Movies, Theatre, Television And Books

Boy,  I’ve got to tell you, I really love it when websites give away free stuff. When they give away money, I like it even more, as I can then go and buy stuff that I really want myself.  That is assuming that I win.  And as one of the marketing slogans for a local lottery I know, you can’t win if you don’t play.  Well, here’s an easy way to enter a chance to win some money your going to love.  The Let It Flow website has decided to promote themselves heavily through the use of their facebook page.  They’ve already had thousands of fans join their page, and it’s only a matter of time before the number get’s incredibly large.

What their doing in the meantime, is running a free scratch cards campaign to promote their website, and their facebook page.  By commenting on their facebook page, you have a chance to win €20,000 in prize money.  Nice!  So get your your butt over their, and add some comments.  Their website and facebook page are pretty cool.  That is if your into entertainment, fashion, celebrities, and other bits of entertainment goodies.  It’s a great site with lots of up to date news, and other information.  What I really liked about it, is unlike other sites in their niche, it’s not filled with all kinds of advertisements.  Just the facts, news and some cool pictures.  Definitely worth wasting some of your surfing time over there.

I do have a bit of an addiction to movies and the stars that make a living acting in them.  They do live such a different lifestyle then the rest of us.  It is fascinating to see how they manage to cope (or not cope) with it all.  Most don’t seem to do very well with it, but others manage to thrive on it.  I’m not really sure how I would do in their shoes.  Not that I’m ever likely to get the chance.  Something tells me, that I would burn out pretty quick.  I don’t really think I could stand that much attention.  I still remember my wedding day, and all the attention I got.  I think that was the closest I’ll ever get to being a celebrity, and that’s good enough for me.

When you and your family sit down together on a family movie night, you want to pick [...]

I’ve got to be one of the biggest critics when it comes to formula based television shows.  I’ve seen far too much television and movies in my life to be amused by the same old stuff over and over.  I was a big fan of House in the beginning, and my family continues to enjoy all of the episodes.  That includes all three daughters and my wife.  I must admit, that in spite of the terrific performances of Hugh Laurie, I did drift away from the series.  It was getting to the point, where you could sum up every episode with the following description.  Some patient comes in with a rare and impossible to solve sickness.  Usually life threatning of course.  House insults everyone in the room, then they all gather around the whiteboard and come up with a brilliant solution.  The solution of course doesn’t work, and quite often makes matter worse.  So, a little more insulting (humorously of course) ensues, often followed by a confrontation with leadership, and then back to the whiteboard.

Eventually, once they spend enough time on the whiteboard, and insult enough people the patient is miraculously cured.  Yay!!!  Maybe it was the whiteboard, that was reminding me too much of work, but I finally gave up on the show.  Inspite of all the wonderful insults that House managed to come up with, I lost interest.  Well, the other day, my daughter was watching a House episode on demand, and I joined her.  I was pleasantly surprised, as to how much I liked it, and now a little perplexed.  I don’t remember seeing a single whiteboard in the entire episode.  It was the one where the patient is somewhat psychotic, and had an affair, and keeps threatning the doctors with all kinds of nasty language if they tell her husband.  The actress playing the patient was really good.  I quite enjoyed the episode, and think I’ll start watching it again.

Hugh Laurie was as brilliant as ever.  Not that I ever got tired of watching him in the first place.  The writing was first rate as well.  I may have to watch some House season 6 episodes to catch up on what I’ve been missing.  There’s so little good television on TV these days, I’d hate to miss one that’s really worth watching.  There are a bunch of new faces, that I don’t recognize,  so I’m looking forward to getting to know their characters a little better.  Especially that one brunette female doctor.  She definitely was worth watching.

Looking for some new tv to watch? Look north, my friend! Canadian television is the home of many fine tv shows so if you are looking for new dramas or comedies to watch and you are sick of the same old stuff, it pays to take a look at what shows are friends on the opposite side of the border have made. [...]

I know, that the title of this post may seem somewhat sacrilegious to some, but to the affaciniados of movie going throngs, I’m sure the though has crossed their mind.  For most of them, they could probably care less, if the ever see a live Broadway play.  I know the live theatre purists are cringing in their seats as they read this, but I do believe it could happen someday.  Don’t get me wrong, I do love live theater.  Actually, I should paraphrase that.  I both love and hate live theater.  While I’ve been enthralled by many a live performance, especially the musical ones, I’ve also been put to sleep by some pretty dreadful stuff.  I guess you could say the same thing about movies though.  What got me started on this whole tangent, was my viewing of the move Avatar the other night.  It’s a seminal movie, that takes a relatively new technology (3D), and makes a ground breaking movie by using it in a different way.  How far, are we really away from a 3D “holodeck” type “live” theater show, where all the actors are holograms?

Before setting out on your travel adventure, there are some sources that you should consult for wisdom and as indispensable resources before you go. As freeing as backpacking can be, it is unwise to leave without doing a bit of homework. You may not have a strict itinerary, but there are some things that you will need to know about the places you are going. [...]

Nothing will ever come close to the actual experience, but travel books and movies can still transport us to exciting places. And, if you are unable to go on a large trip anytime soon, this can make for a nice compromise. A good travel story shows us faraway places and introduces us to interesting people and places that make travel so exciting.

There have been so many movies and books made about travel, or with a travel story found within it, that it is very hard to narrow them down. So I have decided to make a list of the five [...]

There are a few different occupations I’ve considered changing to during my working career. A marine biologist was one. Inspired of course by my a vacation to the Caribbean, where I spent a lot of time by the water and on the beach. Then of course there was games designer / programmer / graphics designer. Everybody wants to be a rock star (just look at the success of Rock Band & Guitar Here), so we may as well add that one to the list as well. I know I certainly wanted to be. And let’s not forget about that old reliable career of professional beach bum. I know most of you never knew it even existed, but I determined to get there one day. For now, I have other aspirations. Being an internet CEO who owns his own suite of websites is a dream shared by thousands I’m sure. The final verdict on the outcome of that one for this entrepreneur is still out, but I continue to remain enthusiastically optimistic. And finally, how about a career in the movie making business.

Nothing specific in the movie making profession mind you, but just something that lets me be a part of the process. Then I could be in one of those really cool “making of” snippets that are included on most DVDs these days. I always enjoy watching those features. Often, I end up coming away with more respect for the movie I watched first after viewing one of these little stories afterward.

When I say I would do anything to be part of the movie making experience, I don’t exaggerate. Being the guy responsible for shining all the swords used on The Lord Of The Rings trilogy of movies would have been pretty cool. I really wouldn’t have had a problem shining swords for three years, if that’s what it took to be part of that huge family. I suppose part of what it is that looks so interesting for me, is all the different cool people you get to meet. I worked in a cubicle for a lot of years, before I started branching out in my professional interests. When I first start consulting and traveling all around North America to do my job, what impressed me most, was the type of people I got to meet. They were a little more adventurous, a lot more outgoing, and just a little bit crazier than the average cubicle jockey.

That’s what people in the movie business look like to me. The whole creative type of persona is kinda cool as well. It goes with the business they would say, and I kind of understand why everyone has a bit of it. There are multiple jobs involved in making movies, and that’s appealing to me as well. Since, I have a reputation for getting bored quickly with a career, and am always looking to make a change. So while polishing swords for three years on a movie set may be appealing, it’s nice to know I can switch over to polishing body armor whenever I feel the urge.

Well, not really.  But, if they did it would be an anachronism.  Whoa!  Big word there fella, do you really know what it means.  Um, well yes I do, and I know what an anachronism, thanks to our friend the wristwatch wearing caveman.  Anachronism is one of those big words you have to learn in English class, and for some reason it was an easy one for me, right up there with alliteration.  But, that’s a story for another day.  I think, the reason I remember so vividly what an anachronism is has to do with a story someone told me to help explain it.  I do like a story, and if I can visualize something it’s much easier for me to learn.  I think it was my dad that told me the story.

We all of course know, that an anachronism is the placement of a person, place, thing or idea into a time period in which it doesn’t belong.  Imagine if you will, that your watching a movie about the dawn of civilization.  You know, volcanoes, dinosaurs, caveman, and pterodactyls flying around all over the place.  During this movie, you a few of the hero caveman main characters wander into the encampment of some neighbouring caveman.  Well, the neighbouring caveman don’t appreciate this intrusion, and amongst all the grunting, posturing and waving about of caveman clubs, a fight starts out.  Well just as the fight get’s going really good, and your quite enthralled by the whole scene, your hero caveman is punched one of the bad guy cavemen, and as his fist flys across the screen, you notice a Cartier replica wristwatch on his wrist.  Hang on you think, that’s not right.  I mean, first of all where would a caveman go to buy replica Cartier watches in the first place?  As your suspension of disbelief is slowly being eroded, you start to wonder, does this caveman have a whole collection of watches at home on his dresser?  Of course not, but it’s kind of funny to think about isn’t it?

Now, if the above movie was meant to be funny, then the scene works, but if is supposed to be a serious caveman move like “Quest For Fire”, than someone messed up big time.  I mean, there are some movie where anachronism works beautifully as comedy.  Take for instance the ever so popular comic series the Flinstones.  Betty and Wilma have some of the nicest modern appliances around.  Fred has a car, albeit a little behind on the technical side being foot powered and all.  But a car none the less.  And of course, everyone knows that caveman and dinosaurs didn’t walk on the earth at the same time.  If you were paying attention, you would have caught that little extra anachronism in my previous example.

Did you ever see the kids movie cartoon Aladdin?  Robin Williams plays the part of the genie, and there’s one particularly hilarious scene where he jumps around all over the place as different characters or makes reference to certain characters like Tarzans Cheetah, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ed Sullivan, Groucho Marx, Gomer Pyle, Peter Lorre, Robert Dinheiro, and an airline stewardess.  Of course none of those characters would exist in Arabian times.  So, now you know what a movie anachronism is.  And the answer to whether cavemen wear watches or not is . . . “it depends”.

I know, this is a bit of a stretch when it comes to considering this under the realm of movies, but I just had to find a reason to post that hilarious picture. And now a days, some of the production skills and quality that goes into these videos is pretty spectacular. I wonder, how Gloria is doing today? People look at themselves in the mirror everyday, and wish that they could change this part of their body, or that part, and unfortunately for some, they never take action on their dreams, and instead, continue looking into the mirror day, after day.  There are numerous ways to get in shape these days, ranging from exercise bikes, and treadmills in your house, to full blown gym memberships, with regular classes.  While gyms, and exercise bikes may be fine for some people, other’s just don’t want the hassle of dragging exercise equipment around their house, or having to get dressed up, just to get sweaty. [...]