Saturday, September 7, 2013

Thinking Renovation 7 September

 

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Movie Clichés ... Weapons

 

  • Major characters never run out of ammunition, nor do they ever have to reload. If the movie does make them reload, they never have to actually carry any spare ammo until that scene
  • Guns never run out of ammunition unless escape would be otherwise impossible.
  • The first shot or burst of fire from a bad guy always misses, and is there just to announce that a fight will be taking place.
  • Bad-guy hand grenades make noise and smoke, but no real damage; good-guy hand grenades are devastating but selective; they will destroy tanks, but won't hurt the thrower, even if he drops one on his toe. Bad-guy grenades used by good guys become good-guy grenades, and vice versa.
  • When the villain runs out of bullets, he'll throw away his gun. When the hero does so, he'll conveniently come across another.
  • Machine guns submerged underwater for a long time won't jam or misfire when the hero pops up to use them.
  • A cigarette case/lighter in the shirt pocket will always block the bullet.
  • When the hero faces a ridiculously large number of shooters with high powered weapons, they will all miss after several shots. Then, the hero will pulls out this gun that looks like a toy and start picking off the bad guys from half a mile away, usually hitting them in the forehead.
  • People always pump out a few (probably used) shotgun shells at each corner when chasing someone.
  • When people aim a rifle with binocular-sight at someone on a very long distance, they manage to keep them in the bull's-eye all the time even if they move around.

A Judy Garland Moment

 

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Judy at Ciro’s Nightclub (ca. 1941)

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Trivia Bits 07 September

 

  • Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to visit Australia in 1954.
  • Famous American jail Alcatraz is also known as The Rock.
  • The word rumba comes from the verb rumbear which means going to parties, dancing and having a good time. Although the main growth of this dance occurred in Cuba, similar developments took place in other Caribbean islands and in Latin America generally.
  • The Electrolux vacuum cleaner was associated for many years with Mr Jolly.
  • US President Richard Nixon was the First US President to visit Moscow.
  • The total number of days in July, August and September are 92.
  • Quantities of paper are measured in units including reams and quires.
  • The branch of zoology that studies birds’ eggs is Oology.
  • The famous To be or not to be speech appears in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.
  • The Pan Am plane blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland 1988, was flight 103.

Quotables 07 September

 

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Friday, September 6, 2013

Thinking Renovation 06 September

 

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Resplendent Rivers

 

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Rare Van Gogh Sunflowers Image Found

 

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A rare photograph of a lost Sunflowers painting by Vincent Van Gogh has been found, showing for the first time how the artist wanted his work to be seen.

A photo of the painting has been uncovered in the archives of a Japanese museum, showing that the artist wanted it to be exhibited in an orange frame.

Van Gogh painted Six Sunflowers in 1888 but it was destroyed in Japan in 1945.

It was sold to a Japanese collector and shipped to Japan in 1920. But it was destroyed in a fire after US bombing of Osaka during World War II

Martin Bailey, a curator and correspondent for The Art Newspaper said "Van Gogh loved complementary colours, like blue and orange together. We can actually see how Van Gogh wanted to present his sunflowers. We can see the painting as Van Gogh wanted to be seen.

"It was a revolutionary idea at the time, framing a painting in orange. Conventionally, paintings were framed in gilt frames, and modern paintings were sometimes framed in plain white frames.”

Just For Fun 06 September

 

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“Dad. does that mean I can go at 140?”

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Sir Cliff To Release 100th Album

 

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After producing 47 studio albums, 35 compilations, 11 live albums and seven film soundtracks, Sir Cliff Richard is to release the 100th album of his career.

The new release will feature classic rock 'n' roll tracks that were made famous by the likes of Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Buddy Holly.

The evergreen pop star released his debut album in 1959 and is the only artist to have had at least one UK top five album in each of the last seven decades.

He has also sold more singles in the UK than any other male British artist, with sales of 21.5 million.

Nicknamed the Peter Pan of Pop, Sir Cliff will notch up his century when The Fabulous Rock 'n' Roll Songbook is released on 11 November.

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More Common Sense Thoughts for Living

 

  • If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.
  • One-seventh of your life is spent on Monday.
  • The more you run over a dead cat, the flatter it gets.
  • This is as bad as it can get, but don't bet on it.
  • Never wrestle with a pig: you both get all dirty, and the pig likes it.
  • Any and all compliments can be handled by simply saying "Thank you," though it helps if you say it with an American Southern accent..
  • No books will be as good as the ones you loved as a child.
  • Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables: get someone else to hold them while you chop away.
  • Never give yourself a haircut after 3 martinis, or 3 margaritas, or 3 shots of tequila.

Beatles Album Finally Achieve Platinum

 

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Classic Beatles albums including Revolver have finally gone platinum after the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) changed its sales award rules.

This means that 13 Beatles albums will now be recognised for the first time, although the number of sales can only be counted from 1994, when the Official Charts Company began keeping records.

That means that Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club band is now a triple-platinum album, having sold more than 900,000 copies since 1994. In total, the album is estimated to have sold 5.1 million units in the UK since its 1967 release.

The albums Revolver, Help, Rubber Soul and The White Album now also have platinum status.

Classic albums from Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys and Marvin Gaye will also receive awards.

A Judith Anderson Moment

 

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Cool Images 06 September

 

What stories could the abandoned tell?

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Agatha Christie’s Poirot In New Novel

 

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Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie's famous moustachioed Belgian sleuth, is to return in a new novel backed by the author's family.

Crime novelist and poet Sophie Hannah will write the as-yet-untitled book, which will be published in September 2014.

It will be the first official novel to continue Agatha Christie's work.

“I hope to create a puzzle that will confound and frustrate the incomparable Hercule Poirot for at least a good few chapters.”

Hannah's novel comes more than 90 years after Christie introduced Poirot in her first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles, published in 1920. Christie died in 1976.

Agatha Christie's grandson Mathew Prichard felt that there was still "an enormous appetite" for Poirot based on book sales and the success of the TV series starring David Suchet.

“This book should intrigue Agatha Christie's many fans and show that this author and character is still very much alive in the 21st Century."

Poirot is one of many famous fictional characters to be resurrected after the death of their creator. James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, Peter Pan, Dracula, and characters from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy have all been given new life by contemporary writers in the past few years.

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Movie Review ... Olympus Has Fallen

 

Olympus Has Fallen posterFans of 1980’s action movies will have déjà vu watching ‘Olympus Has Fallen’.  Featuring a hero dealing with past tragedy while battling an armada of foreign enemies, you expect Arnold Schwarzenegger to walk in at any moment.  He doesn’t but his spirit certainly hovers around this violent ode to spectacular excess.  Featuring more explosions than in a fire-works factory, its foray into pure silliness as just as eye-rolling as ones witnessed decades ago.

Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is the lead secret service agent assigned to protect the American President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart).  When a daring assault on the White House by a group of North Korean terrorists led by Kang (Rick Yune), Mike leaps to action.  With the help of House Speaker Allan (Morgan Freeman), he aims to free the captive President and strike at those foes wanting to destroy liberty.

‘Olympus Has Fallen’ is pure Hollywood trash.  Loaded with violence and very politically incorrect depictions of its villains, the aim for entertainment is dubious.  What it lacks in subtlety it slightly makes up for in action which is its main asset.  Director Antoine Fuqua grounds the nonsense with a gritty atmosphere.  This enables the viewer to feel they are right in amongst the heat of battle.  There are plenty of them with more shoot-outs than any John Wayne western.

The story is hardly original although Butler’s hero stand out is his knowledge of the enemy and the layout of the Oval Office.  How he navigates his way to the predictable finale maintains interest despite one-dimensional performances.  It provides some tense moments amongst the mayhem although its adherence to genre formula makes it less than memorable.

Full of noise and ferocious gun-play ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ should satisfy undemanding target audiences.  Its mechanical feel and slavish copying from the action-movie handbook reveals its unoriginality becomes the ultimate unbeatable villain.

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Movie Review Rating out of 10:  5

Movie Review by Patrick Moore

Agree with Patrick about his Movie Review? Then please use the comment box, titling your comments with Movie Review Olympus Has Fallen

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TRAILER

DVD

Santana – The Essential Santana 2CD (2013)

 
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The 2013 Legacy compilation The Essential Santana shares many superficial similarities to their 2002 compilation.
It bears the same title, similar artwork - Carlos is looking to the right in 2002, to the left in 2013 - and several of the same songs, all arriving at the start: “Jingo,” “Evil Ways,” “Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen,” “Oye Como Va,” “Samba Pa Ti,” “Everybody’s Everything,” “Love, Devotion and Surrender,” “Stormy,” “Europa,” and “Winning,” which covers the late ’60s through the early ’80s.
After these ten songs comes the deluge of new millennial pop and blues, including the massive hits “Smooth” and “The Game of Love,” where Santana’s presence is almost incidental to the pop hooks sung by Rob Thomas and Michelle Branch, respectively. From there, this does dip back into the ’80s and ’90s for such cuts as “The Healer” and “Blues for Salvador.”
This is pretty much Carlos Santana in superstar mode, either playing duets or sliding into palatable blues/jazz fusion. There isn’t as much adventure here as there is on the 2002 set, but for pop-minded Santana fans, this is the way to go.
TRACK LISTING

CD1

1. Jingo

2. Everybody’s Everything

3. Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen

4. Oye Como Va

5. Samba Pa Ti

6. No One To Depend On

7. She’s Not There

8. Evil Ways

9. Love Devotion And Surrender

10. Open Invitation

11. Stormy

12. Europa (Earth’s Cry Heaven’s Smile)

13. Winning

14. Soul Sacrifice (Live At Woodstock)

 

CD2

1. Smooth (Feat. Rob Thomas)

2. Maria Maria (Feat. The Product G&B)

3. Hold On

4. Make Somebody Happy

5. The Game Of Love (Feat. Michelle Branch)

6. Bella

7. The Healer (Performed by John Lee Hooker & Santana)

8. Somewhere In Heaven

9. Into The Night (Feat. Chad Kroeger)

10. Put Your Lights On (Feat. Everlast)

11. The Calling (Feat. Eric Clapton)

12. Blues For Salvador

13. Victory Is Won

14. The Game Of Love (Feat. Tina Turner)








Trivia Bits 06 September

 

  • Rabat is the capital city of Morocco.
  • A cappuccino coffee is named after an order of monks.
  • A tonne of lead and a thousand kilograms of feathers weight the same. It is the volume that differs.
  • Edward Platt played The Chief in the TV comedy series Get Smart.
  • Superhero Batman’s butler is named Alfred Pennyworth.
  • Oscar Winner Australian actor Geoffrey Rush was born in Toowoomba Queensland.
  • Australian actor Russell Crowe’s middle name is Ira.
  • Proverbially if you spare the rod, you spoil the child.
  • Insulin is used to regulate diabetes.
  • An original association with brothels meant that the tango was once looked down upon by high society in Argentina, but with the passing of time, this most sultry of dances was fully embraced by its country of origin.

Friday Drinks

 

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TGIF

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Quotables 06 September

 

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