Archive for January, 2009
Sneak Preview: Review of the Film “Thr3e”
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009This past weekend I had the privilege of attending the “Christian Film Festival” at the Waterworks cinema in Pittsburgh. One of the main attractions was the Film “Thr3e,” based upon the book by Ted Dekker. The movie will be released next January, so it was a real treat and privilege to see the film ahead of time, and I want to share my experience with you.
The story revolves around Kevin Parson, a 28-year old seminary student. Kevin’s life is thrown into turmoil when he finds himself to be the target of a notorious criminal, “RK” - the riddle killer, whom we come to know as “Slater.” At the time, Kevin is working on a paper for seminary about the nature of evil, and Slater seems to be the very embodiment of what Kevin is writing about. When Kevin first encounters Slater, he is driving in his car and finds a mysterious cell phone in his passenger seat. It rings; Kevin picks up; and Slater tells Kevin that he has 3 minutes to solve the riddle “what falls but does not break; what breaks but does not fall” or else his car will blow up. Kevin is unable to solve the puzzle, and gets out of his car just seconds before it explodes. Slater continues to give Kevin a series of riddles to solve, and if he is unable to solve them, a bomb blows up destroying someone near to Kevin - his childhood pet, a fellow seminary student, etc. !
Above all, Slater wants Kevin to confess some unknown sin, and calls him a guilty hypocrite for pretending to be a good person. Kevin is helped in his struggle by a childhood sweetheart, who seems to embody good just as much as Slater embodies evil, and a female FBI agent who begins to fall for Kevin. As the film progresses, we get glimpses into Kevin’s disturbing childhood and begin to guess as to what the sin might be. The end has a great surprise twist, so I won’t give it away, but suffice it to say that it gives insight into human nature and the nature of evil.
As far as the plot went, there were a few implausibilities that bothered me a little bit. Not to give away too much, but there were a series of phone calls that were made between Kevin’s childhood sweetheart and the FBI agent, and once the surprise ending was revealed, it is hard to understand how those calls could have been made. It’s a little bit of a stretch, the way it all fits together at the end, but the ending is still satisfying and insightful.
As far as the cinematography goes, most of the backdrops are darkly colored pulp fiction soundtrack even the events that take place outside. It reminded me a little bit of the Matrix, the way the dark hues permeate the film. The film is fast-paced, moving from one riddle to another. All in all, it was a satisfying film; it got a nice round of applause at the preview. I would give it 3 out of 4 stars. Look for the film this coming January in a theater near you.
Joshua Thompson has been writing songs since the age of 4 and has recorded 2 CD’s. He is currently working on a third. Joshua plays drums, guitar, keys, percussion, and sings lead vocal. He currently has a website, http://www.poemstosong.com/, where he offers his services to turn your poem into a song.
What Makes the MP3 Player Tick?
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009While storing data in your MP3 player, you seldom stop to find how files are saved in the player’s memory. The different types of memory types include internal flash memory, Compact Flash cards, Smart Media cards, Memory Stick and internal micro drive.
Except for internal micro drive, all of the above mentioned are ’solid-state’ memory types in which there are no moving parts. This enables better reliability and no mountain lion tracks Sony BMG News | SONY BMG FIRST MAJOR LABEL TO TEAM UP WITH WE7 while you are enjoying the music. There are tiny hard disk drives in MP3 players which have capacity to store 10 to 150 times more date compared to flash memory devices.
In any MP3 player, the microprocessor is the brains of the system, monitoring user input through playback controls, displaying all the statistics related to the song playing on the LCD panel and sending instructions to the DSP chip that tells exactly how to process the audio.
The DSP withdraws the data of songs from memory, through application of special effects, or EQ, and streams it to the amplifier. A decompression algorithm run by the DSP will undo the compression of the MP3 file and then a digital-to-analog converter will change the bytes back into sound waves.
After boosting the strength, the amplifier sends the signal to the audio port, which is connected to a pair of headphones.
MP3 players are portable and battery-powered. Most of them use one or two AA batteries that last for about 10 to 12 hours on a single charge. Many players are equipped with AC adapters and can be plugged into a normal electrical outlet and some even offer DC adapters for use in a car.
Minidisk technology comes to music listeners in a new and improved line of Minidisk Walkman digital music players. A 1 GB disc is provided by Hi-MD technology to give users up to 45 hours of music. Those looking for a player that can store their entire music collection would find the hard drive ideally suited for the purpose. These discs can also store and transfer many PC data files to enable PowerPoint presentations, spreadsheets, etc. and depending on the model, it could allow 30 to 50 hours of playtime on a single AA battery.
Copyrights protected article written by Andrew Stratton for http://www.surveillancetechnology.com. More articles and information about the spy camera products can be viewed easily altogether at this location http://www.surveillancetechnology.com/entertainment-system.htm. Please be free to explore the website for more information on every surveillance products and their features.
The Simpsons (Season 3) DVD Review
Monday, January 26th, 2009Originally a spin-off from a one-minute segment of The Tracy Ullman Show, The Simpsons morphed into the then-burgeoning FOX network’s most successful program. As the longest running animated television show in history, and the longest running prime-time show of any type, The Simpsons is an American treasure - a combination of humor, wit, and satire that examines not just the lives of its eccentric characters, but also the society, culture, and world in which we live. Fun for adults and children alike, The Simpsons is a cutting edge television comedy that, like Seinfeld, changed the television landscape in the 1990’s by creating a new genre of TV fun that spawned large network investments in new animated series such as King of the Hill, Futurama, and The Family Guy.
Like all new things which smash the paradigm of life, The Simpsons is unrivaled by its knockoffs, and the show doesn’t show signs of slowing down. If you haven’t yet visited Springfield, then I definitely recommend that you pick up The Simpsons DVD (Season 1) to catch a glimpse for yourself. You have no idea what you’ve been missing…
The Simpsons Season 3 DVD offers a number of hilarious episodes including the season premiere in which Homer’s co-workers have him committed after they mistake him for a mental patient. While in the New Bedlam Home for the Emotionally Interesting, Homer meets a tall, stocky white man who claims to be Michael Jackson. The Simpsons befriend the man who eventually admits to being bricklayer Leon Kompowsky… Other notable episodes include “When Flanders Failed” in which Ned Flanders opens a store at the local mall called the “Leftorium” (catering only to left-handed customers) and “Lisa’s Pony” in which Lisa’s overwhelming desire to have her own Pony nearly drives Homer to an early death as he works 24-hours-a-day to afford the expensive pet…
Below is a list of episodes included on The Simpsons (Season 3) DVD:
Episode 36 (Stark Raving Dad) stomp the yard soundtrack Pappu Learns To Dance Date: 09-19-1991
Episode 37 (Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington) Air Date: 09-26-1991
Episode 38 (When Flanders Failed) Air Date: 10-03-1991
Episode 39 (Bart the Murderer) Air Date: 10-10-1991
Episode 40 (Homer Defined) Air Date: 10-17-1991
Episode 41 (Like Father, Like Clown) Air Date: 10-24-1991
Episode 42 (Treehouse of Horror 2) Air Date: 10-31-1991
Episode 43 (Lisa’s Pony) Air Date: 11-07-1991
Episode 44 (Saturdays of Thunder) Air Date: 11-14-1991
Episode 45 (Flaming Moe’s) Air Date: 11-21-1991
Episode 46 (Burns Verkaufen Der Kraftwerk) Air Date: 12-05-1991
Episode 47 (I Married Marge) Air Date: 12-26-1991
Episode 48 (Radio Bart) Air Date: 01-09-1992
Episode 49 (Lisa the Greek) Air Date: 01-23-1992
Episode 50 (Homer Alone) Air Date: 02-06-1992
Episode 51 (Bart the Lover) Air Date: 02-13-1992
Episode 52 (Homer at the Bat) Air Date: 02-20-1992
Episode 53 (Separate Vocations) Air Date: 02-27-1992
Episode 54 (Dog of Death) Air Date: 03-12-1992
Episode 55 (Colonel Homer) Air Date: 03-26-1992
Episode 56 (Black Widower) Air Date: 04-09-1992
Episode 57 (The Otto Show) Air Date: 04-23-1992
Episode 58 (Bart’s Friend Falls in Love) Air Date: 05-07-1992
Episode 59 (Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes?) Air Date: 08-27-1992
Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find where you can find more reviews of movies and TV series. Source: http://thedvdreport.blogspot.com/2006/02/simpsons-season-3-dvd.html.
MacGyver (Season 2) DVD Review
Friday, January 23rd, 2009A unique and different kind of TV action series, MacGyver made its television premiere in the Fall of 1985 to much fanfare. Audiences immediately responded to the title character and his unusual penchant for turning everyday items like chewing gum and paperclips into elaborate life-saving contraptions. In this way, it maintained a slight resemblance to The A-Team, and this recurring plot device helped MacGyver build a strong cult following…
Richard Dean Anderson plays the title role of MacGyver, an energetic employee of the fictional Phoenix Foundation for Research. An unorthodox hero by action series standards, MacGyver has a deadly fear of heights. A pacifist who refuses to use weapons, he relies heavily on his ability to use his brain and tinker with the various materials at his disposal. MacGyver’s best friend, and the director of the Phoenix Foundation, is Pete Thornton (Dana Elcar). Pete often sends MacGyver on Foundation missions and sometimes comes to his aid (usually after MacGyver has saved the day). In addition, MacGyver is joined on a regular basis by his airplane pilot friend Jack Dalton (Bruce McGill), a man who constantly entangles himself in illegal activities and other troublesome situations. Between the usual slew of bad guys, the vendetta of archenemy Murdoc (Michael Des Barres), and his multitude of troublesome friends, MacGyver is always in the midst of interesting and dangerous events, and the show’s true entertainment value derives from watching MacGyver’s distinctive method of dealing with each one…
The MacGyver (Season 2) DVD features a number of action-packed episodes including the season premiere “The Human Factor” in which MacGyver and the Phoenix Foundation are called upon to test the security of a top-secret military installation. When MacGyver makes a bet with the security designer, Dr. Jill Ludlum, he successfully gains entry, but the automated system traps them both inside (with a dwindling supply of oxygen) where they’re forced to race for their lives against a ticking clock… Other notable episodes from Season 2 include “The Road Not Taken” in which MacGyver encounters his former fiancĂ©e while helping a nun, and “Birth Day” in which MacGyver must guard a pregnant woman from her husband, who’s out to kill her…
Below is a list of episodes included on the MacGyver (Season 2) DVD:
Episode 23 (The Human Factor) Air Date: 09-22-1986
Episode 24 (The Eraser) Air Date: 09-29-1986
Episode 25 (Twice Stung) Air Date: 10-06-1986
Episode 26 (The Wish Child) Air Date: 10-20-1986
Episode 27 (Final Approach) Air Date: 10-27-1986
Episode 28 (Jack of Lies) Air Date: 11-03-1986
Episode 29 (The Road Not Taken) Air Date: 11-10-1986
Episode 30 (Eagles) Air Date: 11-17-1986
Episode 31 (Silent World) Air Date: 11-24-1986
Episode 32 (Three for the Road) Air Date: 12-15-1986
Episode 33 (Phoenix Under Siege) Air Date: 01-05-1987
Episode 34 (Family Matter) Air Date: 01-12-1987
Episode 35 (Soft Touch) Air Date: 01-19-1987
Episode 36 (Birth Day) Air Date: 02-02-1987
Episode 37 (Pirates) Air Date: 02-09-1987
Episode 38 (Out in the Cold) Air Date: 02-16-1987
Episode 39 (Dalton, Jack of Spies) Air Date: 02-23-1987
Episode 40 (Partners) Air Date: 03-02-1987
Episode 41 (Bushmaster) Air Date: 03-23-1987
Episode 42 (Friends) Air Date: 04-06-1987
Episode 43 (D.O.A.: MacGyver) Air Date: 04-27-1987
Episode 44 (For Love or Money) Air Date: 05-04-1987
Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find where you can find more reviews of music sviatoslav richter: Why music blogs will one day rule the earth and TV series. Source: http://thedvdreport.blogspot.com/2006/02/macgyver-season-2-dvd.html
Labels tighten purse strings, divas beware
Sunday, January 18th, 2009Filed under: News
Watch out Mariah Carey, the diva days are coming to an end. According to an article in The Daily Express, cost conscious labels are starting to cut the cord on bratty divas and their expensive entourages. No surprise given the overall tightening of the purse strings, and its certainly encouraging to see labels wising up to the idea of running like a real business.
Glenn Coolfer points out the funniest bit or, if you’re a shareholder, perhaps the saddest, “One of Warner Music’s biggest mistakes last year was an album released by socialite Paris Hilton. It sold just 13,000 copies, a disaster made worse by the money spent on the heiress and her entourage. she brought 14 people with her to the UK A week’s accommodation at the exclusive Metropolitan hotel on London’s Park Lane came to around £160,000.”
That’s $24.28 per album sold for the hotel bill alone. Bombs like Paris get the royal treatment while hard-working bands on the lower rungs get the shaft. Something’s gotta give; If you’re making your living teasing Paris Hilton’s hair on the rare occasion she appears live to do some off-key caterwauling, you might should polish your resume.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Gentle Giant “Octopus” (1972)
Saturday, January 17th, 2009