli Young Band
Level

Eliza Blue
One Year

Stephen Endelman
Evelyn

Equation
Hazy Days

Etnika
Nafra

Steve Eulberg
Soaring

Katie Evans
A Passing Afternoon

Eyuphuro
Yellela

Mahmoud Fadl
The Drummers of the Nile Go South

Amy Fairchild
Mr. Heart

Farzad
Mirror of Emotions

Feathermerchants
Last Man on Earth
Street Theater
Unarmed Against the Dark

Bryan Field
Way

Rick Fines & Friends
Live at the Harvest

Five Mile Chase
Your Town

Denice Franke
Comfort

Todd Fritsch
Sawdust
Todd Fritsch

Abbie Gardner
My Craziest Dream

Michele Dominguez Greene
Luna Roja

Lloyd Gregory
Free Fallin'

Galactic Agents
Human Contact

Abbie Gardner
Abbie Gardner

The G-Man
Grin Groove

Elliot Goldenthal
Frida

David Goodrich
Accidentals of the West

Harry Gregson-Williams
Spy Game

The Hackensaw Boys
Give It Back

Wayne Hamilton
Lucky That Way

Harpers Hall
Celtic Harp Magic

Jeffrey Harrison
Jeffrey Harrison

Cynthia Hart
Let Me Make the Music in Your Life

Shawn Prescott Haussler
Taking the Air

Sara Hickman
Motherlode

Hiroshima
The Bridge
Obon

James Hollingsworth
Alive in 2005

Rob Huffman
Tone Without Tension

Andy Offutt Irwin
Banana Seat

James Isaak
James Isaak

Richard Isen
Let It Fall

Christopher Jak
Applause of the Rain

Bob James
Angels of Shanghai

Lalgudi G Jayaraman
Violin Soul: South Indian Classical Music

J.E.R.M.
self-titled

Jezzro & Huff
Worldbeat Brazil

Juliana's Pony
Total System Failure

Don Julin & Glenn Wolff
Brite Lites, Big Insects

Rebecca Katz
Spendin' On Today

Penny Kerr
Conscious Contact

Miguel Kertsman
Amazonica

KilBride
KilBride: Traditional Fiddle Music from Cardiff

Kin Za Za
Number One in Shambala

Habib Koite & Bamada
Baro

Ron Korb
Behind the Mask
Japanese Mysteries, with Hiroki Sakaguchi

Kudu
Kudu

Kultur Shock
FUCC the I.N.S.

Lady Godiva
Zooperation

Lalezar
Music of the Sultans, Sufis & Seraglio, Vol. III: Minority Composers
Music of the Sultans, Sufis & Seraglio, Vol. IV: Ottoman Suite

Peter Lang
Dharma Blues

Tom Langford
Acoustic

Lantana
Unbridled

Joni Laurence
With No Apology

Christine Lavin
Good Thing He Can't Read My Mind

Eddy Lawrence
Going to Water

Leerone
Hail to the Queen

Lenore
Another Life

Elisabeth Lohninger
The Only Way Out is Up

The Mike Longo Trio
Still Swingin'

Lura
M'bem di fora (I've Come from Far Away)

Yvonne Lyon
A Thousand Questions Why

Dave MacKenzie
Solo

Talitha MacKenzie
Indian Summer
Spiorad (Spirit)

Lata Mangeshkar
Mata

Mariza
Fado Em Mim

Samuel Markus
No Mission

Ado Matheson
Out on the Islands

Brendan McCloud
On the Edge Of Time (Ancient Futures)

Raymond McCullough
The Great China Bike Ride
Into Jerusalem

Lili McGovern
A Bare Calliope

Corey McKnight
My Solitude

Audrey Auld Mezera
Lost Men & Angry Girls

Chris Murphy
Juniper
Noir

Mystic Harmony
Kindle a Flame

David Newbould
Big Red Sun

Thomas Newman
Jarhead
Road to Perdition

Papa Noel & Papi Oviedo
Bana Congo

North Sea Gas
Dark Island

Angie Nussey
Paint & Turpentine

Victoria Parks
Wild English Rose

Dave Patten
Fly Away

Rama IV
Silk Mind

Keali'i Reichel
Kukahi: Keali'i Reichel Live in Concert

Magdalena Reising
Blue Cafe

Norah Rendell & Brian Miller
Wait There Pretty One

Reunion of Souls
Reunion of Souls

Jennifer Richman
Flowers of Gold

Jason Ring
Patchwork

Ernesto Rodrigues, Jose Oliveira & Marco Franco
23 Exposures

Shao Rong
Orchid

Mya Rose
Breaking Free

Kev Rowe
Into the Gold

Mando Saenz
Watertown

Roger Scannura & Ritmo Flamenco
Misterio

Bob Schneider
Lonelyland

Zoe Scott
Beautiful to Be Alive

Erin Sax Seymour
Good Girl

Jason Shain
Sooner or Later

Shave the Monkey
Good Luck, Mr. Gorsky

Blake Shelton
self-titled

Show of Hands
Cold Frontier

The Silverado Bluegrass Band
All Doors Will Open

Simaku
Echoes from Iliria

Gino Sitson
Song Zin': Vocadelic Tales

SONiA
No Bomb is Smart

Soulhat
Experiment on a Flat Plane

John Sponsler & Tom Gire
Final Solution

Jen Spool
Soul Threads

Rick Spreitzer
Meanderthal

Chalee Tennison
Parading in the Rain

Gentle Thunder, with Will Clipman & AmoChip Dabney
Beyond Words

Too Human
True

Toss the Feathers
Columbus Eclipse

Townhall
The New Song

Transcend with Time
A Haunting Presence

Trout Fishing in America
My Best Day

Wes Tucker
Tradition

Wes Tucker & the Skillets
Beauty in the Broken

Tulku
A Universe to Come

UB40
Live at Montreux 2002

Carla Ulbrich
Her Fabulous Debut
Sick Humor

various artists
African Groove
African Playground
An Afro-Portuguese Odyssey
The Best of Greece, Vol. 3
Bhangra Beatz
Cafe Lounge
Caribbean Voyage -- Martinique: Cane Fields and City Streets
Colombia
Electric Highlife: Sessions from the Bokoor Studios
Euro Lounge
French Caribbean
Inner Balance
Jamaica
Latin Groove
Latin Travels
A Leap in the Dark
Making Music Matter
New Latin Xpress
Oxfam Africa: Dance Rhythms from Algeria to Zimbabwe
The Road from Erin: Ireland's Musical Legacy
The Rough Guide to Rai
The Rough Guide to the Cuban Music Story
The Rough Guide to the Music of the Gypsies
Rumba Flamenco
Sahara Groove
World Lounge
World 2004

Vas
Feast of Silence

Jason Vigil
Heart Gone Sober

Hope Waits
Hope Waits

Stephen Warbeck
Captain Corelli's Mandolin

John Williams
Memoirs of a Geisha

Women in Docs
Under a Different Sky

Royal Wood
Tall Tales

Ruth Wyand
Distant Drums

Doug Young
Laurel Mill

Lesley Young
Inside

Young Elderz
Children of Rastafari

Zuco 103
Outro Lado


Books:

Brian David Andersen
"My God, I'm Hit!"

Robert Asprin
Little Myth Marker/Myth-ing Persons
M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link/Myth-nomers & Im-pervections

Robert Asprin & Peter J. Heck
No Phule Like an Old Phule

Stephen Banick
Accidental Enlightenment: The Extraordinary Travels of a Modern-Day Gulliver

Sarvananda Bluestone
The World Dream Book

Matt Bronleewe
House of Wolves

Laurence B. Brown
The Eighth Scroll

Orson Scott Card
Ender in Exile
Posing as People, with Scott Brick, Aaron Johnston & Emily Janice Card

Haggai Carmon
The Chameleon Conspiracy

David Chacko
The Severan Prophecies

Todd Cobb
Ghosts of Portland, Oregon

David B. Coe
Rules of Ascension

Bruce R. Cook
Philippine Fever

William Dietrich
Ethan Gage #2: The Rosetta Key

Michael Dobbs
Churchill's Triumph

Alan Dean Foster
Dinotopia Lost

Ginger Garrett
Chronicles of the Scribe #2: In the Arms of Immortals

Tom Gauthier
Mead's Trek

Keith Hartman
Gumshoe Gorilla

Melinda Haynes
Chalktown

Donald Himelstein
Above Honor: Rachel's Story

David Jerome
Roastbeef's Promise

Ingeborg M. Johnston
The Unbelievable Adventures of a WWII German War Bride: Collections of Acts of Kindness in War & Peace

Larry Ketchersid
Software by the Kilo

Lee Killough
Blood Games

Howard M. Layton
Love & Sand

Whitney LeBlanc
Shadows of the Blues

Tom Lewis
Pea Island Gold #1: Sunday's Child
Pea Island Gold #2: Hitler's Judas

McKendree R. Long
No Good Like It Is

Eric Van Lustbader
Mistress of the Pearl
The Testament

James Macomber
A Grave Breach

Mack Maloney
Starhawk: The Fourth Empire

Christian McCallister
Coming Full Circle: Munising to Munising

Jack McDevitt
Chindi

Charles W. Meister
Religion: Bane or Blessing?

Carl Nomura
Sleeping on Potatoes: A Lumpy Adventure From Manzanar to the Corporate Tower

Blaine Lee Pardoe
Battletech: Operation Audacity

Stephen R. Pastore
Never on These Shores

Ellen Pearlman
Tibetan Sacred Dance: A Journey into the Religious & Folk Traditions

Steven Pressfield
Killing Rommel

Heather Pringle
The Mummy Congress

Brant Randall
Blood Harvest

Brant Randall & Bruce Cook
Tommy Gun Tango

W. Craig Reed
DNA

Lewis Richmond
A Whole Life's Work: Living Passionately, Growing Spiritually

Brian Righi
Ghosts of Fort Worth: Investigating Cowtown's Most Haunted Locations

Lorene Robbins
The Dead Detective

Don Sakers
A Voice in Every Wind: Two Tales of the Scattered Worlds
Dance for the Ivory Madonna

Peter Carpenter Schneider
Shining City

Terence Shannon
What Happened to the Indians

Barry H. Smith
Twilight Dynasty: Courting Evil

David Stinebeck & Scannell Gill
A Civil General

Helen Tse
Sweet Mandarin: The Courageous True Story of 3 Generations of Chinese Women & their Journey from East to West

Harry Turtledove
The Disunited States of America
In High Places

John Vornholt
The Troll King
The Troll Treasure

Terry Wright
The 13th Power

Evie Wyld
After the Fire, a Still Small Voice

Robert Zubrin
First Landing

Gordon Zuckerman
The Sentinels: Fortunes of War


audiobooks:

Tilly Bagshawe
Adored
Showdown

David Baldacci
The Camel Club
The Christmas Train

Carol Birch
Lou Gehrig: The Story of a Great Man

Alice Blanchard
The Breathtaker

James Bradley
Flyboys: A True Story of Courage

Kristen Breitweiser
Wake-Up Call: The Political Education of a 9/11 Widow

Ken Carodine
All the Tea

Jim Cline
A Small Percentage

Michael Connelly
The Closers
The Lincoln Lawyer
The Narrows

Sue Ellen Cooper
The Red Hat Society: Fun & Friendship After 50

Nelson DeMille
Night Fall

Roger L. Depue
Between Good & Evil: A Master Profiler's Hunt for Society's Most Violent Predators

Fran Drescher
Cancer Schmancer

Glen Duncan
The Last Werewolf

J.F. Freedman
Bird's-Eye View

Amy Friedman, Jillian Gilliland & Laura Hall
Tell Me a Story
Tell Me a Story 2: Animal Magic

Jane Goodall
Reason For Hope: A Spiritual Journey

T. Ray Gordon
Inhumanity Quest
Strawberry Automatic
Tears of the Tin God

Tim Green
Exact Revenge
The Fifth Angel
The First 48
The Fourth Perimeter
Kingdom Come

Brian Haig
Mortal Allies
Private Sector

Pete Hamill
Downtown: My Manhattan

Keith Hartman
Murder Beneath the Buried Sky

Alice Hoffman
The Ice Queen

Joshilyn Jackson
Between, Georgia

Jerry B. Jenkins
The Youngest Hero

Mary Johnson
An Unquenchable Thirst

John Kasich
Stand for Something: The Battle for America's Soul

Faye Kellerman
The Garden of Eden & Other Criminal Delights
Street Dreams

Jonathan & Faye Kellerman
Double Homicide

Dave King
The Ha-Ha

Lori Lansens
Rush Home Road

Billie Letts
Shoot the Moon

Brad Meltzer
The Zero Game

Joyce Meyer
In Pursuit of Peace

Michael Moore
Dude, Where's My Country?

Walter Mosley
Little Scarlet
The Man in My Basement

James Patterson
The Big Bad Wolf
4th of July
Kiss the Girls
Mary Mary
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment
Sam's Letters to Jennifer
Season of the Machete
Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas
When the Wind Blows

James Patterson, with Andrew Gross
3rd Degree

James Patterson, with Howard Roughan
Honeymoon

George Pelecanos
Drama City
Hard Revolution
The Night Gardener

Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
Brimstone
The Cabinet of Curiosities
Dance of Death
Still Life with Crows

Russell Proctor
Days of Iron

Sheriff David Reichert
Chasing the Devil

Elizabeth Robinson
The True & Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters

Sidney Sheldon
The Other Side of Me

James Siegel
Deceit
Derailed
Detour

Nicholas Sparks
Nights in Rodanthe
Three Weeks with My Brother, with Micah Sparks
The Wedding

Ellen Sussman
On a Night Like This

J. Randy Taraborrelli
Elizabeth

Denise Tiller
Calculated Risk

Kate White
A Body to Die For
If Looks Could Kill

Lolly Winston
Good Grief

Herman Wouk
A Hole in Texas


Graphic Novels:

Johnny Jihad

The Man Who Grew Young


Movies:

A Christmas Family Tragedy: Legends of the 1929 Lawson Family Murders

Country Teacher

Habermann

Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut)

Red River Valley


Concerts:

Loreena McKennitt