Archive for November, 2013

Black Friday and Gray Thursday – The Death of Thanksgiving

Each year I’m growing more and more convinced that one day in the near future, Thanksgiving will no longer be an American tradition.

As people continue to be obsessed towards Black Friday and Gray Thursday, and the conquest of fighting crowds and trying to grab cheap deals in stores, it’s only natural that Thanksgiving itself will be eliminated.

For the longest of times, The Day After Thanksgiving (now referred to as Black Friday by the media and the rest of our simpleton society) was considered as one of the busiest shopping days of the year.  The common tradition involved people spending time with family and friends on Thanksgiving, and then waking up early the next morning to begin their Christmas shopping.  Most of the stores opened their doors at six in the morning, and the earliest of shoppers were rewarded with special doorbuster savings.

That’s how Black Friday worked through the mid 2000s.  In the later 2000s we saw retail stores slowly pushing their opening time earlier and earlier in the day, from five to four to three o’clock in the morning.  It was inevitable that some store somewhere was going to be open for business on Thanksgiving Day.

In 2011, several of the major retailers opened their doors at midnight on Thanksgiving Day.  The next year these open times were shifted to eight pm that day.  In 2013 we saw some stores open their doors at six pm and many more of them opening at eight pm that night.

And do you think that the shoppers were horrified at the thought of retail stores being open at six pm on Thanksgiving Day, making people choose between having a relaxing family dinner or fighting with other shoppers over doorbuster deals?  Hell, no!  People flocked to those stores like there was no tomorrow.  Stores were packed and people were competing to grab whatever sale items that they could find.  It’s clear that the shoppers have chosen commercialism versus an American tradition. Read more…

Book Review – Harry Turtledove’s “Days of Infamy”

The other day I finished Harry Turtledove’s alternative history novel, Days of Infamy.

Ask yourself this question:  On December 7, 1941, the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was attacked by the nation of Japan in a devastating aerial raid.  What if the Japanese carrier task force was also accompanied by two divisions of soldiers?

Harry Turtledove attempts to answer that question in his book, Days of Infamy.

Set primarily on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Days of Infamy begins shorty before the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor.  We’re introduced to a few of the island’s residents, including an American surfing instructor, the wife of an Army soldier, and a Japanese fisherman and his two sons.  Each has his or her own story to tell about the American style of life in Oahu in 1941.

Don’t worry about that part of the story being too long or boring.  The air attack on Pearl Harbor is already taking place about thirty pages into the 520-page book.  The main split between history and fiction also takes places around that early point in the book, guaranteeing the readers a TON of new scenarios throughout the remainder of the story.

Apart from the inbound Japanese amphibious force, the readers will quickly notice that the Japanese navy launches a third wave of attacks upon Pearl Harbor.  Around that time period in the book, the U.S. navy’s carrier, USS Enterprise, is sailing back towards the island and launching its own wave of fighters.  In no time, a squadron of F4F Wildcats is caught up in a massive dogfight with Japanese A6M Zeros in the sunny skies over Hawaii.

And virtually all of the Wildcats are shot down.  Although the Wildcats had better armor and firepower, the Zeros were faster and more maneuverable.  It wouldn’t be later in the war before Wildcat pilots developed an effective combat strategy against the Zeroes.  For the time being, the Japanese Zero pilots had no difficulty shooting down the American fighters.

After the crushing air attack in which the Japanese navy destroyed critical American forces and earned total air superiority over Oahu and the Hawaiian islands, the Japanese amphibious forces made their beach landings.  The Japanese soldiers marched right onto the beaches and jungle terrain of Oahu. Read more…

Movie Review – TRON (1982)

In 1982, Disney released a live-action movie that was ahead of its time.

This wasn’t the first time Disney has released such a film.  A similar event happened back in 1940 when Disney released the film Fantasia, a collection of animated sequences set to pieces of classical music.  Although Fantasia received top awards and praise from critics for what it achieved, the movie failed to connect with the audience of that time period.

1982′s TRON goes inside the world of (what was then) modern computer programming and arcade gaming.  These were still the early days of arcade games where simple polygons and basic controls provided not only escapism and inspiration but also hours of entertainment.  And of course bragging rights when you beat the previously high score.

Using a blend of live-action combined with cutting-edge computer animation, TRON takes an alternate look at the world of computers and computer programming.  The success of TRON‘s digital world helped pave the way for the future of computer animation.

TRON (1982) – (c) Buena Vista Distribution

TRON beings with Kevin Flynn (played by Jeff Bridges), a former software programmer for ENCOM, as he’s attempting to access ENCOM’s mainframe and seek information.  We see a visual representation of Flynn’s program as it enters the mainframe.  His program is spotted and attacked by the Master Control Program (MCP), an artificial intelligence that controls ENCOM’s mainframe.  Flynn’s program knows tricks and tries to fight back and escape, but it’s ultimately captured by the MCP.  The MCP later interrogates and destroys Flynn’s program. Read more…

Movie Review – Starship Troopers (1997)

Every once in a while it’s satisfying to see a movie full of warfare and bloody violence.

We’re not talking about a gripping re-enactment of a past war such as the American Civil War or the Vietnam War.  This is instead a war set in the not-too-distant future where human beings are fighting for their very survival against an aggressive race of bugs.  These soldiers will travel to distant planets and use everything in their arsenal from air strikes to miniature nukes to destroy the bugs.

The movie Starship Troopers delivers this much and more!  The 1997 film is loosely based on Robert A. Heinlein’s 1959 novel of the same name.  There are so many differences between the novel and the movie that these are two completely different experiences.

Starship Troopers was released on November 7, 1997.  Directed by famed science-fiction director Paul Verhoeven (Total Recall, RoboCop, Hollow Man), Starship Troopers is a thrilling and quite violent and bloody film that follows a few high school students as they join the military and face the bug threat.  Starship Troopers has a large cast starring Casper Van Dien as Johnny Rico, Dina Meyer as Dizzy Flores, Denise Richards as Carmen Ibanez, Jake Busey as Ace Levy, Michael Ironside as Lt. Jean Rasczak, Clancy Brown as Career Sgt. Zim, and Neal Patrick Harris as Carl Jenkins.

Starship Troopers (1997) – (c) TriStar Pictures

Starship Troopers begins similar to RoboCop with a series of video clips showing everyday life in the future, complete with a recruitment advertisement for people to join the elite Mobile Infantry.  The news then jumps to the Bug War and “live” coverage of the Mobile Infantry making their assault on Klendathu, the home planet of the Bugs.  We watch as the invasion goes poorly and many soldiers are slaughtered by the Arachnid force.  One solider in particular is in significant pain as the camera shot ends. Read more…

Black Friday 2013 – Fights, Violence, & More!

Another Black Friday has now come and gone.

People have flocked for the insane sale prices for (mostly) cheap crap that was destined for a warehouse.  Drop the price by a large percentage, advertise it as a Black Friday sale, and suddenly it becomes a highly sought after item.

Does that mean that everything on sale this day is a cheap piece of crap?  No, not all of the sale items are garbage.  There are some legitimately decent items on sale.  Best of luck though acquiring those quality items without camping outside of a store for several days.

As we’ve been seeing now for several years, Black Friday tends to bring out the worst in people.  Some stores anticipate the heavy draw of people, and they take steps to control the crowds carefully.  Some stores will issue tickets / coupons for the sale items while people are standing in line.  Other stores will escort people into, say, the electronics section, and keep the people orderly that way.

And then you have Walmart.

Walmart is a store that does wild business during its Black Friday sale.  The store also has a very negative reputation during Black Friday as well.  One of the reasons for this negative reputation is that Walmart tends to scatter its sale items throughout the store.  There is no sense of order.  Nor is there much in the way of crowd control.  The people who typically shop at Walmart tend to be less intelligent and more aggressive, and their negative personalities really show during the carnage of Black Friday madness.

Here are some video highlights from 2013 Black Friday shoppers.

In this Walmart video you’ll see a large crowd of people trying to snatch TVs being sold for a low price.  In the second half of the video we see two women fighting over one of those TVs.  Police separate the women but one of them is subdued and arrested.  A Walmart worker tries to get this person to stop filming during the arrest. Read more…

Bright Light Pillow (Bright, Light Up Pillow) – A Marketing Review

Darkness has saturated your home as the hands on the wall clock approach the midnight hour.

Ordinarily, night is one of your most treasured times at home.  You stretch out in bed, watch some of the crappiest cartoons on the air waves, and just let your mind wander as you slowly drift closer and closer to sleep.  That is, until your six-year-old kid began having nightmares again.

It’s a case of the good, old fashioned bogeyman.  Not the phantom stench of unholy terror that hangs around the bathroom after burrito night, but rather a homicidal maniac that speaks only in whispers, wears a clown costume stained with blood, has uncontrollable flatulence, and patiently waits underneath your bed, waiting to snatch your feet and slash you with its rusty machete blade, a blade that is slowly sharpened as the bogeyman waits for his next victim.

Or there’s the case of Leroy the Alligator Snapping Turtle.  Leroy quietly waits underneath your bed, keeping its mouth open, and patiently waiting for your feet or toes.  As soon as you dangle your foot right outside of his dark home . . . CHOMP!  Your ankle is now a mangled stump with broken bones, torn flesh, and blood squirting onto the floor.  Good luck getting that image out of your head tonight!

You’re tried night lights, but that doesn’t work as the child still claims to hear “monster sounds.”  She’s obviously scared of the dark.  If only there was a way for her to have something soft that lights up in a variety of colors.

Bright Light Pillow website — www.BrightLightPillow.com

What’s this?  The Bright Light Pillow?  Can it really be the answer for making bed time significantly less scary and frightful?

Heading over to the product’s website, you can see the fancy pillows along with the current TV commercial.  Let’s take a closer look and review the advertisement.  Perhaps we’ll even find a problem or two along the way.

Bright Light Pillow TV commercial – Mommy, it was so scary!  It wanted me to clean my room!

The Bright Light Pillow advertisement begins with a scene too familiar with most parents.  It’s a little kid who is afraid of the dark.  You know there’s nothing scary in the kid’s room, but merely telling the kid that fact means nothing.  It’s going to take something far more than just your reassurance to get the kid to sleep tonight.

You may have to do some parenting.

Or, better yet, maybe there’s a toy or something else that you can substitute for parenting. Read more…

Movie Review – The Croods (2013)

Today we’re taking a look at The Croods, a DreamWorks Animation film that was released in the movie theaters in March of 2013.

The Croods tells a story about a family of cavemen who have survived because they stay in their cave and follow simple rules such as discovering anything new, not being curious, and not going outside at night.  All of that changes one day after the daughter sneaks out at night and discovers another fellow caveman.  This caveman is different as he uses his head instead of strength.  He has discovered fire, knows how to set traps to capture prey, and he knows that the world is about to end.

The Crood’s cave is destroyed by an earthquake, and the family is forced to relocate with the advice of the new caveman.  They discover new things and learn more about themselves while finding a new home in an exotic and hostile world.

Directed by Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders, The Croods was written by DeMicco, Sanders and John Cleese as well.  The film’s music was composed by famed Hollywood composer Alan Silvestri.

Nicolas Cage stars in the role of Grug Crood, the incredibly strong and overprotective father of the Crood family.  He’s determined to keep living in his cave and continuing to survive by following their simple rules.  Emma Watson stars as Eep Crood, Grug’s daughter who is tired of living in their cave.  It’s a boring life and she desperately wants to go on an adventure.  Ryan Reynolds also stars in this film as Guy, a nomadic caveboy who uses his brain and ideas to survive in the wilderness.

Also starring in this film are Catherine Keener as Ugga Crood, Grug’s wife; Clark Duke has the role of Thunk, the Crood’s son and middle child; and Cloris Leachman has the role of Gran, Ugga’s elderly but tough mother and the grandmother of the three children.

The Croods (2013) – (c) 20th Century Fox

The Croods begins with Eep Crood (voiced by Emma Watson) narrating the story and telling us how the Crood family has managed to survive.  It turns out that they are the last surviving cavemen family in the area, all because they have followed their father’s strict rules.  Eep is driven crazy by the rules as she’s a curious and rebellious teenager who desperately craves to leave their cave and explore the world.

One morning the father, Grug Crood (voiced by Nicolas Cage), gets the family organized to find some breakfast.  The family races (you’ll notice that they can all run, climb, jump and throw items with superhuman strength) to their hunting ground and locates a wacky bird guarding an egg.  In a series of events that resemble a crazy football play, the Crood family works together, steals the egg, and manages to get the egg back to their cave while avoiding all of the other crazy animals.

Back at their cave, Eep is out exploring when the sun begins to set.  Grug is uneasy as he knows that staying inside of their cave at night is one of the rules he follows for survival.  His hunch is right as a vicious cat-like animal tries to attack him.  He and Eep make it back into the cave without being eaten by the dangerous animal. Read more…

Book Review – Vince Flynn’s “Separation of Power”

Continuing directly after the events in Vince Flynn’s novel The Third Option is the sequel Separation of Power.  This is the third book in Flynn’s popular Mitch Rapp series.

As we left off in The Third Option, Thomas Stanfield, the former director of the CIA has just passed away and Dr. Irene Kennedy is expected to take his position.  She just needs to make it through the Senate’s confirmation process and not everybody wants her to succeed.  Mitch Rapp is still angry about being double-crossed in Germany and he’s on his personal mission of finding out who really wanted him dead.  His only link is an Italian woman named Donatella Rahn, Rapp’s old flame from previous times.  Meanwhile, Senator Hank Clark, the man who ordered Rapp’s death, is continuing with his sinister plan of taking down Dr. Kennedy’s credibility along with that of President Hayes.  He hopes to emerge as a shining knight and use that fame to launch a bid for the presidency.

Separation of Power begins with a corrupt billionaire named Mark Ellis flying down to the Bahamas to meet Senator Hank Clark on his private island.  We learn that Ellis gained much of his wealth by using some of the CIA’s spying techniques to learn what kind of deals businesses were planning on making.  The only problem is that Dr. Irene Kennedy, the woman expected to take over as Director of the CIA, is not going to allow for those spying techniques to continue, and that’ll cut off Ellis’ primary source of inside information.  Senator Clark informs Ellis that he has a plan to destroy Dr. Kennedy and things in the CIA will basically return to normal.

Mitch Rapp, meanwhile, is still considering ending his career with the CIA.  Now that he’s in a serious relationship with Anna Reilly, a news reporter he saved during the terrorist attack in the White House in Transfer of Power, he and Anna both want him out of the field and going on those dangerous assassination missions.  Dr. Kennedy has offered him a desk job that would keep him close to those old assignments but safe within the walls of the CIA, but Mitch is unsure if he really wants to take the job or not.  He’s not used to taking orders from people all day or dealing with office politics.

When Mitch meets with Dr. Kennedy about the new job, she shows Mitch photos that the security cameras took of Donatella Rahn when she assassinated Peter Cameron in his office.  Dr. Kennedy knows the woman’s identification and is prepared to send a CIA team to Donatella’s home in Italy to bring the woman back here for questioning.  Not wanting the CIA to know about his past with Donatella, Mitch volunteers to travel to Italy to interrogate Donatella and find out who hired the woman to kill Peter Cameron.  Besides, the trip to Italy would help Mitch and Anna’s relationship and give Mitch a chance to ask the woman to marry him.

Meanwhile, Senator Clark wants to sever the connection with Donatella Rahn.  He hires Rahn’s handler in the Mossad, a man named Ben Freidman, and orders her assassination.  After ordering her death, Senator Clark and Congressman Albert Rudin work together on Clark’s plan to destroy Dr. Kennedy’s credibility. Read more…

Cat’s Meow (Moving Cat Toy) – A Marketing Review

A ferocious meow rips through the living room, sending you shivers and striking unimaginable fear into the depths of your heart.

You nervously look around and then spot your pet cat Missy sitting across the room.  The cat’s tail steadily thumps the floor once every three seconds.  Her normally bubbly and charming personality has been replaced by pure hatred.  Next to the cat are the shredded remains of one your your socks.  She must have snatched it from the laundry room when you weren’t looking.

Another sharp cry pierces the silence of the room, chilling you to the bone.  As Missy continues to stare at you sharply with her emerald green eyes, only one thing is clear:  The cat . . . is . . . pissed!

Is the cat upset because you took two days longer than usual to clean her litter box?  Does she want a treat?  Does Missy not approve of her toys?

The cat toys!  That must be it.  In the past month you’ve given the cat four different toys to help keep her amused, and she destroyed each of them.  So far nothing has been able to amuse the cat and keep her entertained.  Sitting in the cat’s box of toys is another shredded sock, the missing companion to the recently destroyed piece of fabric right next to the cat.

A quick thought flashes into your mind.  You recall seeing a TV commercial for just such a cat toy.  It advertised something about keeping your cat entertained and happy.

Cat’s Meow website — www.GetCatsMeow.com

There it is.  The Cat’s Meow.  It’s a motorized cat toy that claims to help keep a cat active and entertained.

Cat’s Meow TV commercial

Let’s take review the Cat’s Meow advertising and see just what it’s trying to sell to us.

Cat’s Meow TV commercial – The first rule of Cat Fight Club is that you do not talk about Cat Fight Club.

The Cat’s Meow TV commercial begins with a clip showing two cats playing and fighting with each other.  Remember that cats commonly fight with each other as a form of entertainment as well as sharpening their natural hunting skills.  This is a normal event for many multi-cat homes.  It’s not a problem until cats become particularly aggressive and begin drawing blood.

According to the Cat’s Meow advertisement, cat fights are a bad thing and they can be prevented by giving the cats a fancy toy. Read more…

Movie Review – The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

What do you get when you take a film such as The Truman Show (1998) and then add a horrific and supernatural twist to it?

The result is a film such as The Cabin in the Woods, a horror film that takes a group of innocent people and places them in a conspiracy much deeper and darker than they could ever imagine.

Directed by Drew Goddard, The Cabin in the Woods stars Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz and Jesse Williams as the five young adults who are unknowingly sent to their deaths at a remote cabin in the woods.  The film also features Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford as two technicians who work for the mysterious corporation, and Sigourney Weaver as the Director.

The Cabin in the Woods was actually filmed in the spring of 2009 and slated for an initial release in February of 2010.  However, the MGM film studio was dealing with financial problems and The Cabin in the Woods, along with 2012′s Red Dawn, were both delayed indefinitely.  Lionsgate eventually acquired the distribution rights to The Cabin in the Woods, and the much anticipated horror film was finally released on April 13, 2012.

The Cabin in the Woods begins with two technicians, Gary Sitterson (Richard Jenkins) and Steve Hadley (Bradley Whitford), as they prepare for an operation of some sort.  All we know is that they have a light-hearted attitude as if this sort of event is routine yet still fairly important.

The Cabin in the Woods (2012) – (c) Lionsgate Films

Meanwhile, a group of five college students, Dana Polk (Kristen Connolly), Holden McCrea (Jesse Williams), Marty Mikalski (Fran Kranz), Jules Louden (Anna Hutchison) and her boyfriend, Curt Vaughan (Chris Hemsworth), depart on a weekend trip to a remote cabin.  They have an ominous start to their trip when they stop for gas at an old gas station and the attendant, the only worker there, insults the gang and hints that they’ll have problems returning from the cabin.  They pay the man and quickly leave the filling station, heading up the road and deeper into the woods.  As they pass through a tunnel, we see an eagle crash into an invisible wall, foreshadowing the dangers of the artificial “world” the gang just entered. Read more…

Movie Review – Alien (1979)

“In space, no one can hear you scream.”

In honor of Ridley Scott’s upcoming science fiction movie, Prometheus, today we’re taking a look at Alien, one of Scott’s earlier science fiction movies.  As we already know, Prometheus takes place in the same universe and before the events in Alien, but it’s not a true prequel to Alien.  We’ll see some similar elements of Alien in Prometheus, but the two movies have completely different stories.

Back in 1979, Ridley Scott shocked the audiences with his sci-fi / horror / suspense movie, Alien.  Just like the birth of the alien creature, Alien came out of nowhere and horrified the audience with Ridley Scott’s thrilling yet eerie style of directing.  Throw in Dan O’Bannon’s creepy story and H.R. Giger’s horrific alien design, and there you go.  This movie will keep you on the edge of your seat and probably give you nightmares for some time.

Alien begins with the commercial towing vehicle Nostromo hauling 20,000,000 tons of mineral ore on a course to Earth.  Its crew of seven is currently in stasis as computers navigate the ship through the known universe.

A mysterious signal from an unknown planet is received by the Nostromo, and the computers begin to power up parts of the ship and wake the sleeping crew members.  One by one the crew awakens, and when they finally get to their duty stations they realize that they’re not anywhere near the Earth.  In fact, they’re only about halfway home.

The Nostromo‘s captain, Dallas (played by Tom Skerritt), checks with the ship’s computer (named “Mother”) and learns that the Weyland-Yutani company is ordering them to investigate the mysterious signal.  The crew of the Nostromo is unhappy with the company’s orders, but they follow through with them.  We see the Nostromo ship detach from its cargo and make a not-so-soft landing on the alien planet.

Alien (1979) – (c) 20th Century Fox

Upon touching down on the planet the Nostromo is damaged.  Engineers Parker (played by Yaphet Kotto) and Brett (played by Harry Dean Stanton) begin repairing the ship’s damage while Captain Dallas, Executive Officer Kane (played by John Hurt) and Navigator Lambert (played by Veronica Cartwright) put on their pressure suits and begin exploring the alien planet.  Warrant Officer Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver) and Science Officer Ash (played by Ian Holm) remain behind on the Nostromo with Brett and Parker. Read more…

Book Review – Michael Crichton’s “Congo”

Set deep in the heart of Africa, Michael Crichton’s Congo takes readers on a thrill ride on a race for rare diamonds.

The only problems are that not only is the team of explorers racing rival teams from other countries, but none of the previous expeditions to that part of the Congo have made it back alive.  But when it comes to accessing a mineral so rare and beneficial that your corporation will make billions of dollars in profits, those are accepted risks that go along with the mission.

That’s basically the premise for Michael Crichton’s thriller, Congo.

Congo begins as an expedition is hunting a remote part of the African rain forest for exclusive minerals known as Type IIb diamonds.

The expedition from Earth Resource Technology Services, Inc. (ERTS) out of Houston, Texas.  The company specializes in sending expeditions to the toughest places on the planet, all while using satellites and the most advanced technology to assist with the missions.

One of the expedition’s members sets up the video camera and begins the process of achieving a satellite lock with the headquarters in Houston.  Halfway around the world, Dr. Karen Ross is at ERTS and monitoring the current expedition in the Congo region of Africa.  The workers note the satellite lock from the expedition’s camera, but when the company responds, nobody on the expedition acknowledges the transmission.  Dr. Ross is able to active the camera remotely, and what she and the other technicians at ERTS witness is something out of a nightmare.

The video feed shows the expedition’s camp in a state of disaster.  The tents are destroyed.  There’s a body of one of the expedition members lying on the ground, his head smashed in a gruesome manner.  Perhaps the most disturbing sight of all is what appears to be a gorilla walking around the campsite.  It knocks over the camera and ends the video transmission.

Dr. Ross alerts ERTS CEO R. B. Travis of the disaster in the Congo.  Travis makes a decision to withhold news of the disaster for thirty days and to send another expedition into the Congo.  Those Type IIb diamonds are worth to much to simply withdraw and allow other companies access to the area.  They MUST be the first team to locate and make a claim for the land containing the diamonds. Read more…

Movie Review – Frozen (2013)

Released a few days ago was Frozen, the latest full-length computer animated film created by Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Frozen is an animated film based loosely on Hans Christian Anderson‘s classic fairy tale, The Snow Queen.  Frozen tells a Scandinavian tale of a fearless princess who seeks the help of others to stop her sister from trapping their kingdom in an eternal winter, a weather condition that will destroy their home.

Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, Frozen stars Kristen Bell with the voice acting of Anna, the heroine of the story.  Supporting her are Idina Menzel as Elsa / the Snow Queen and Anna’s older sister; Jonathan Groff as Kristoff, a mountain man who has a pet reindeer named Sven; Santino Fontana as Hans, a prince seeking Anna’s hand in marriage; and Josh Gad as Olaf, a small snowman who aides Anna and Kristoff in their quest.

Before watching Frozen, theater patrons are first treated to “Get a Horse,” a restored Mickey Mouse cartoon from 1928.  What makes “Get a Horse” special is that allegedly this was a previously lost Mickey Mouse film that was recently discovered out in California.  As with the other Mickey Mouse cartoons from that era, it’s Walt Disney‘s voice that we hear for Mickey Mouse.

This is the twenty-first century, and we’re not treated to just the original black-and-white Mickey Mouse cartoon.  This is something quite different and pretty slick.

“Get a Horse” begins with Mickey and the gang driving a large cart down a path.  They soon cross the path of Pete, and of course he has to cause trouble.  At one point Mickey gets “knocked” out of the black-and-white cartoon and appears as a 3D character in our world.  Both Mickey and Pete realized that the movie screen is a barrier between worlds, and the two of them battle each other.  Mickey and his friends gain the upper hand and find a way to defeat Pete and save Minnie Mouse, resulting in a happy ending.

This short cartoon is pretty slick with the blending of classic, 2D black-and-white animation and today’s world of 3D computer animation.  The cartoon itself is harmless fun, and I love the tribute with showing a Disney cartoon before the feature film.  I certainly hope that Disney continues this classic compliment with future films.

Frozen (2013) – (c) Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Frozen takes place in the nineteenth century in the Norwegian kingdom of Arendelle.  During the opening credits we see ice harvesters collect large blocks of ice from a frozen lake.  Among the men is a young boy with an equally young reindeer, both of them also collecting ice from the river. Read more…

Mr. Lid (Plastic Storage Containers) – A Marketing Review

That was another delicious meal!

The freshly roasted Spamburgers tasted great with the stewed Brussels sprouts and side of fresh kale.  While everybody finished their Spamburgers, you noticed that both of the kids failed to eat their mandatory number of Brussels sprouts.  Both of the kids quickly vanish from the table before you can confront them about their uneaten vegetables.

Well, let’s just see how they enjoy having them for breakfast, you chuckle to yourself.  This isn’t the first time that they have skipped important parts of their meal, and you know that it won’t be their last.

You walk over to the cupboard and quickly find a plastic container larger enough for the Brussels sprouts.  But there’s no lid!  You frantically rummage through the cupboard, checking underneath other bowls and containers.  You take the search into the next cupboard, but there’s still no lid.

Grrrrr.  Where in the &#$% did that lid go?  I know I placed it in the cupboard after it was washed, you tell yourself.

Oh, if only there was a solution to your incredibly disorganized cupboards.  The Brussels sprouts are going to have to go to waste as you don’t have any other plastic containers with matching lids.  It seems that the kids won the battle against yucky dinner . . . this time.

While preparing to take the Brussels sprouts outside and launching them across the yard with your trusty slingshot, an interesting television commercial catches your eye.

Mr. Lid website — www.MrLid.com

What’s this?  Mr. Lid?  Are they freakin’ serious?

Mr. Lid TV commercial

Yes, apparently these people are freakin’ serious.  It’s a plastic container with a lid attached to it.  The level of genius here cannot be measured.

Let’s take a closer look and review the Mr. Lid plastic container television commercial.  Perhaps there’s more to this product than what we’re seeing. Read more…

Book Review – Clive Cussler’s “Iceberg”

Published back in 1975, Iceberg is the second of the successful Dirk Pitt series of books written by Clive Cussler.

Iceberg opens with a Coast Guard aircraft flying a routine iceberg patrol flight over the frigid waters of the northern Atlantic Ocean.  The spotters notice that one of the icebergs has a peculiar look to it, so the pilots bring the aircraft down for a closer look.  Upon closer examination they see that entombed within the massive floating piece of ice is a ship.

How the ship got there is anybody’s guess.  The crew of the Coast Guard aircraft drop a red dye pack on the iceberg and report their discovery to their superiors.

Admiral James Sandecker, director of NUMA (National Underwater and Marine Agency), dispatches Dirk Pitt and Dr. Bill Hunnewell on a top-secret mission to the iceberg.  Pitt is forced to lie to the commander of a Coast Guard ship, claiming that the ship entombed in the iceberg is a Soviet spy ship disguised as a fishing trawler.  The Coast Guard commander cooperates, and Pitt and Hunnewell use the Coast Guard ship as a launching point to fly their helicopter to the iceberg.

In reality, Pitt and Hunnewell are searching for a luxury yacht named the Lax.  The Lax was on its way on a top-secret mission to the White House when it mysteriously disappeared a year ago.

Finding the iceberg at sea turned out to be more of a challenge.  Pitt and Hunnewell had the coordinates and knew roughly where to find the iceberg when factoring in the currents and wind direction.  The problem was that the iceberg seemingly vanished.  The two went on a wild goose chase before realizing that somebody beat them to the iceberg and removed the red dye from the ice.

Pitt finally landed his helicopter on the correct iceberg, and after entering the ship, they found a chilling discovery.  Not only had somebody beat them there, but the entire inside of the ship was charred.  A fire of some sort killed the entire crew.  The odd thing was that the crew was still seated in their normal positions, as if none of them bothered to stand up and fight the fire.

It’s later revealed that the owner of the Lax, a billionaire named Kristjan Fyrie, had developed a new underwater probe.  This probe was said to be able to scan the ocean floor from the surface and detect what minerals and metals were just beneath the floor, all without the need to drill.  This type of equipment is priceless to drilling companies. Read more…

Movie Review – National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985)

The success of 1983′s National Lampoon’s Vacation movie meant one thing — where else could the Griswold family go on vacation?

Where could Clark Griswold visit and really make a fool of himself?

Those questions were answered with 1985′s comedy, National Lampoon’s European Vacation.  This time around the Griswold family travels overseas on a European vacation (western Europe, mind you), visiting England, France, West Germany and Italy.  Clark Griswold tries to follow a basic itinerary, but of course things go wrong along the way and we can’t help but laugh at their misfortune.

Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo are back playing their characters of Clark and Ellen Griswold.  Their kids have been recast and now Dana Hill and Jason Lively play the roles of Audrey and Rusty Griswold.  National Lampoon’s European Vacation also features cameos from William Zabka, Eric Idle and Moon Unit Zappa.

NOTE – This movie spells the family’s last name as “Griswald,” whereas the other Vacation movies spell it as “Griswold.”  This review will continue to use the “O” version of Griswold.

National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985) – (c) Warner Bros.

National Lampoon’s European Vacation begins with the Griswold family playing on the Pig in a Poke televised game show.  By this point in the show the Griswolds have already won a collection of prizes.  The host of Pig in a Poke, Kent Winkdale (John Astin), asks Clark (Chevy Chase) if he’s happy with keeping their prices, of if he wants to “risk everything a be a pig.”  Against the wishes of his family, Clark risks everything for a shot at the grand prize.  His family is challenged in trivia by the current champions, a bunch of nerdy people.  Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo) says the correct answer accidentally when answering a question, and the Griswolds are the winners of the game show.  Their grand prize is an all-expenses-paid trip through Europe. Read more…

Perfect Tortilla (taco salad bowl maker) – A Marketing Review

It’s Taco Tuesday and dinnertime is nearing.

The kids keep demanding something different than just soft tacos and quesadillas.  You have a stack of flour tortillas ready for action.  You’d love to fry the tortillas into bowl shapes, but that requires a ladle, a vat of bubbling hot cooking oil, and some practice.

Oh, if only there was an easier way of making those crunchy taco salad bowls that everybody loves.  That is, an easier way than just purchasing them in the store like you do anyway for the tortillas.

What’s this?  The Perfect Tortilla baking pan for taco salad bowls?

Perfect Tortilla website — www.BuyPerfectTortilla.com

You mean that I can actually bake those tortillas into bowl shapes right here in my own kitchen?  It looks like Taco Tuesday is going to get extra crunchy, extra fast!

Perfect Tortilla TV commercial

Let’s take a closer look at the Perfect Tortilla TV commercial and see how the product is selling itself into our homes. Read more…

Book Review – Tom Clancy’s “Without Remorse”

To the CIA he was known as John Clark, a highly skilled former Navy SEAL who could think on his feet and deliver results.

Before being part of the CIA, John Clark was John Terrence Kelly, a former Navy soldier who used his underwater demolition skills to earn a living.  One day fate would place a young, drug-addicted woman in his path, and that would lead to the ending of John Kelly’s civilian life.

This is his story.

Without Remorse, a thriller written by Tom Clancy, begins in November of 1970.

John Kelly has been hired to help destroy an oil rig that was heavily damaged from Hurricane Camille in August of 1969.  It was more cost efficient to sink the structure and have it form an artificial reef versus hauling it out of the water and repairing it.  The underwater demolition is successful and that job goes well.

Unfortunately for John Kelly, that same day his young wife, Patricia, is driving through town when an out-of-control semi-truck smashes into her car, killing her on impact.  What makes her death even more devastating is that she was pregnant with the couple’s first child.

That same month, Air Force Colonel Robin Zacharias is piloting his F-105G Thunderchief strike aircraft over North Vietnam during a Wild Weasel mission.  It’s a dangerous game where pilots actively engage the deadly SAM missiles that have shot down so many American aircraft.  A freak missile shot destroys his aircraft and Zacharias is forced to parachute into enemy territory.  He’s quickly captured and taken away as a prisoner.

Fast forward to May of next year.

John Kelly is driving through Baltimore when he spots a young woman on the side of the road.  She’s clearly in need of help, and John decides that he could use the companionship.  He stops his jeep and allows the twenty-year-old woman to join him.  She’s glad to be on the road, just as long as it takes her out of town.

John’s companion is Pamela Madden, a rather skinny young lady who could use a good home along with some decent meals.  She gladly joins him onto his boat, a cruiser named Springer, and goes along on an excursion to his island home in Chesapeake Bay.  It also turns out that Pam is very affectionate towards her new friend, and the two of them quickly develop an intimate and close relationship.

A storm rapidly approaches as they’re cruising the water, and John Kelly is forced to anchor the boat for the night near a sandbar.  The next morning John answers the distress call to two boaters in need of rescue.  Their boat is damaged and John gives them a tow to his island home so he can further analyze the damage to their boat. Read more…

Black Friday Deals – How Far Will You Go To Save Money?

Thanksgiving is only a couple of days away, and you know what that means.

Big deals on Black Friday.

That’s right.

Screw the turkey.  Skip visiting with friends and relatives.  Don’t bother having any quality time while drinking beer and watching football games on the big screen TV.  You can always do that on Saturday and Sunday after you’ve spent hours (or days for some people) waiting outside in the middle of the night and successfully fought off the crowds for those few precious and moderately to heavily discounted items.

For a growing percentage of people, Thanksgiving simply means going out shopping and trying to score some awesome deals and savings.  Each year people become more frenzied with this frightening obsession, and each year the big stores reward their atrocious behavior with even bigger sales.

BLACK FRIDAY — THE OBSESSION

It wasn’t too long ago when Black Friday was still referred to as simply The Day After Thanksgiving.  The term Black Friday simply refers to a day on the calendar when many stores would finally see a profit for the year, going from the red to the black.  Red and black are industry terms when talking about finance.  It wasn’t until the past couple of years when companies began using the term Black Friday in their advertising.

Target Little Black Friday #MyKindOfHoliday

When you mention Black Friday these days, you can see the excitement build in people’s eyes as they imagine substantial savings.  Their personality changes.  They become zombies, focused on perceived savings of great value and frenzied enough to endure great challenges to be a part of the sale.  These zombies quickly become hordes as they gather outside of their favorite stores.  When the doors finally open . . . LOOK OUT!

Read more…

Book Review – Vince Flynn’s “The Third Option”

Following a few months after the events of Transfer of Power, the first Vince Flynn book starring his hero, Mitch Rapp, is the book, The Third Option.

The book’s title refers to a process of handing an international problem.  The first option is to use diplomacy.  If that fails the second option is to use a military strike.  If the military cannot be used for one reason or another, then solving the problem comes down to the third option, an assassination.  The assassin leaves behind no traces of his or her origin, allowing the attacking country deniability.

The Third Option begins in northern Germany as Mitch Rapp is on an assassination assignment with the CIA.  His target is the wealthy Count Heinrich Hagenmiller V, an arms dealer who supplies weapons to Saddam Hussein and other enemies of the United States.  Don’t worry about why Germany continues to protect Hagenmiller or what Saddam Hussein thinks about the matter.  The Third Option jumps right into the assassination and its aftermath.

Rapp checks out the exterior of Hagenmiller’s mansion and then meets up with his two mission companions, known to him as Tom and Jane Hoffman.  Rapp doesn’t like being in a team with them and is suspicious of their actions, but the three of them plan the assassination of the wealthy count.  Rapp and Jane Hoffman pose as Germany’s federal agents and talk their way into the mansion.  While in a private room, Rapp kills Hagenmiller while Jane takes out one of his bodyguards.  Before he can stop her, Jane shoots Rapp twice in the chest, leaving him for dead.  Without bothering to fire a final round into his head, Jane flees from the mansion and she and Tom make their getaway.

Fortunately, Mitch Rapp was wearing body armor and was only temporarily knocked out during his attack.  Rapp is forced to set fire to the room to cover his DNA evidence, and then he easily flees from the burning mansion.  Rapp steals a car, gets to an airport, and kidnaps a taxi driver to take him to another city in Germany.  From there Mitch Rapp uses his fake IDs to easily make his way back to the United States.  As you can guess, at this point Mitch Rapp is upset and doesn’t know who to trust in the government.

Back in the U.S., we’re re-introduced to Anna Reilly, the hot female reporter that Mitch Rapp rescued from terrorists in Transfer of Power.  She’s waiting for Mitch to return home so that he can finally quit working with the CIA and try to live a normal life.  She begins to grow worries as it takes longer and longer for Mitch to make contact with her again. Read more…