**Note: The first time I watched this movie without knowing what it was about, was fantastic! The main point of this movie really catches you by surprise. If you must read my review and learn what the movie is about, fine. But if you can, watch it with someone else who doesn't know the story and gauge their reactions. This would be especially true of teenagers. I was chatting with a youth counselor recently and we got onto the topic of teen suicide. This movie had made an impression on me many years ago, and I since I recommended it to her for creating group dialogue, we both took the time out to watch it. Permanent Record is the story of the suicide of a high school student, David, portrayed by Alan Boyce. This happens early on in the film and we are given a glimpse into his promising - and seemingly perfect - young life before he plunges off a cliff to his death. He is a promising musician and working on the musical score for the school production ofPirates of Penzance and has just won a scholarship to a prestigious movie school. What could possibly be wrong? Keanu Reeves portrays Chris, his best friend who at first refuses to believe it was suicide. David was so talented musically, and had such a promising future. Once all of the friends come to realize it was suicide, the story takes two directions that are intertwined at the same time. On one hand, we begin to learn that David's life was not as perfect as it first appeared. On the other hand, we see the lasting effects that his suicide has on his friends. For surely if David, the kid who seemed to have the most going for him, could feel bad enough about himself to commit suicide, what does that say about them? The teens in this movie all begin to fall apart as time wears on, but it is hardest on Chris. Keanu Reeves is fantastic in this role, conveying the angst, guilt, and fright that Chris is tormented by. Marisa Silver directed the film and it was written by the team of Jarre Fees, Larry Ketron, and Alice Liddle. None of these people are as well-known as many other directors, but this movie is a masterpiece. The writing is excellent and the direction of the actors is just as good. The friendships all seem natural, the reactions and emotions all seem real. This film does not sermonize on the cause of David's death. In fact, we are never given a definitive, clear-cut reason for his suicide. To me, this made it all the better. Not all the questions are answered; not everything is tied up neatly with a pat on the head. Nor is it strictly about his suicide. It is about what happens afterwards and how it affects so many others: his parents, his younger brother, and most especially Chris. No one will wake up one day and forget about David or what it felt like for them when he died. The musical goes on as planned and it's interesting to watch the production getting better as the friends all work through their feelings, building to the climax of the night of the show as they eulogize their friend and try to go forward with their own lives. I would recommend this movie to anyone who would like to try to get teens to talk about suicide. I think this is a great conversation-starter and hits right where it should.
When my daughter broke her arm two days after school ended last year, I was beside myself. This meant eight weeks of wearing a cast... Eight weeks of no swimming. Being the determined mother that I usually am, I began to search the Internet for a solution. For the first time I read about something called a Waterproof Cast Cover. The name can be a bit deceiving, because these are good not just for casts, but any type of wound you might have to protect from getting wet if you still want to swim. We got a second use out of it right after the cast came off when the same daughter had a puncture wound that needed to be cauterized. They are also better in the shower or bath than trying to rubber-band a plastic bag over a cast or a wound. So what is a waterproof cast cover? Usually it is a smooth rubber tube that is closed on one end. The other end slides over your arm or leg and is sealed against wetness. What makes one waterproof cast cover different from another? The main difference is how the cover is sealed at the open end. Some are sealed strictly by pressure which can end up leading to leakage if the waterproof cast cover eventually stretches out from having to get over a rather large cast. This may be less of a problem over smaller wounds rather than casts. The kind that I found worked best was one that created a vacuum by pumping air out of the waterproof cast cover once it was on the arm. Some of the waterproof cast covers on the market are made as a one-size-fits-all apparatus. The best kind will be the ones you have to measure. This means there will be less of a possibility that the waterproof cast cover will be too long, resulting in a flipper-like length of rubber hanging off of an arm or leg, and will fit more securely around the width of the arm or leg where it has to be sealed. I had discussed this with my daughter's doctor when it happened, and he knew nothing about these. After I purchased it, I brought it into his office to make sure it was all right to use (and I would suggest the same for anyone) and he has been suggesting these to patients ever since. My Recommendation http://www.waterproof-cast-cover.com This is the site I ended up using and the Xerosox Cast Cover is one I would recommend highly. We had no problems with leakage. When my daughter had on a big plaster cast, her size was quite difficult to get over the cast. However, when she had on the smaller fiberglass cast, it was a breeze. Do not overpump the unit or it may become painful. Take out just enough air to create the vacuum seal. Again, as with any medical situation, you should make sure your doctor feels you are up to the activity before you attempt to do it. Some wounds may be too big that trying to put this over could reopen the wound with pressure if you overpump.
Having had issues with thinning hair since I was in my 20’s, I tried many things over the years. Last year I was close to shaving my head and going to a wig. I didn’t go that route, but I was close. This year when my health took a nosedive, I decided that I wanted to try a vitamin and supplement regiment and one of the items I was concerned about was my hair. To that end, I added Spring Valley Hair, Skin & Nails plus Biotin Dietary Supplementto my regiment. The result after about 3 months is noticeable to me at least. Across my scalp, I am seeing thicker growth. I can no longer see through my hair on top as easily as I did before. Sure, some of what’s coming in is gray, but I can deal with that another way. I’m just happy to see noticeable growth. It’s noticeable when I style it as well. I also see the hair growing faster. I’m never one to rush into the salon on a regular basis, preferring to make an appointment once I think I absolutely have to, but when I look in the mirror I keep thinking that I’m already due for another haircut and it seems like I only went for one. What’s in this “miracle supplement”? Well, the one issue I have is that the label is so difficult to read. The print is tiny and even with my reading glasses on it’s hard to make out. Due to this, for the first month I was under-dosing myself. I was taking the typical one caplet per day when the directions state to take 3. Some people have reported good results even at 2 caplets. Finding the dose that’s right for you might take a little juggling, but I wouldn’t try more than the recommended 3 caplets per day. Back to the ingredients, I counted no less than 30 ingredients that make up this supplement. If you’re thinking of trying it, I’d check out the label for yourself (just bring a magnifying glass). One thing that’s touted highly is the collagen support which includes the ingredients Vitamin C and Biotin to support the structural foundation of hair and nails. I would guess my nails have to grow out a bit more before I see a positive effect on them as mine have always been horrible, splintering and breaking easily, which I attributed to how much time I spend behind a keyboard (and have since the mid 1980’s – I’m dating myself). I don’t find the caplets to be large. I take much larger pills with the rest of my nutritional regiment including Osteo-BiFlex. These are a little bit larger than the typical Advil or Tylenol caplets that I occasionally take. Some people who have issues swallowing pills might have difficulty, but I didn’t. Spring Valley Hair, Skin & Nails plus Biotin Dietary Supplement are available at Wal-Mart and several other places. If you are looking for healthier hair or are just getting to the age where you notice issues with your hair not being as healthy as it used to be, I would give it a chance. Of all the products I’ve tried over the years, this has been the most effective and the easiest to use.
I have loved this series since the beginning, and I was one of the outraged viewers who wrote ABC way back when, protesting the cancellation of a top-20 series. So when Richard Hatch (who portrayed Apollo in the original series run) announced he was coming out with a series of books and attempting to revive the franchise, I was excited and happy. I desperately wanted to like this book. Armageddon starts out promising. It is eighteen years after the series has ended. (Galactica 1980 is ignored - THANK GOD!) Commander Adama is on his deathbed. All of the characters who are so familiar to us from the series are there - Starbuck, Apollo, Athena, Cassiopeia, Boomer, Tigh and Sheba. The only problem is, they're not acting the way we would expect the characters from the series to act. I don't want to speculate on motivations here. I met Richard Hatch (who co-authored the book with Christopher Golden) at a convention and he seemed truly enthused about the project and genuinely interested in reviving the franchise. The major shortcoming, is that I don't think either of them sat down and rewatched the episodes before writing this book, and instead relied on memories of the storyline from almost twenty years before. In the very beginning of the book, Starbuck is presumed dead after a recon patrol goes bad. So there's no Starbuck for most of the book. Starbuck was the most popular character on the show. However, we get to hear him talked about often enough, usually in the conversations of Athena (Apollo's sister and a former girlfriend of Starbuck) and Cassiopeia (Starbuck's girlfriend on the series, and mother to his daughter Dalton here). I found their conversations to be flat and without any real insight. It was more as if the conversations were there just for our benefit of knowing what had happened over the last eighteen years. The character of Starbuck and Cassiopeia's daughter Dalton was also a hard character for me. I desperately wanted to like her, but Hatch and Golden often painted her with such recklessness and carelessness that I couldn't help but feel angry at her. She is said to have graduated faster than any cadet ever from their Academy, and yet her immaturity is so blatant that I can't imagine anyone allowing someone like her to be a part of a defensive patrol. Hatch delves into an area I don't like as well with his Pure Kobollian lineage. Only they are allowed to command and such. This smacks of the beginnings of nazi-ism and is another frustrating point in this book. There are other problems with the general descriptions in this book that go against what we know from the series (such as describing all of the black characters as being from the planet Leonid, while Boomer had indicated in the series that he was from Caprica). Sheba, who we were getting hints at being Apollo's love interest as the series wound down its one and only season, is almost completely neglected in this book. Rigel a definite female in the series is described as being male here in the book. Apollo's adopted son Boxey is in the book as well, and goes by the name of Troy now (the only homage to Galactica 1980). Again, it was a character of the next generation who I really wanted to like and had mixed feelings about. Apollo seems to be written almost as larger-than-life. He is vying with his sister Athena for the command of the Galactica throughout the book. There is no real battle - no sneakiness or underhanded politics going on between them, it is just a debate who is more qualified to lead. One of the few really interesting highlights of the book is an alien species Hatch calls The Sky. I really liked them and look forward to knowing more about them later on. There is a good general storyline about the Cylons developing a new weapon and Apollo and Starbuck ending up getting help from a very unlikely source in their quest to destroy it. This book had a lot of potential - it being the first novel in a long time based on this television show. There were a lot of fans very hungry and hoping it would be better than it was. Unfortunately, the co-writers did not do a good job of getting their facts straight before giving us this effort. They might have been better off just starting from scratch with a science fiction book not based on anything ever written or televised before.
battlestar
Here is an episode that I find supports a familiar axiom many Trekkers have: a bad Star Trek episode is still better than almost anything else. There were so many conflicts in the storyline of this episode, and yet the episode works tremendously well - especially for the first season. Has this episode been filmed a year or two later, I think it would've been one of the great The Next Generation episodes. The Enterprise arranges to meet with a Ferengi vessel for unknown reasons. Since we were told back in Episode #7 The Last Outpost that the Ferengi are an unfamiliar race to the Federation, it was refreshing to see them actually written that way during The Battle. Too often Trek writers change history to suit themselves, but the unfamiliarity between the two races comes across very good here. The Ferengi "captain", DaiMon Bok (portrayed by Frank Corsentino) , delivers a derelict Starfleet vessel to the Enterprise. This turns out to be a vessel in which Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) gained great notoriety for saving his crew with what becomes known as "the Picard maneuver". Picard begins to experience headaches and flashbacks to the battle. His own previous accounts of the battle are now in conflict with the logs of theStargazer. DaiMon Bok is the one forcing Picard to live the battle of nine years ago over and over, for it was his son commanding the ship which attacked the Stargazer and was destroyed by Picard. The storyline seemed to be changed during the filming. At the beginning, when DaiMon Bok is acknowledging him as the Hero of Maxi, Picard seems to almost not know what he is talking about. It is as if he doesn't recall what he is talking about at all. It is brushed off a bit by him saying, "I never heard it referred to that before." The battle most definitely did take place in the Maxi star-system, so at the very least - since this battle is taught in Starfleet Academy - the mention of Maxi should've registered more with Picard when first mentioned. When Picard is describing the battle to his crew, several times he tries to downplay his role as hero by saying he did "what any good helmsman would do." Later on when we see him reliving the battle, Picard seems to be the Captain of the vessel. However, the story is good, despite the rather blatant flaws. Patrick Stewart's portrayal of Picard here lays the groundwork for the Picard we will see later on in the series assimilated by The Borg. In fact, this whole episode seems to be a precursor to what will happen later on. We see the way the crew reacts here and it will be very similar in the future. Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) handles the First Officer taking over command very well and doesn't seem weak or helpless. The android Data (Brent Spiner) has a few funny straight-man lines, but for the most part does not come off as the comic relief. Instead, he seems to function as a true crew-member. Ship's Counselor Deanna Troi's (Marina Sirtis) lines were more than "I feel pain." The only other complaint I have is that Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) - the teenager - is once again saving the day by figuring out where the signal which is manipulating Picard's mind is coming from. Another thing I found distracting was the soundtrack to this particular episode. It stuck out to me as sounding like it came from one of those 70's police shows like Starsky & Hutch orS.W.A.T.. This is particularly unusual because I have always found that the soundtracks to any Star Trek show is superb. While there is most definitely room for improvement, this is one of the better first-season episodes.
I bet you people didn't know that Valley Stream was the movie capitol of the East ;-) Edward Burns is another product of Valley Stream, from the area I live in - The Gibson section. The house that the brothers live in during the movie is in this section and is his parent's house. This film was made thanks to his father's faith in him in borrowing the money that Burns used to produce the film. It is ironic, then, that Edward Burns has written the tale of three Irish Catholic brothers from Long Island who carry a tremendous amount of baggage due to the fact that their father was a child abusing, wife beating alcoholic. The movie opens with Burns' character Finbar (or Barry as he's frequently referred to) at the cemetery with his mother following their father's funeral. No one seems sorry to see the man go, and his mother is on the first plane back to Ireland to join her true love. She gives her son one piece of advice before she leaves and asks him to pass it on to his brothers:Don't make the same mistake I did. The movie then jumps to five years later as the brothers are struggling with their romantic lives, all the while dealing with the emotional baggage left behind. They are essentially living alone in America with both parents gone, while at the same time dealing with the emotional residue from what went on in their lives. Never once during this movie is a good word spoken about their father, leaving the viewer to believe that no one is really sorry that he is gone. Jack McMullen is the oldest brother. He is supposedly happily married, but when fate throws a beautiful woman who wants no attachments in his path, he is too weak to turn her down. He is afraid of committing heart and soul to his wife, Molly, though they have been married for several years. Following her thirtieth birthday, she wants to start a family. Molly (Spin City's Connie Britton)is a wonderful woman who gladly accepts the chaos in the house her husband grew up in when the brothers move back in with them. This creates all sorts of situations ripe for the comic relief, as well as in-depth discussions into the brothers' romantic lives (or lack thereof). Barry is the middle brother, and the one that has the most resistance to committing to anyone. The impression is that he has bounced around from relationship to relationship, moving on as soon as the "m" word comes up. His analogy of how a relationship is like eating a banana is hilarious. Barry is eventually knocked off his feet by Audrey, who pushes him away at first. This probably is what Barry needs - a woman who is independent enough to be able to say "I don't need you". The character I likes best was the youngest brother, Patrick, (portrayed by Michael McGlone). His world is so twisted into so many different knots, I kept wondering how he was going to get out of it. This was the most interesting part of the movie. Here is a man who is a religious Catholic. He is dating a Jewish girl who wants him to convert. Yet - as he point out to her - she goes to Temple once a year and he goes to church once a week. They have been dating for a number of years, and Susan wants to get married. Patrick isn't so sure about the whole situation. Complications are thrown in their path and their relationship is on-again, off-again from one minute to the next. Since Patrick is so into his religion, the brothers often come to him with their questions related to Catholicism. It was interesting to watch the struggle the three of them have as they are torn between their hearts, their mother's bit of advice, their physical and emotional needs, and their religion. Patrick's conversation with a girl from high school about trying to be a good Catholic and trying to have a healthy sex life is a great piece of insight as well as being funny. This is a light-hearted movie which will entertain as well as make you think. McGlone steals the movie from Burns, but all of the performances are good. In directing, Burns seems to get a lot from his fellow actors, but I think he could've done a bit better at times with his own performance. However, he makes good use of his location shots around Valley Stream, on the Long Island Railroad, and in Manhattan. If there's one quibble I have with the movie, it's one that many others would not pick up on. When Jack is having the affair, at one point he tells his wife that he is going out for a quick run and proceeds to his girlfriend's apartment in the city. From Valley Stream to Manhattan is at least 30-45 minutes by train and then it's still a subway ride to wherever you want to go in Manhattan. That means it would be about an hour each way, plus time to boff Ann (the girlfriend). I think if my husband told me he was going for a quick run and was gone three hours or more, I'd be catching on a lot sooner than Molly is.
My husband and I are both coffee addicts. When our under-the-cabinet coffeemaker broke about 18 months ago, I didn't research what to buy. A coffeemaker is a coffeemaker, right? Knowing I didn't want the under-the-cabinet model again, I just went out and bought the most inexpensive coffeemaker I could find.
The main appeal to me of the Mr. Coffee 12-Cup AD Series Coffeemaker - besides the price - was that it brewed 12 cups. There is also a 2 hour automatic shutoff, so I didn't have to worry about going out and forgetting to turn off the pot. Also, if I wanted a cup while the coffee was still brewing, pulling out the glass decanter would automatically stop the process. No more holding a cup underneath the drip while I tried to pour at the same time!
For a while it worked great and made a great cup of coffee. I would measure the water by filling the glass decanter to the metal band, then pour it into the water reservoir. A paper basket-type filter is placed into the funnel and then the ground coffee placed in the filter. Turn the coffeemaker on and violá - a perfect cup of coffee every time.
I never used it, but the machine also had the capability of setting up the coffee ahead the night before to brew in the morning. Simply fill as directed above, check to make sure the clock is correct, then set the time that you wish for the coffee to brew. When you wake up, your coffee will be waiting for you.
The shut-off worked perfectly also. Any time I'd forget I would always come home to find the coffeemaker off. I became so spoiled by this, it is a feature I will need from now on with coffeemakers!
The coffeemaker even looked attractive on my counter. Since all of my appliances were black, the black coffeemaker fit in perfectly and did not seem out of place. Some decanters I have come across don't pour correctly, but I never had that problem with this one.
It sounds great, doesn't it? Great price, makes a good cup of coffee, easy to work...
About six months into using the Mr. Coffee 12-Cup AD Series Coffeemaker it leaked out all over the counter. The first time it was no problem. I cleaned up the mess, then cleaned the coffeemaker by flushing it with a solution of vinegar.
Unfortunately, the problem did not solve as easily as this. We never knew when we brewed a pot if we would end up with coffee all over the counter. Since there were other appliances on the counter, it meant pulling everything out and cleaning up. We tried to figure out where it was coming from: Was the decanter cracked? Did it overflow somehow? Was the drip squirting instead of dripping? Was there a hose that was disconnected?
We never figured out what exactly was making the coffeemaker leak. No matter how many times we cleaned it, we could not stop this from happening. In the end, we were keeping a paper towel underneath it to prevent the counter from being soaked. After we'd finally had enough, we threw it away and purchased a new coffeemaker.
One thing I used to love to do was take all the songs I liked in my record and CD collection on create tapes - and later CDs - of them in random order. When I got my iPod last winter, I was thrilled as this meant I didn’t really have to do that any more. However, it wasn’t until I received the Bose SoundDock Docking Station for iPod that I truly appreciated being able to press a button and have all of my favorite songs - and then some - at my fingertips for random play. We picked it up at a local electronics store. The Bose name was really what sold me on it without hearing my own iPod playing in it (note to local electronics stores - this would be a huge sales tool - allowing people to hook up their own iPods). The box wasn’t terribly large so I wasn’t surprised by the size when we set it up. Much like the Bose radio, it packs a lot of sound in a small space. Setting up the Bose SoundDock Docking Station for iPod was easy. There are the speakers and the stand. Adapters are included in the box for the various iPod models. I placed the adapter insert for my Apple iPod 20gb MP3 Player in the base of the station. I then connected the Bose SoundDock Docking Station for iPod to a power sourcebefore inserting my iPod into the base. Once I inserted the iPod so that the docking connector on the bottom of my iPod was securely in the dock on the Bose SoundDock Docking Station for iPod, I pressedShuffle Songs. The song happened to be one I’d converted from a CD, and it sounded richer and crisper than I’d ever heard it before. The bass is terrific and the song resonated cleanly throughout my home. I listened to Bruce Springsteen as well as Duran Duran and both sounded fantastic. The real tests for me came when I found Led Zeppelin’s What Is and What Will Never Be as well as U2’s Where The Streets Have No Name. When my husband had wanted to buy the Bose SoundDock Docking Station for iPod I had fought him, saying we didn’t need it. Now I was glad he hadn’t listened to me. The sound was amazing and clear with no distortion as I turned up the volume. He told me to keep going, but I was more afraid of blowing out a window in my home - it’s that good! The unit is fairly small, measuring just 6.65 inches high by 11.91 inches wide and 6.48 inches deep. The Bose SoundDock Docking Station for iPod weighs just 4.56 pounds, so it should be suitable for just about any shelf in the home or apartment. It looks nice and sleek too, and won’t overpower or dominate any room it’s placed in. This is nice because of the way it integrates itself with some of the iPod features. Not only does the iPod recharge while it’s inserted in the base of the Bose SoundDock Docking Station for iPod, but by using the alarm function on iPod I’ve got a new way to be certain I bounce out of bed in the morning (or awaken softly if I lower the volume). The remote is small - about the size of a credit card. It doesn’t work the functions of the iPod, so selecting the song I want or shuffling the songs has to be done from the click-wheel on the iPod itself. The remote only controls on and off, volume up or down, and next track or previous track. It would be nice if the remote could somehow interact with the iPod, but that would also require a way to view the songs. The remote is infrared and works quite well from across the room, even when not pointed directly at the Bose SoundDock Docking Station for iPod. There is a 3-volt battery inside which should last 1-2 years. Don’t fret if you’re like me and easily lose remotes - replacements are available from Bose for $9.98. Depending on the iPod you own, you have to check if you have software compatible with the Bose SoundDock Docking Station for iPod. The various models and software versions are listed in the owner’s manual. The iPod software can easily be updated should you need to right from the Apple website. The Bose SoundDock Docking Station for iPod is really easy to use and provides a crisp, clear sound. Combined with an iPod, it can easily replace any monster stereo system or shelf system and provide a sound your friends will be suitably impressed by. I don’t know if my stereo will ever make it out of the boxes once we move now that I have this!
This was one of those films I never thought I was going to see. The first few times I was exposed to The Siege, I always saw part of it and never the whole thing. After September 11th, with my husband being a New York City bus operator, certain scenes hit too close to home and it was relegated to films I'd wish I'd seen. With nine years gone and no longer living in the metropolitan New York area, I thought perhaps I would be able to finally seeThe Siege in its entirety.U.S. operatives abduct a bin Laden-like Sheik and religious leader believe to be responsible for recent bombings of U.S. forces in the Middle East. As his sympathizers retalliate inside the U.S. the results are devastating. What's even more devastating is the heavy-handed reaction by agents of our own government.Denzel Washington is FBI Agent Anthony Hubbard based out of New York City. He encounters CIA Operative Elise Kraft (portrayed by Annette Bening) while trying to flush out a potential terrorist cell operating out of Brooklyn. Fate has them together when terrorists take control of a New York City bus and blow it up for the cameras.Hubbard and his men believe they have tracked down the men responsible when there is another bombing in a packed theatre. New York City seems to be under siege as people are afraid to go out of their homes. When the FBI itself is attacked, the President declares Martial Law and the Army marches into New York.I could say a lot of this was prophetic, especially how Hubbard reacts to the use of torture as a means to get information. Thankfully, New York and the country did not descend to these depths after 9/11 although there were some people who responded quite similarly. They didn't care about people being snatched off the street, as long as it wasn't happening to them. The same is true here. I think watching this film in 1998 when it was first released and watching it after 9/11 are two entirely different experiences. I’d also dare say that if you watched it within the first year after 9/11 and lived in the New York City metropolitan area or Washington DC you would have a different experience. The story moves along quite well. At the time The Siege was made, it might have seemed sensationalized and hard to believe, I would dare say now it’s less so. It moves quite fluidly between the attacks and the catching those responsible and the public reaction; something that could have ended up disjointed. It doesn’t feel like there are two different stories going on which is the fear when working with a story like this.The acting here is first-rate and I do mean that. Tony Shalhoub is excellent here in a different role for him as an Arab-American FBI agent, Frank Haddad. I’m used to seeing him as a comedic character but he handles the serious roles quite well. Denzel is, well, Denzel. I have yet to see him disappoint and here he is compelling as he tries to do his job against the backdrop of what’s happening as well as his conflicted conscience. Willis is rather one-dimensional but he does it well. Bening is perhaps the most uneven but that works well for her character and what she’s immersed in. If you’re like me and you’ve avoided this film, I understand why and don’t blame you. At the least try the first few minutes and see if you can handle it. It took me nine years to be able to see it, and it’s well worth viewing.
