X6 EQUILIBRIUM--is currently running on the TAROTPSYCH Discussion Group of Dr. Art.   PARTICIPATE at: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/tarotpsych/

J'ai remarqué aussi que la culture des gens est nivelée par le bas de plus en plus, certain diront la faute à la télé réalité, internet et autre séries... moi je pense surtout que la qualité se fait de plus en plus rare tout simplement.

Donc voici pour moi le top 10 des films qu'il faut avoir chez soi en dvd où alors au moins les avoir vu...

10: SMOKIN'ACES

Pourquoi: Car Joe Carnahan après s'être attaqué au court métrage pour la Z4 et au film Narc, à crée avec Smokin'Aces le polar nerveux et déjanté par excellence, sur un scénario qui ne casse pas des brique, il arrive à lui insufflé une puissance et une direction complètement ahurissante. Carnahan réussi le plus beau tour de montagne russe au niveau gunfight. En plus d'avoir le plus beau gunfight final du cinéma, Carnahan s'est payé une brochette d'acteur du feu de dieu, Andy Garcia, Ryan Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, Ben Affleck, Common, Alicia Keys et Jason Bateman...

Oui je sais, le film est ultra récent...

09:TIME AND TIDE

Pourquoi: Tsui Hark est l'opposé de Georges Lucas, en gros il prend des risques visuellement, et ça paye, car visuellement, Time and Tide balaye tout ce qu'il est habituellement possible de voir dans un gunfight, mais ce n'est pas seulement ça, au delà du film de flingue, il se cache un thriller urbain violent, sombre, morose et passant un message bien plus profond qu'on ne le dirait. Le film est à l'image de nos vie actuelle, il va à 200 à l'heure, il va trop vite, et c'est tout ce qui fait sa force.

08:EQUILIBRIUM

Pourquoi: Tout simplement car c'est un film assez peu connu, qui traite du même sujet que Matrix (qui lui même pompé beaucoup sur "Fahrenheit 451" de Bradbury), à savoir la manipulation des masse, le contole des émotions et de la culture. Un film beaucoup moins tape à l'œil, plus sombre, plus glacial, qui rappelle même Gattacca et qui au final se voit cent fois supérieur à l'infâme trilogie... Et puis au niveau acteur, il n'y à que du lourd, Christian Bale, Sean Bean, Taye Diggs et William Fichtner.

07:K-PAX

Pourquoi: K-Pax fait partit de ces films qui n'ont connu aucun succès, que ce soit au cinéma ou en dvd, sans doute à cause d'une histoire mal comprise par la maison de production.

Cela étant, K-Pax fait parti de ces films qui ont réellement quelque chose de touchant, pourquoi? car c'est un film qui parle de la vie, et de la façon dont certaine personne voit le monde qui les entourent, mais qui parle aussi de la folie, de l'enferment, de l'isolement. Un film plein de poésie, de grâce qui trouve une justesse incroyable grâce à la réalisation sobre et lente, mais aussi grâce à ses deux principaux acteurs, Jeff Bridges et Kevin Sacey.

06:DONNIE DARKO

Pourquoi: Tout simplement car c'est le film avec le scénario le plus intriguant, mais aussi le plus intelligent du cinéma, une pépite comme on en voit que très peu...

05:LA FOLLE JOURNEE DE FERRIS BUELLER

Pourquoi: Parce que c'est le film qui est dédié à la génération 80', au premier fan de Parker Lewis, pour les fans de McGyver (les idées de Ferris pour se faire passer malade). A tout ceux qui ont déjà rêver de pouvoir sécher les cours toute une journée et partir avec sa copine et son meilleur pote pour se taper un trip loin du collège ou du lycée. Il faut le voir pour son extra ordinaire scène chanté sur"Twist and Shout" des Beattles, son générique énormissime avec en fond sonore la chanson "Oh Yeah".

04:PLANETE INTERDITE

Pourquoi: Parce que c'est un des monument de la SF renvoyant au bac à sable Star Wars et consorts, ce film de 1957 est tout simplement ce que l'on appelle un chef d'œuvre, il fait partit de ces rares films qui possède un scénario en béton armé, des acteurs hyper pro et crédible, un des monstres les incroyable du ciné, une réalisation quasi parfaite et chose assez incroyable des effets spéciaux qui n'ont pas pris une seule ride. Un film adulte, sombre, pas des plus gaie et qui ne possède pas une once de manichéisme malsain comme la saga de georges. Malheureusement, un film que les plus jeunes ne connaissent sans doute que de nom, comme si il n'était devenue qu'une simple légende...

03:LA ROSE POURPRE DU CAIRE

Pourquoi: Tout simplement le meilleur film de Woody Allen, un film plein de poésie, de magie, de tristesse, de joie, d'émotion d'humour... Une comédie romantique comme il n'en existe malheureusement plus. Un film maitrisé de bout en bout, qui explore finalement le fantasme de beaucoup de personne, et si le héros du film que j'aime tant pouvais sortir de l'écran. Un film qui oppose la splendeur et la beauté du cinéma en noir et blanc à la froideur de notre vie, en couleur... C'est le film qui ne peut laisser indifférent un amateur de cinéma...

Un film qui me touche énormément car c'est surtout le premier film que j'ai vu au cinéma et qui eu réussi à me faire limite pleurer, car il est vrai je fut énormément touché par son histoire.

02:NID DE GUEPES

Pourquoi: Florient Emilio Siri réussi quelque chose qui était totalement inconnu du cinéma français, faire un film d'action à l'américaine, avec une vrai mise en scène, des personnages sombre et fouillés. C'est pour moi, un des rares films français que je met sur un pied d'estale. L'histoire est très simples, car reprenant le même scénario que "la horde sauvage" ou "assaut  sur le central 13", à savoir comment va s'organiser  la riposte d'un groupe de personne que tout oppose coincé dans un hangars  face à un ennemi extérieur quasi invisible, qui arrive en masse et dont le seul but est de tout tuer...

01: CLERKS II

Pourquoi: Tout simplement parce que Kevin Smith à réalisé le seul  film qui arrive à décrire réellement comment est ma génération, comment sont les trentenaires, déçus, paumés, largués, mais aussi plein de projets, plein de connerie dans leur tête, il est comme Clerks 12 ans auparavant… Le film parle aussi du choc des générations (le retour du roi contre le retour du jedi), du mariage, de l’avenir, du passé, du boulot, des relations, du sexe mais c’est surtout d’amitié qu’il parle…

On a vieillit, Kevin Smith aussi, et ses personnages aussi, on retrouve nos deux duos du passé, le premier formé par Brian O’Halloran et Jeff Anderson et le toujours aussi irrésistible duo Jay et Silent Bob (Jason Mewes et Kevin Smith himself), Au niveau de la nouvelle recrue, on à droit à la superbe Rosario (si seulement je pouvais l’épouser…) Dawson. On à droit en plus aux caméos de Ben Affleck, Jason Lee (Earl) et Kevin Weisman (Alias).

Je pourrais parler de ce film pendant des heures mais en fait je dirais simplement de le regarder, pourquoi? Tout simplement parce que les personnes qui ont plus de 27-28 ans, le film leur parlera vraiment, et les autres, beh tout simplement parce qu’ils verront la meilleure comédie américaine jamais réalisée tout simplement…

PS: Kevin Smith à eu droit à une standing ovation pendant plus de 8min lors de sa présentation officielle à cannes…

pretty interesting site and completely different from americanapparel.net. even tho' american apparel offers their organic products on their commercial site, americanapparelorganics.com has a greener touch. they explain their sustainable edition and state 8 reasons why to buy organic cotton.

these reasons being:

1. protect our health

2. support small-scale farmers

3. preserve wildlife

4. maintain natural equilibrium

5. avoid genetic engineering

6. protect our food

7. organic cotton is preserving the climate

8. it looks and feels good

...check it out yourself at www.americanapparelorganics.com!!!

Thing is, I had climbed out of debt twice before, when I was coming from what I call punishment thinking. By that, I mean that the steps out of debt were my punishment for being stupid enough to have gotten in there in the first place. So instead of the changes becoming permanent, sooner or later I felt my punishment was over and reverted to my old ways, only i managed to dig a slightly deeper hole each time around.

This time, when I got the wakeup call two years ago, I figured it was my last opportunity, and I was gonna do it right this time. So I did something different. While I was dealing with the collection agencies, I started reading (what the heck - I had no money to go out with...). I read books and blogs on getting out of debt. I read books and blogs on personal development. I started putting together an idea of how to reframe things to the positive. My dear fiance, Dee and I had long discussions about the financial decisions we had made (both jointly and separately), and about where we wanted to go (again both as a couple and separately).

Somewhere along the way, I ran into the one piece of advice that had kind of stuck with me from when i did est back in the day. One of Werner Erhard used to say was, "It lives in your language." Both as a word lover and as someone familiar with the concepts of Rational-Emotive Therapy, this was a concept that rang true for me. It put the control and power over my life squarely into my own little hands.

Dee and I made conscious attempts to reframe our thinking (an ongoing process, which we are still very much in the middle of), and found that it made a big difference. We stopped blaming ourselves for the mess we were in. This gave us time and space to look at where we wanted to go, and how we could get there. We made lists of our goals and values (again, both jointly and separately). We made lists of what we blamed ourselves and each other for. Then we had one huge blow-out discussion about the past, after which we have done our best to let it go. We made a conscious decision that the past was just that, and that holding on to it would just keep us mired in it.

We are not perfect, by any means. Each of us has a complicated life (and I bet you do, too), with our own baggage. However, we are facing forward finally, and it's all good, even the rough patches.

You hear all over that those who don't learn from their mistakes repeat them. This is true as far as it goes. What is less known is that, having learned from them, you must let them go, instead of clinging to them like Linus van Pelt to his blankie.

Si hasta tienen un trailer de su propio disco...

Nota: 7.5 (Realmente bueno)

<A Blessing for Equilibrium>

 

Like the joy of the sea coming home to shore,

May the music of laughter break through your soul.

 

As the wind wants to make everything dance,

May your gravity be lightened by grace.

 

Like the freedom of the monastery bell,

May clarity of mind make your eyes smile.

 

As water takes whatever shape it is in,

So free may you be about who you become.

 

As silence smiles on the other side of what's said,

May a sense of irony give you perspective.

 

As time remains free of all that it frames,

May fear or worry never put you in chains.

 

May your prayer of listening deepen enough

To hear in the distance the laughter of God.

My stance for the word 'if' was negative.  I am changing day by day, not that drastically but still gradually with persistence in persuing my sound spirit.  Now I have a different gaze at 'if'.  'If' contains as many occasions in imagination as in reality.  Just like an one to one correspondence?  There's a poem Otherwise written by Jane Kanyon.

<Otherwise>

 

I got out of bed

on two strong legs.

It might have been

otherwise.  I ate

cereal, sweet

milk, ripe, flawless

peach.  It might

have been otherwise.

I took the dog uphill

to the birch wood.

All morning I did

the work I love.

 

At noon I lay down

with my mate.  It might

have been otherwise.

We ate dinner togetther

at a table with silver

candlesticks.  It might

have been otherwise.

I slept in a bed

in a room with paintings

on the walls, and

planned another day

just like this day.

But one day, I know,

it will be otherwise.

Now, if I can just get her to actually, you know, keep records so she doesn't forget what is coming out of her account, and where and when it is coming out, we should be okay, although I am not completely sure she won't find some new way to get victimized.

She notes is that this is the overview, and not the plan itself. She then explains that text in light grey boxes is examples, stories, etc., and that those who want facts only can skip the boxes. I found the stories and examples enriched things, so I did not skip them.

Next, she tackles a subject dear to my heart: accountability. She points out that getting organized is not a solitary task, even if you are a household of one. Her suggestion is that you share the project with a friend, relative, or co-worker. Notify them of your schedule for the program, and have them ask for weekly updates. You, dear readers, are who I will be accountable to for this process. And if you see me faltering, for any reason, please feel free to wield the accountability- or clue-bats, as needed. She suggests that if all else fails to keep you on task, you invite folks over to keep you company while you go through whatever particular task you are working on. Since that would be impossible at the moment, for many reasons, I will be content if your sitting with me is done via Plurk (otherdeb), a chat room (AIM & Yahoo: debjwunder), a phone call (email me for the phone #), whatever we can work out. I'm pretty flexible.

She sets a limit for deciding whether to keep or toss an item of 30 seconds, which seems reasonable. She feels that we know in our heart which is called for, but that we let fear change our mind.

Then she gets to the meat of the plan: she outlines the steps and how they build on each other. She also promises that there will be a checklist for us at the end of each step so that we can actually tell when we have accomplished it. Again. for those playing the home game, the steps are:

1. THE COCKPIT OFFICE: This is setting up your workspace so that what you need on a daily basis is within hands' reach; on a weekly basis, within arms' reach, and on a monthly basis, in your workspace but out of your way.

2. AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: This is about setting up a written organizer for everything, so that you have the information you need to get through you day at hand, in one spot, and don't have those 190 bits of incoming information scribbled on post its all over the place.

3. THE PENDING FILE: This is a place for the pieces of paper you are actually working on to live. She says that many of her clients think that this is the most helpful piece of her plan. We shall see.

4. MAKE DECISIONS: Yeah, that. She wants us to set limits for how much we can do in a day, so that we keep from becoming oerwhelmed. She also notes that this is were we decide what to do with all that incoming data.

5. PRIORITIZE ONGOINGLY: She notes that this is how we will keep from becoming nibbled to death byt the little things. Again we shall see.

6. PLAN YOUR DAY, END YOUR DAY, CLEAN OFF YOUR DESK AT THE END OF THE DAY: She notes that this is especially important for those of us who cannot turn our brain "off" at the end of our workday. It swtarts with us reviewing our plan at the beginning of the day, review it at the end of the day (including ticking off finished stuff and rescheduling or dropping unfinished stuff), and making sure that everything is where it should be before you leave your office, so that you don't waste time searching for it the next time you need it.

Next in this series: Pre-Organizing -- Creating a Vacuum

"The average businessperson receives 190 pieces of information each day. The average businessperson wastes 150 hours each year looking for stuff. Add 10 more hours and that is an entire work month. If you got organized, you could have an extra month each year! Just think how much more you could accomplish (or how much more vacation you could have) if you got organized. You could take a three-day weekend every other week and still do as much as you are doing now--or MORE. What a concept."

Yep. What a concept! Especially as I shifted through papers all over my room last night, trying to find the referral I needed for a mammogram this morning. It took me over an hour of going through all the papers on my desk and my night-table to find it. And if I hadn't found it, I would not have been able to have my insurance cover the cost of the mammogram, which was long overdue. And, since I had a three-month wait for this appointment, rescheduling would have been right out of the question.

In short, not being organized would have had a significant financial bite in this instance; a bite that I can ill afford at the best of times, but even less so given the stuff going on in my life at the moment.

Why get organized?

Ms Davenport goes on to cover, in her first chapter, her belief that "the piles on your desk result from the holes in your system (as well as rom the incoming 190 pieces of information each day." She notes that most of us do use a system, or more properly pieces of several systems to try to keep track of our information. The solution she says she will offer is an "all-encompassing, easy to maintain" system, which she claims is simple, intuitive, and easy to use.

She further notes her qualifications to be writing this book: She's one of us. This is the system she evolved to solve her own organizing issues.

She follows that with a very brief outline of her system, suggesting that, if your time is limited, you only do Step 1 (the Cockpit Office). She notes that all five other steps build from this one. She recommends that you spend at least a week on each step and that how long it takes you to do the steps is less important than doing them in the order she sets out.

So far, it sounds pretty good. Her next chapter is called "The Game Plan," and after last night's little wake-up call, I am dying to dig in. Since the net chapter also falls under "Before You Begin," I expect to be reporting on it fairly soon.

Next in this series: The Game Plan

Given the recent problem my roommate has developed I think today's post in the series will be about avoiding being scammed. (Not that I think for one moment that any of you are that gullible, but the reason scammers keep trying is there are tons of folks who are.)

First off, avoiding scams is not that hard. The general rule is, I think, that if it sounds too good to be true, it is. If someone you have never met is offering you huge amounts of money to do a job you never applied for in the first place, it's a scam.

If someone sends you an email purporting to be from a small country and needing to transfer funds out, or claims to be in jail and needs to get their money out of the country to avoid it being seized, it's a scam.

If you get a letter in the mail that promises you thousands for nothing but an illegal transaction on your part, yeah, that's a scam, too.

However, in weak moments the best of us can be tempted. So here are a few clues for when you are considering that offer that looks like it could solve all your problems:

1. Do the addresses match? In my roommate's case, the check was from a construction company in Georgia, the letterhead from a place in New Jersey, and the stamp from Canada. This should raise all sorts of hackles.

2. What do they want you to do for the money? In this case, the letter wanted her to deposit this check, then transfer, via MoneyGram, the bulk of it to "Pamela Your Last Name Here" of Toronto, Canada. If it was legit, why wouldn't there be a name that matched either the check or the letterhead? (Not that this would necessarily make it legit, but it would look less like a scam.)

3. Again, is the offer too good to be true, or does it look like it would solve all your problems? I've learned over the years (and you probably have, too) that the only way out of the mess you dug yourself into is slogging your way out and learning to become accountable, both to yourself and to others.

In short, if it sounds too good to be true, toss it in the wastebasket, or delete it from your inbox.

And, in the event you do get caught, a lawyer I know suggests the following:

1. Don't let how dumb you feel for having been scammed paralyze you, and don't beat yourself up over it. Neither of the above will rectify the situation, and inaction may leave you open to further problems.

2. Notify your bank. Immediately. Yes, they will put a hold on your funds, but it's better than having the scammers drain your account in addition to what they have already conned you out of.

3. Call the police. It's likely you will have to talk to the Detective Bureau, during regular business hours, which is what my roommate is going to have to do.

4. If any part of the material is from out of your state, you are going to want to notify the FBI, and the Postal Inspectors. This kind of fraud falls into their bailiwick.

5. You will also want to notify the Big 3 credit reporting agencies, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. They need to block you accounts from giving out information that can be used to steal your identity.

6. And, if you don't already, you are going to want to monitor your credit reports. You can do this once a year by going to annualcreditreport.com. (You all should be doing this anyway, just on general principles.)

Yes, it's all a big pain in the butt, but it's a lot less painful to be considered a victim of a scammer than to be considered an accessory to their actions. Believe me, that's a level of problems that is almost impossible to resolve without throwing tons of money and time at.

And, once again, the easiest way to avoid being scammed is to commit to doing the work involved to straighten your life and finances out, and stop looking for shortcuts that will magically solve your problems. They don't exist. Period.

Have you been caught by a scammer? What did you have to do to rectify the situation? How long did it take to resolve? What damage did it end up doing to you, beyond the obvious loss of money, credibility, and self-esteem?

Yet another comic book-inspired action film, Wanted thrusts us into the hum-drum life of Wesley Gibson, an ordinary 20-something with a hot blonde girlfriend, an office job, and a goofy bestfriend. The problem is, Wesley hates his life. His job is boring, his boss is a bitch, and his girlfriend is cheating on him with his best friend. Plus, he suffers from these terrible anxiety attacks, which require him to prescribe to medication. Cue Fox (Angelina Jolie), a gorgeous stranger that appears to Wesley at a local pharmacy. She tells him that his dead-beat dad was actually an assassin for The Fraternity, and they want Wesley to find his father's killer and kill that person.

While not the most original story, this movie more than makes up for it in the visual effects department. Director Timur Bekmambetov, best known for the Russian horror/sci-fi films Day Watch and Night Watch, brings his flair for dizzying action set pieces to American shores. Being touted as the best thing since The Matrix, Wanted is a visual tour-de-force. There's amazing gunfights, impossible leaps, cars flipping, and trains colliding. It's literally everything you've seen in nearly every action movie of the past 10 years rolled into one.

That, however, is where I had some issues. There's so much going on in some scenes that I wished the filmmakers gave us a chance to catch our breath. I was actually counting the number of seconds each cut was during the shootout at the pharmacy, and then the car chase. The average Hollywood shot lasts around 3 seconds, and I counted barely a second for most shots in that five minute segment of the movie. What I was hoping for was one of those rare long, unbroken takes where we follow the action from one perspective, allowing us to edit with our eyes and take everything in, without jarring us around (they did do this later on in the movie, more on that later).

The whole second act is your usual training montage where we see our hero actually become the hero. I liked this, it gave us sometime to process everything that's happened and to comprehend the story that gets slightly more complicated as the movie goes on. We learn more about The Fraternity, how they came about, and what they do. We also meet the operatives and what their specialty is, and spend some time with Sloan (Morgan Freeman) the leader of the group. However, I started to have a slight problem with the way the second and third acts meshed together. I felt that Wanted could have easily been part one of a two-part story.

During the second act, Wesley goes on some 'practice hits' before he's tasked with taking down Cross, a rogue member of The Fraternity who killed Wesley's father. I kept thinking to myself, "This could have easily been its own movie." I would've loved to see the whole first movie devoted to Wesley becoming this badass killer while slowly piecing together the clues about the truth about his father and the circumstances surrounding his death. Then, the second movie would be Wesley going up against his father's killer and dealing with the choices he made in the first movie.

Despite this somewhat rushed storyline and hyperkinetic pacing, there are some truly exciting moments in the movie. The first car chase with Fox hanging from a Dodge Viper and shooting at their pursuers was great fun. There's also a battle on a moving train that was also very impressive. It is here that I got my wish: an unbroken, nearly ten-second-long take as we watch the train slowly spill off its tracks and into a chasm. Toward the end, we get a gun battle that reminded me a lot like the final scenes in Kurt Wimmer's excellent Equilibrium, with Wesley running about and just blasting away bad guys all over the place. There's also a great amount of humor to be found. The jokes at first poke fun at Wesley for being such a loser, and slowly work in favor of him as we see him go from Average Joe to confident bad-ass

The ending deserves notice because it wasn't what I was expecting, and I mean that in a good way. While not to give away anything, I thought it was inventive and helped bring closure to this part of the story (assuming there's going to be a sequel). Leaving the theatre, I felt content. I just spent nearly two hours watching mindless, yet inventive action, and that's exactly what I was expecting. While it's not as good as something like Iron Man or even The Incredible Hulk, but I can see this being the start of a brand new movie franchise.

7/10

(images from Yahoo!)

As for earlier today I went to the local Washington Mutual to deposit my paycheck and move some funds around. After that I went to the theater and watched Wanted. It was pretty cool, kind of like throwing Shoot 'Em Up, The Matrix, and Equilibrium in one movie. Also, Angelina Jolie's butt was mighty fine.

Throughout the years we've seen several movies that have set precedents about how actions scenes involving guns should be seen. Equilibrium provided us with "gun-kata". The Matrix showed us "bullet-time" action. And in the adaptation of the comic series by Mark Millar with the same name; Wanted shows us how to "curve the bullet."

Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is a loser. A normal guy that's been pushed around and bullied by life. Rather than growing a pair and striving to give his life a meaning or purpose, he cowered away behind a cubicle. That is until he's approached by Fox (Angelina Jolie) who informs Wesley that he is heir to one of the greatest assassins that ever lived and he doesn't have to continue wading through life being shit on. Wesley thinks that idea doesn't sound too bad and goes with Fox to meet the other members of "The Fraternity", a group of assassins that carry out hits based on the Loom of Fate. Sloan (Morgan Freeman) is the leader of The Frat Pack. He tells Wesley that he will be trained to become what he was meant to be and kill the man responsible for the death of his father.

Wanted is pure adrenaline-fueled fun. I've already seen a bunch of douche-bags flaming the movie due to it being too "unrealistic". While there are a few "Uh, what?" moments in it, it's not supposed to be a movie that provokes deep thought and carries a heartwarming message between the lines. Sure we know human hearts can't beat 400 times per minute without exploding, bullets cant be curved by flipping your wrist, and shattered bones cant be healed by taking a bath in paraffin wax. But who cares?

This movie is definitely rated R for a reason and never makes you think "They could have cut that and gotten a PG-13." No. Within the first 13 minutes, you see 5 people shot in the face and a girl getting fucked on a kitchen table. While I'm not complaining (and can totally relate), I can be sure that parents across America will be upset when little Johnny tries to "curve a bullet" coming out of his trusty Red Rider. I can see the headline now (and the YouTube clip soon to follow).

I know in about 80% of my reviews I gush about how attractive the girl in the movie is, and this review will be no different. Angelina Jolie is a sexy woman. Take her, add guns, some more tattoos, take away her clothes, add a dash of water and a towel, and you've got yourself the recipe for hotness my friends. While she's extremely hot, the producers are definitely banking on her simply being in the movie. Aside from the meeting with Wesley, she's really kept aside for the remainder of the film.

McAvoy plays Wesley very well. His transformation from a scared shitless office worker, to a gun, knife, explosive wielding badass is believable. Having seen him in Atonement, as a stiff soldier torn apart by love, it's nice to see him play a fun character that gets to run around and shoot people's head off. *On a side note to the ladies, you can look forward to seeing McAvoy shirtless covered in water (or sweat, I don't know). It lasts about 3 seconds, but 3 seconds was long enough to make an obese lady in front of me to let out a sensual groan. "UNGGGGGGH."

Wanted has definitely been the most action-packed movie of the summer. Iron Man doesn't count because it wasn't "officially" summer (suck it) and The Incredible Hulk doesn't count either because..I said so. While it's not a great film, it definitely is a great time at the movies.

8 out of 10.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to stretch my wings a bit, Glblguy!

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to follow her program, as best I can, and report the results in this blog.

Now, before I even start, I will note that, although she prefers a two-page per day planner for her program, I will be using my trusty Palm Pilot for several reasons: 1) I already have the Palm Pilot and use it for all my planning; 2) I do not want to spend money that I do not have on a fancy system; 3) If I was going to use a paper system, my system of choice would have been Franklin Covey's, however, they have closed their two New York stores (where I could have gotten a good deal on their clearance binders) and are only doing mail order to NY...the nearest physical Franklin Covey store is in King of Prussia, PA, which is just not a feasible trip without a car.

So, with that constraint in mind, let's start our journey.

Ms. Davenport, who has a website called Order from Chaos, divides her thirteen chapters into four sections, followed by a resource guide that basically tells you where you can contact the author and the URL for her website (which I linked to above).

The structure is as follows:

Section One: "Before You Begin"
"Why Get Organized?"
"The Game Plan"

Section Two: "The Physical Environment"
"Pre-Organizing - Creating a Vacuum"
"Step 1: The Cockpit Office"
"Step 2: Air Traffic Control"
"Step 3: The Pending File"
"Section Review"

Section Three: "Your Frame of Mind...or Incoming"
"Step 4: Decide Now"
"Step 5: Prioritize Ongoingly"
"Step 6: Daily Habits"

Section Four: "I'm Done...So NOW What?"
"I'm Done...So Now What?"
"Regular Maintenance"
"Support Systems"
"If You Fall Off the Wagon"

Resources: "What If I Want More?"

She further recommends spending at least a week on each step, which makes this a great summer project for me!

Next post in this series: "Section One: Before You Begin"

http://www.weightlosseasily.com

Mais informações em www.myspace.com/equilibrium.

Fechado para su salida el 27 de Junio via Nuclear Blast Records, "Sagas" contiene los siguientes tracks:

01. Prolog auf Erden (Instr.) 3:38
02. Wurzelbert 4:58
03. Blut im Auge 4:44
04. Unbesiegt 6:19
05. Verrat 6:04
06. Snüffel 5:44
07. Heimwärts 2:32
08. Heiderauche (Instr.) 2:31
09. Die Weide und der Fluß 7:21
10. Des Sängers Fluch 8:03
11. Ruf in den Wind 4:52
12. Dämmerung 5:54
13. Mana (Instr.) 16:21

El álbum contiene la participación especial de Ulrich Herkenhoff, quien es, segun se dice, "uno de los más famosos panflautistas y puede ser escuchado en el soundtrack de 'The Lord of the Rings - Return of the King'." "Sagas" tambien contiene un solo de violin por Agnes Malich, integrante de la Augsburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

Para vigilar y detener a los ofensores sensoriales, el gobierno (un sólo patriarca llamado 'padre' y un consejo) ha designado una unidad conocida como la clerecía grammaton para vigilar y contener la humanidad dentro de cada ser viviente en 'Libria'. Al frente de esta unidad, se encuentra el clérigo tetragrammaton John Preston (personificado por Christian Bale) cuyo compañero comienza a comportarse extrañamente después de evitar sus dosis de prozium: ha comenzado a sentir.

Poster extraído de pongaunagujeronegroensuvida y sinopsis de Wikipedia

Opinión: Lo primera que comenta todo el mundo a raíz de esta pelí, es el hecho de que no se ha estrenado en España, cuando realmente no es una película tan mala como para no hacerlo. Pelí americana realizada en el 2002 por Kurt Wimmer, director alemán que además hace de guionista en sus obras, o al menos en las dos que conozco. Esta y Ultraviolet, de la cuál quizá hable algún día.

El film... bebe de muchas referencias bastante palpables: "Un mundo feliz" de Aldous Huxley, "1984" de de George Owell, "Fahrenhait 451" Ray Bradbury en cuanto a literatura de ciencia ficción se refiere. Además al combinado hay que añadirle, cierta estética que recuerda a otros films como Matrix, Dark City... y alguna más (cuando se trata de pelis de ci-fi siempre sale a coalicción Blade Runner, pero me nigo a ello). Teniendo en cuenta todo esto... sobra decir que no es una obra excepcionalmente original a priori. Pero el quiz de la cuestión es que la mezcla resulta interesante. La estética, el contexto atraen, exponen bien una situación que se desarrolla  a un ritmo entre clamado por momentos, y veloz en otros. Wimmer, es de esta generación de directores que ha mamado mucho cine asiático, y se ha visto influenciado por este para realizar cine de acción, dentro de un contexto de ci-fi. PAra mi una combinación atractiva. Así que nos encontramos con artes marciales (además que se ha inventado un arte marcial para el manejo de armas que mola cuatro pueblos) en dosis más que suficientes, rodeado de reflexiones que si bien podemos hayar en otros lugares, no desencajan en absoluto en el film. Resultado una amalgama interesante digna de ver... que ciertamente no acierto a entender porque no se ha traído a las salas de este país, logrando mitificarla en el ambiente underground.

Conclusión: Película interesante para ver... sobre todo para los fans de ci-fi y acción, que si te gustan ambos géneros... chaval/a está hecha a tu medida, siempre y cuando no seas de los retrogrados que no quiere leer subtítulos. Es una proposición interesante, mucho más de lo que logró en su segunda película Kurt Wimmer.

Por cierto... lo dicé en la sinopsis... sale Christian Bale, el actor que encarna la nueva saga de Batman, de la cuál se hablará a su debido tiempo. Este actor, cada vez me gusta más, ya que las producciones en las que participa suelen resultarme muy interesantes. Así que ole sus huevos o su representante por esas elecciones... y chavalote nos vemos en BATMAN DARK NIGHT.

Justitia, the Roman goddess of justice, is the personification of the legal profession. She is an infamous symbol of the fair and equal administration of law. She is the legal system’s personification of balance. The blindfolded woman in the flowing robes balancing the scales with the double-edged sword is depicted throughout the world in courtrooms, legal publications and courthouses. We see her so often that we seldom think about what it is that Justitia symbolizes. She carries a set of scales that balance the justice in a case, weighing the pros and cons of each litigant’s position and a double-edged sword, which is wielded to dispense justice and reason as necessary to the deserving party. She is blindfolded to indicate that justice should be meted out fairly without regard for who is involved. Justitia is a befitting symbol not for our profession but also for us, individually, as attorneys. Female attorneys must be well balanced. Just as Justitia, we are constantly battling to keep equilibrium in our lives. We endeavor to balance our professional and our personal lives. This balance that the goddess of justice manages so effortlessly, is not easy to maintain, particularly if you are a woman attorney raising young children. You are often torn between family commitments, family issues, career related choices and commitments. We find ourselves all too often judged unfairly by those who have little insight into our personal lives. We sometimes have to justify to total strangers why one may be more important than the other at any given instance in time.

A woman who puts her family before her legal career, particularly in the area of litigation, is usually referred to as taking the “Mommy track” when she is a part of a firm and thought to be less than motivated when she practices elsewhere.  In either instance, she is judged by where her values lie at that moment in her life and the end result is usually less than desirable. Women who choose to put their legal career before their families are often thought to be obstinate and referred to by many people in less-than-complimentary terms. In a truly “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenario, we are constantly battling the external prejudices that fly in our face everyday. We are, nonetheless, usually our own worst enemies, making ourselves jump through hoops to attempt to be everything to everyone.

There are some people that might view my decision to forego a second term as President with incredulity.  I view it as a proverbial “fork in the road” in my life. As I write this to you I have relocated out of state to a much more rural area. Primary in that decision, I will not deny it, is the beneficial aspect this decision will have on my children. My husband and I are raising three boys and have chosen to do it in what we consider a much better environment for them; presented with opportunity to have that choice.  I am fortunate enough to have chosen a legal path that has given me the opportunity to do what I do, what I can say I actually enjoy doing, from where I would like to do it. I realize that I am luckier than most and for this I am very grateful. I am the editor of two nationally recognized legal publications, National Jury Verdict Review & Analysis and New England Jury Verdict Review & Analysis.  In this capacity, I enjoy the ability to speak with attorneys, both male and female from all over the United States about their jury trials. Most often than not, I speak to the winning side, but there is on occasion the “losing” attorney who is more than willing to discuss the case as well. I have a great opportunity to constantly learn not only the laws relevant to the jurisdictions to which I am admitted but to jurisdictions, both state and federal, across the entire country. I enjoy the ability to learn about different aspects of each case that I write about and in the process learn new trial techniques or new things that I would most likely never venture to explore if this were not my career.

My career has taken many twists and turns along the way in the almost twenty years that I have been admitted as an attorney, with my family life tied closely to each of those decisions. I know many other women who are doing the same “give and take”. We cannot look back on each decision and speculate “what if….” otherwise we lose the ability to enjoy the good fortune that we have been given in each of our choices. Don’t be afraid to open yourself up to new and different experiences, you never know where the path you choose may lead you.

The field of law is constantly evolving and there are many opportunities for women at all different stages in their lives to have a freedom and a flexibility that was not available to us just 10 or 15 years ago. We must open ourselves up to these new choices and tread ahead unafraid. We are the pioneers for the women that will come after us, just as many of the older women attorneys have carved pathways that enable us to do what we are able to do today. For example, when I had my first son, I was working in a firm and there was no flextime or part-time positions available. Now, flextime and part-time positions are more common, yet not as prevalent and well received as they could or should be. I know an enormous number of women my age with families that could do more legal work in a part-time or flex schedule situation while raising their children and in doing so, could put some “full-timers” to shame. And as one of my dear friend and colleagues put it, when you leave your legal work for the day, most of us are just starting our “mommy work”. We are used to being on duty, to be working 24/7, it is an inherent part and parcel of our make-up, we should just be able to do it on our own terms, and enjoy it.

The “fork” I have taken is that which best suits the person that I have become over the years, not just the lawyer that I am. As women, we should never shove aside our personal lives to pursue our professional lives.  We are a package, a composite of our experiences. We are the professional women that we are today because of the personal women we are. Our femininity, our friends, our colleagues, our spouses and our families define us and shape us. None of us should have to apologize to anyone for who we are. I enjoy being a lawyer, I worked very hard to become a lawyer, I am very proud to be a lawyer, however being a lawyer does not define who I am. Celebrate your uniqueness, go forward to carve new and exciting pathways for those women who will follow us. Walk through life free of the blindfold that Justitia dons, explore your opportunities looking straight ahead to the future, not down and never back.

My best to all of you,

Tammy

Gute 3 Jahre haben sich die Jungs aus Bayern Zeit gelassen mit ihrem neuem Album ( VÖ: 27.06.2008 ) - vielleicht ganz gut so; denn es schlägt einmal mehr ein wie eine Bombe !

Werfen wir ersteinmal einen Blick auf die Tracklist:

Nun, allein von den Titeln her verspricht dieses Album episch-brachiales Machwerk in bester Pagan-Metal Manier zu servieren. Und sobald wir den ersten Klängen des verheissungsvollen Instrumental-Intros lauschen (oder uns den offiziellen Album-Trailer ansehen) wissen wir: exakt das ist es, was uns auf dieser Scheibe erwartet. Zugegeben: ich war überrascht, wie gut diese Scheibe tatsächlich ist. Immer noch den Vorgänger "Turis Fratyr" (2005) im Ohr, dachte ich: wie kann man soetwas noch toppen ? Doch keine Frage, die 3 Jahre (Kreativpause für die Künstler, Wartezeit für uns) haben sich definitiv gelohnt. Endlich eine Band, die den Begriff Epic/Pagan Metal durch ihre Kreativität nicht nur wieder einmal neu definiert, sondern im Grunde auch exakt in seiner eigentlichen Natur beschreibt.

Wow, was für ein Kracher - ein unglaublich kraftvolles Album, dass vor Instrumentalvariationen, Abwechslung und Vielfalt nur so strotzt. Helge Stang, der Leadsänger der Band; überzeugt einmal mehr mit seiner krächzig-kraftvollen Stimme (und den schon von Turis Fratyr gewohnten, längeren Schrei-Passagen); ganz groß und perfektioniert sind auch die Leistungen der anderen Bandmitglieder. Doch so gut die Einzelleistungen der Mitglieder auch sind; ist bei Equilibrium wieder einmal die Gesamtkomposition am hervorstechensten, der Gesamteindruck grandios - und vor allem: unverwechselbar. Die Band hat einen hohen Wiedererkennungswert - eben weil sie so einzigartig ist; ihre Werke sicherlich keine kommerzielle Massenware. Jeder Track hätte das Zeug als Titelstück; welchs den Inhalt des Albums am besten beschreibt, zu bestehen - offiziell fiel die Wahl auf den Song "Blut im Auge", zu dem gerade ein Musikvideo in der Mache ist. Ich bin gespannt !

Einer meiner Favouriten ist z.B. "Heimwärts", ein Titel, den man eventuell als "kitschig" bezeichnen könnte - jedoch; mich hat er sofort überzeugt. Einer der schnelleren Titel, definitiv - mit eher schlichtem Text und einem durchweg grandiosen Instrumentalpart; das Teil geht sofort ins Ohr. Und, ein weiteres Paradebeispiel für einen Aspekt, den ich an Equilibrium so schätze: die wunderbar aufeinander abgestimmten Gegensätze von rauem Gesang und wunderbaren, teilweise fast zu schönen/fröhlichen Melodien.

"Heiderauche" ist der Titel, der folgt - ein weiteres Instrumentalstück, dass auch als Filmmusik hätte Verwendung finden können, wie schön der Eingangstrack. Im Grunde aber so wie quasi alle der Stücke - der Begriff epic (metal) ist hier nicht nur Zierde; sondern ist durch und durch spürbar in seiner perfektionierten Ausführung. Ich möchte gar nicht mehr viele Worte über die anderen Songs verlieren - ich meine; kein Titel braucht sich hinter einem anderem zu verstecken. Die Vielfalt ist groß, der musikalische Aufwand spürbar - es werden viele klassische Instrumente verwendet; es gibt Chorpassagen, und streckenweise immer wieder Momente, in denen man glaubt die Anlage müsse gleich explodieren. Doch so laut und schnell es manchmal zugehen mag; Equilibrium wirkt dabei niemals stumpf, kopierend oder einfallslos - im Gegenteil.

Schlussendlich: ein Meisterwerk und absolute Kaufempfehlung für Fans dieses musikalischen Genres. Ich versuche stets höchst objektiv zu bleiben bei meinen Wertungen - doch selbst dann komme ich nicht umher, in diesem Fall weniger als 9.9/10 Punkten zu vergeben. Großartige Leistung; Equilibrium ! Ihr steht ganz oben auf meiner Liste.

Checkt auch die offizielle MySpace-Seite von Equilibrium, um in ein paar Songs reinzuhören; sowie euch bei Bedarf die aktuellsten Tourdaten abzugreifen. Wer weiss, vielleicht werde ich auch irgendwo auftauchen...