What was the second attempt?

GORDON: It had Jack as a bad guy. Every attempt was an attempt to answer the question “What did Jack do after he stepped off the cliff in Season 6?” Because it was so oblique and unclear. In years past, we knew what our opening gambit would be, because it was defined by the cliffhanger the year before. This was a far more existential and open-ended thing situation that was open to interpretation. That second iteration had Jack as a guy who we believe has gone dark and ultimately, hasn’t, but that one didn’t work either. Finally, we settled on this one. As it turned now, the person who has gone to the dark side, turns out to be Tony

Interview here.

Chapter 27
[ 2 stars out of 4 ]

This is an interesting movie because I didn’t like it but I’m somewhat recommending it. There’s a big sense of realism in this picture that made it that much more haunting. Jared Leto as Mark David Chapman, infamously known as John Lennon’s assassin, gives a borderline great performance not only because he gained about sixty pounds for the role; Leto really embodied Chapman’s twisted and fractured mind. The film gave possible reasons why Chapman did what he did, from J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye,” lack of genuine human connection, to alienation, but does not cross that line where the audiences are asked to feel for Chapman. Lindsay Lohan is pretty good here as Jude, who realizes that Chapman is more of stalker than a fanatic. Whenever she and Leto interact, the picture feels more alive. Thankfully, it’s a short film because I was beginning to feel uncomfortable watching Leto; usually he plays a pretty boy who’s damaged in some way but not as shocking as he is in this film. This movie is definitely not for everyone because it feels more like a broadway play than anything (one of the main reasons why I didn’t like it). I’m recommending “Chapter 27″ for the sheer power of Leto’s acting and a nice reminder that Lohan still has star power because she can genuinely act.

Taxi to the Dark Side
[ 3 stars out of 4 ]

I consider this the twin of the very informative “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib” because it essentially tackles the same issues. However, it does not mean that “Taxi to the Dark Side” doesn’t have anything worthwhile to offer. Although it obviously leans toward the left side of the political spectrum, it is able to set up its thesis and arguments in a focused manner. I was also surprised by how affecting this documentary becomes when the narrator (director Alex Gibney) and the people being interviewed stop talking and let the images speak for themselves. I have my own opinion of the Bush administration and I’m not going to discuss them here. However, I thought it was smart move when the film points out the flaws of President Bush and his regime–to highlight the source of why military personnel are capturing and torturing people despite their lack of evidence to support that those people are terrorists. Not only that, the film also points to the media (such as television shows like “24″) and its audiences. The media anesthetizes us when it comes to violence. And without our thirst for revenge after the 9/11 attacks, we wouldn’t have supported Bush’s notion to basically rewrite the constitution by passing “laws” that “can be interpreted differently” in order to justify torture that crosses the line of cruelty by a mile. The film is also smart enough to consider alternative (more effective and truthful) ways of acquiring information from people that were taken in custody. I really liked this film even though the subject is familiar because it is able to open our eyes about our government and allow us to question our own morality. This issue of torture is still relevant today and will remain so until the supposed “War on Terror” is “won.”

Bigger, Stronger, Faster
[ 4 stars out of 4 ]

“But in America, it seems like cheaters always prosper.” I know this is a very personal documentary by Chris Bell but he helmed this film in such a way that it gets better the deeper the audiences get into it. It starts off as a critique on American society where most people are willing to do anything to be the best. And then suddenly, it becomes about family values, body images of both youth and adults, childhood dreams, politics, what we’re willing (or not willing) to give up in our lives just so our loved ones can sleep a little better at night. I found this movie to be really scary but also very realistic. Just when I was convinced that, generally, steroids are okay (I am aware of its benefits in the medical field such as stereoids being a solution for muscular dystrophy), my perception is altered because it provides cases which argue that steroids are not okay (risk of suicide, adverse effects in our bodies, addiction). This picture contains a lot of footages that features George W. Bush, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone… which sets up issues that concern us because of what is presented in the media: hard body/masculinity is good; soft body/femininity is bad. It was also interesting when the action figures from the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s were brought up and how their looks have changed. This film covered so much ground to the point where I thought it was so rich with information, I could discuss them all day. Some people may argue that it’s a sign of a lack of focus. I disagree because all of those seemingly disparate things connect to the overall picture: the role of perfomance-enhancing drugs in the United States. I consider this a very important film and it’s one of the best documentaries I’ve seen in 2008.

La precuela de la 7ma Temporada de 24, se estrena este Domingo 30 por FOX a las 10PM. Aquí unas fotos y una promo subtítulada, para calmar la ansiedad.

ADAPTADO DE PIZQUITA TV…

LA SERIE TENDRÁ UN ESTRENO DE 4 HORAS, SI… EMITIDAS EN DOS DÍAS CONTINUOS…

Clifhangers. You might call them artistic, suspensefull ways to keep stories alive. You also might call them brilliant business that keeps the ad dollars flowing. Personally, I know they are the latter… but I still get caught up in them.

Serials, as they were called back in the era when a movie ticket cost just a quarter, were movies that kept children returning week after week to find out what would happen to their favorite characters.  It might be an artistic method because it keeps stories going, or it might be a business method because it keeps fans buying tickets and advertisers buying commercial time.

This monologue from the movie Misery describes the pros and cons of the method better than I ever could:

“Anyway, my favorite was Rocket Man, and once it was a no-brakes chapter, the bad guys stuck him in a car on a mountain road and knocked him out and welded the doors shut and tore out the brakes and started him to his death and he woke up and tried to steer and tried to get out, but the car went off a cliff before he could escape and it crashed and burned and — I was so upset and excited and the next week you better believe I was first in line and they always start with the end of the last week and there was Rocket Man trying to get out, and here came the cliff and JUST BEFORE the car went offhe jumped free and all the kids cheered –(standing up now)– but I didn’t cheer, I stood right up and started shouting, “This isn’t what happened last week — have you all got amnesia? — THEY JUST CHEATED US — THIS WASN’T FAIR –”

Granted, that quotation (delivered by Kathy Bates who won Best Actress for the roll) was meant to satirize the nubmer of cliffhangers included within the film Misery itself. However, notice that it also describes the way your favorite shows drag you right up to the edge of an inescapable catastrophe, and next week your favorite character magically survives with only mild bruising and (perhaps) amnesia.

Think they do this on purpose? Think they write things this way to sell ads? I do.

You may remember from my first post on this blog that my favorite show is spy-spoof Chuck on NBC. Last night, and for most of the second season now, episodes have run together creating cliffhangers. This week’s episode (spoiler allert) ended with Chuck kidnapped by his girlfriend who also turned out to be a spy.  Fox’s 24 is notorious for this same kind of storytelling. But did you know it was also a favorite money making method for TV news?

Thats right kiddies, think about the election. For nearly 2 years we had poll after poll… each shift in the numbers was a cliffhanger. We had differing opinions from each networks political teams… each unresolved argument was a cliffhanger. Over the last 3 months of the presidential campaign MSNBC’s ratings were up 158% from the same period the year before. Why? Because the number of cliffhangers reached a furor. Every night for nearly 2 years the American people went to bed wondering what would happen next.

Eventually the election came along, as undeniable as a season finale, and the cliffhangers had to end. There had to be some resolution to all the tension that had been built up. Now, however, the American people have the cable news networks teetering on the edge of a different cliff: What could they possibly do to keep that same number of eyes on their channel that tuned in for the election?

How will news recover? Is returning to their average ratings something they even need to recover from? What will happen next week on your favorite show? Tune in to Televisionaries next week to find out.

Hey guys, just wanted to get something up here real quick.  How did the work week start off for everybody?  Good hear, landed a couple deals, not a bad start for the week.  Rewarded myself by making some absolutley fabulous spaghetti tonight.  I never realized how easy it was to make spaghetti sauce the way I like it, you can count that new dinner in to happen once every couple weeks or so.  

Nice job Reedo on starting to get things figured out for our ski trip, I’m so stoked to go and spend a long weekend with everybody.  We should really try to get a ski in / ski out place, that would be tight.  

So if you are reading this do me a favor and let me know via comments if you watch the show Chuck or not, it really is a great show and the cast really grows on you.  I’m starting to find myself liking characters that I used to not, besides that for the type of show that it is, it really keeps you hooked in wanting to know what is coming next.  It is for sure my current favorite show on TV, though that may be short lived with 24 starting this Sunday and Monday I would assume.  I can’t wait for 24, and after the last season that they had they better get things right this time around.  From the looks of the previews it looks like they kinda got that point and seem to be taking the show in a bit of a different direction.  Can’t wait to see where they go with it.

Oaken Bucket game is only 5 days away now, anybody else excited.  Hope to see lots of you reading this there at the game for one hell of a final tailgate of the year and a Boilermaker victory send off to Joe Tiller.  Talk to you soon.

For you 24 fans, get ready to tune in to Fox on November 23rd for the “prequel” which bridges the gap between seasons. 24 officially premiers on January 11th. This is my favorite tv show and thanks to the writers strike, I’ve had to wait out a whole season 24-less.

For those of you who need a 24 primer, go HERE

Do you have problems with playback of media files? I did recently and downloaded some new software called K-Lite Codec’s. I had some problems with some of the download sites (too slowwww) and found a good place at FileHippo. Go HERE to download K-Lite. On the same note, I had to install twice because I didn’t first uninstall the codec’s that I had. Once I loaded K-Lite, I used Revo Uninstaller to uninstall K-Lite, then reinstalled K-Lite. Worked like a charm.

Damages (FX, 07/01) - eu estou muito longe de ser um entusiasta da série (como o Felipe bem explicou), mas só de ver o trailer (sem som), já deu uma vontadezinha de ver a segunda temporada. Pô, tem Marcia Gay Harden, Timothy Oliphant e William Fucking Hurt! Sem falar da Glenn Close e do Ted Danson, que podem ser qualquer coisa, menos atores ruins (vou fazer de conta que a Rose Byrne não existe).

24 (FOX, 11/01) - o sexto ano foi decepcionante, mas eu confio que o tempo de gestação que essa temporada teve vai ajudar bastante. Só espero que a desculpa pra trazer Tony de volta dos mortos (como vilão E de bigodinho) seja suficientemente criativa pra não desviar minha atenção.

Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi Channel, 16/11) - O exemplo perfeito de como um final planejado só faz bem a uma série. E o melhor é que esses 11 episódios não serão a nossa última visita ao universo concebido por Ronald D. Moore. Pelo menos um telefilme já está em (pré?)produção . E sempre é bom dizer que esses filmes terão o papel de flashbacks, ou seja, a series finale é o final da história e ponto-final.

Lost (ABC, 21/01) - O Diego comentou, logo quando terminou de assistir a finale da 3a temporada, que Matthew Fox e Evangeline Lilly estavam feitos (em matéria de $$$), já que supostamente eles estariam na série até o último episódio, já que o flashforward envolvendo eles tinha a maior cara de ser o ponto mais distante (cronologicamente falando) em que a história chegaria. Apesar de ser altamente improvável que os dois morram no meio do caminho, já sabemos que a história vai além daquilo. Essa historinha demonstra a capacidade dos roteiristas de Lost de nos surpreender a cada episódio, a cada temporada. E o show também entra no exemplo acima, de como uma data final definida ajuda.

Dollhouse (FOX, 13/02) - Firefly 2.0? Apesar das informações disponíveis guiarem para essa conclusão, algumas declarações dos executivos da emissora desmentem essa noção. A verdade é que, com exceção de American Idol, 24 Horas e House, não há nada minimamente relevante na programação da emissora (Fringe? Hmmm. Prison Break? HAHAHA) e tudo que eles mais querem é uma série com o tão cobiçado watercooler factor. E convenhamos, o nome do meio de Joss Whedon é bebedouro. (Apesar de que eu gostaria muito de vê-lo se aventurar na TV por assinatura, mas ele é teimoso mesmo, fazer o que).

This weeks links include some exciting new trailers, plus a few other news items.  Also, last chance to submit your answers for the latest edition of the Movie Quotes Quiz!  I’ll be posting the answers and the winner tomorrow (Tuesday) so if you’re not in yet, you’ve got one more day!

Trailer for Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse: Sounds like an intriguing premise…

Trailer for Pixar’s latest: It’s simply called Up.  Looks pretty fun!

The new Trailer for Watchmen is here: Not my favorite (I think the background music is annoying) but it definitely tells more of the story.  Worth watching!  Also, check out these new posters!

Trailer for Star Trek: The first real trailer for the J.J. Abrams reboot is here.  As Jeffrey Overstreet teased, this movie may make fans of the until-now-non-fans!  Plus, check out this first official photo of the Enterprise.

LOST returns: We’ve got a debut date for Season 5!  More answers (and more questions) coming January 21st with a two-episode premiere.  Also, some exciting casting, with Reiko Aylesworth (Michelle from 24) is joining LOST for a few episodes this season.

Ender’s Game online for free: At least, issue #1 of the Marvel comics adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s awesome book is online.

Beginner’s Guide to Neil Gaiman: I guess I’m looking to get people hooked on some good authors!  Orson Scott Card, and now Neil Gaiman.  I’ve talked a lot about him lately; this guide is a good way to find something of his that you might want to try.

The Dark Knight is up for some Oscars: At least, Warner Bros wants it to be.  (Who wouldn’t?)  They’ve launched a “For Your Consideration” site for the movie.  It’d be nice to see a comic book movie get some recognition for something other than the technical categories.

Halo Wars has a release date: The RTS Halo spinoff will be in stores this February.  The link includes info about some of the packaging and inclusions.

Acers neuester TFT-Bildschirm trägt die Modellbezeichnung P244Wbmii und verwischt die Grenzen zwischen kleinem HD-Fernseher und großem PC-Monitor.

Der Monitor nimmt mit einer Bilddiagonale von 24 Zoll und Außenmaßen von ca. 56 x 41 x 20 (B x H x T) cm eine ganze Menge Platz auf dem Schreibtisch ein. Dafür bietet er mit 1.920×1.080 Pixeln die volle HD-Auflösung und mit nach Herstellerangabe 2ms eine sehr niedrige Reaktionszeit. Auch bei Helligkeit (300cd/m2) und Kontrastverhältnis (20.000:1) soll der Bildschirm laut Acer gute Werte liefern.

Der P244Wbmii hat nicht nur die Maße eines Zweitfernsehers, er scheint auch als solcher konzipiert zu sein: Acer verbaut bei dem Flachbildschirm neben einem VGA-Eingang gleich zwei HDMI-Anschlüsse. Außerdem wird ein DVI-auf-HDMI Adapterkabel zum Anschluss an den Computer mitgeliefert.

Wann und ob der Monitor bei uns erhältlich sein wird, steht zurzeit ebenso wenig fest, wie sein Preis. Zunächst soll er in Kürze in Japan auf den Markt kommen.

Egy vallomással kezdem: én, Lemúr É.T.M. Miklós, azaz Lemúr “Értelmiséginek Tartom Magam” Miklós viszolygok a színháztól. Az érzület vállalhatatlan voltával tisztában vagyok, de tenni ellene nincs energiám — zsigerből jövő feszengéssel gondolok az eltúlzott színpadi gesztusokra, a színészek modoros artikulációjára. Értem én, hogy a színház önálló műfaj, külön hagyományokkal, szabályokkal, a közeg sajátosságaiból fakadó kényszerekkel, a lelkem mélyén mégis valahogy taszít ez az egész mondvacsinált (mondva csinált) világ.

És valahányszor nagy nehezen ráveszem magam, hogy elmenjek színházba, a nézőtéren mindig elfelejtem ezeket a fenntartásaimat, és csak élvezem az előadást.

(A fotót a Táncélet.huról loptam.)

Így történt ez tegnap is: baráti unszolásnak engedve elzarándokoltunk a Trafóba, a kiváló fiatal költő, Szálinger Balázs szövegére épülő Kalevalára. A darab a hagyományos (”szövegmondásos”) előadás és a mozgásszínház (táncszínház?) ötvözete, ami nem kis megpróbáltatást jelentett szegény színészeknek, hiszen egyszerre kellett Rippel fivéreknek és Latinovicsnak lenniük, hogy sarkítva fogalmazzak. Próbáljon meg a kedves olvasó egy kézen függeszkedve vagy két csatakos kollégán egyensúlyozva lihegés és nyögés nélkül beszélni. Nem könnyű. Az előadás ráadásul egyfelvonásos, és ez több, mint két órányi non-stop őrületet jelent a színpadon. Minden elismerésem a fáradhatatlan színészeké és táncosoké, a jó alakú lányoké, fiúké, és nem különben Mucsi Zoltáné (Vejnemöjnen), akiről ki gondolta volna, hogy ötvenen túl efféle formabontó ugrándozásban is részt vesz.

A szöveg jól kicsiszolt, kellőképpen szenvtelen, itt-ott vicces, kár, hogy olykor nem tisztán érthető. A követhetőséget valamelyest segítette a színpad két oldalára kivetített angol fordítás (ezt a dunaPart fesztivál miatt jelen lévő nagy számú külföldi műélvező indokolta).

A darabban nem kis rémületemre baltákkal, dobópengékkel és pillangókésekkel is vitézkednek az ágyékkötőben rohangáló, alaposan kifestett szereplők, és nyilván csak az isteni gondviselésnek köszönhető, hogy az eddigi tizenegy előadás egyike sem csapott át horrorbörleszkbe.

Szintén sajátos mozzanat az alumíniumelemekből álló gigantikus szélfogó húsz percig tartó néma építése, ami egyes (női) nézőket nyilván untatott, viszont engem, aki Ikea-bútorokon edződtem, teljesen lenyűgözött az elektromos csavarhúzó virtuóz kezelése. Az építés minden másodperce kiszámított, a háttérmorajlás diktálja az ütemet, amit bámulatos precízitással tartanak a szereplők. Ez az intermezzó végén esett le, hihetetlen, kérem.

Hasonlóan merész, de működő ötlet a globális felmelegedés és a jegesmedvék agóniájának témakörét vegyíteni a finn őseposszal. Ez eleinte meghökkentett, végül úgy helyeztem el a magam fapados interpretációjában, hogy itt az istenek hagyományos szerepét az egymásnak feszülő környezeti hatások veszik át. Az eposzokban ugyanis az ember mellékszereplő, a cselekmény inkább az isteni szférában zajlik, a fajsúlyos történések nem emberi léptékűek. Ebben a Kalevalában nem esik szó istenekről, ellenben annál több a klímaváltozásról, a küszöbön álló biológiai katasztrófáról; a gyarló ember nem az istenekkel, hanem a forrósodó nappal polemizál. Érdekes gondolat.

and one looking at season 7 of 24 (plus Big Love rumor)

Season 3 of Big Love: someone wants a divorce & another suffers a loss.

Unfortunately, I have misplaced my usb cable for my camera, in order to download the pictures of Boy Be Gone Nite 2008, which is just like me to do.  So I am just going to have to write about it, instead of showing off my very lovely and fun girls from California.  

In the past, this night has happened in Seattle, and once in North Dakota.  But this year, because the girls were on their way to Alaska, it actually got to happen in my house!  

So here is some history: this night was invented 12 years ago - when our friend Nins was going through a horrendous breakup.  She was right smack in runaway mode, and so she and her best friend Dani decided on a road trip.  They live in California.  Since it was difficult for them to run west, they decided to travel east to meet me (I was living in Manitoba at the time).  We hooked up, in some very small town in North Dakota (my one and only time there), and ended up spending the weekend submerging our souls in tequila and dancing with a lot cowboys (very very fun).

After that weekend, we made a pact.  When one of us goes through a breakup (not just any breakup - it has to be life altering break up), we meet for Boy Be Gone Nite.  We re-live our experience that we created in North Dakota (although it could take different forms).  But after that night, we change.  We don’t wait for the phone to ring, we don’t write letters saying “I miss you”, and we don’t cry ourselves to sleep anymore.  That night is the end of the mourning period of the relationship.

Nins only needed that one time before she found her true mate.  She is now living a very bohemian mommy life, with three kids, and a career as an art teacher - and soon to become an art therapist.  She is living a wonderful life in Berkeley.

Dani, on the other hand is a little different.  The girl has got her stuff together.  She is a trauma doctor in San Diego.  Just hearing about what she does in a morning, exhausts me.  But her love life is insane. She alone, has been the “host” of 3 BBGN in the past 5 years.  All of them happen in her favorite lounge in Seattle.  I can never remember the name of this place, but they show animé films (somewhat racy-ish) on the back wall.  Meetings for her, consist of lots of scotch (its her preferred drink) and will be the only time that I partake in this beverage.  Only for her!

But friday night, was really my first one.  The other breakups just don’t qualify like this one.  Since they had been driving up from Oregon since the morning -and would be flying out early the next morning; we had decided to do a really low key evening at my place.  

So BBGN 2008 consisted of the following:

• wowie bzowy martinis (aka the white pilgrim) but they are the yummiest drinks ever, and were invented by me!
• lemon cheesecake courtesy of the bakery down the street - cheesecake so delicious, that I will never have any again ( you aren’t allowed real food on BBGN - only dessert)
• 4 episodes of season 3 from 24 - we <3 Jack Bauer
• a lot of crying
• the burning of some pictures - and quite a few letters
• and a promise to meet on better terms.

That said, I had been waiting for months for this night.  Truthfully, I wasn’t ready for it to happen before now.  And I still have a lot of work to do, before I can move on.  But Friday night gave me closure. To be able to end it pleasantly, was just an added bonus.

Basically this trip made us realize that after a certain age, we tend to forget that we need girl friendships.  While I have great men in my life - it just isn’t the same as a group of drunk girls who bond over the need of a Kiefer Sutherland drool cup.  Viva les girls!!!!

**the men in my life, please don’t take offense to the last paragraph.  I heart you all very much!

Eva Markert: Adventskalender zum Lesen und Vorlesen

Eine Adventsgeschichte

8. Dezember: Sternenfenster
© Eva Markert

“Super sieht das aus!”

Die beiden Freundinnen standen auf dem Bürgersteig und legten die Köpfe in den Nacken.

Sarah seufzte entzückt. “So was möchte ich an meinem Kinderzimmerfenster haben!”

“Ich auch”, sagte Leonie. “Wenn ich nur wüsste, wo man das kriegt.”

“Komm mit, wir fragen meine Mutter.”

Eilig liefen die Mädchen zu Sarah nach Hause.

“Mutti, wir haben was Tolles gesehen!”, erzählte Sarah. “Da waren ganz, ganz viele am Fenster, goldene und silberne.”

“Wir möchten auch welche haben!”, rief Leonie dazwischen.

“Nun mal langsam”, unterbrach die Mutter. “Wovon sprecht ihr überhaupt?”

“Von Sternen!”

“Ah, jetzt verstehe ich. Ihr meint sicher Sterne zum Aufkleben!”

“Wo kriegt man die?”

“Da müsst ihr im Schreibwarenladen fragen.”

Sofort machten sich die beiden auf den Weg.

Im Geschäft hing bei den Bastelsachen eine ganze Menge Tüten mit Sternen.

Leonie nahm eine vom Haken. “Die kostet fünf Euro fünfzig”, stellte sie fest. “Nicht gerade billig, würde ich sagen.”

Sarah schaute in ihr Portemonnaie. “Ich habe noch acht Euro. Und du?”

“Sechs”, antwortete Leonie. “Wir könnten uns also beide eine Tüte kaufen.”

“Hm. Und wenn wir nur eine nehmen und die Sterne teilen?”

“Das ist d i e Idee!”, rief Leonie. “Sollen wir silberne oder goldene nehmen?”

“Goldene, was sonst! Gold passt doch viel besser zu Weihnachten.”

“Finde ich überhaupt nicht”, widersprach Leonie. “Wir haben zum Beispiel silberne Kugeln und Silberlametta an unserem Christbaum!”

Sie sahen sich an.

“Meinetwegen, dann nehmen wir eben die goldenen”, gab Leonie schließlich nach.

“Nein, nein, von mir aus können wir auch die silbernen nehmen.”

Wieder schwiegen sie, diesmal etwas länger.

“Lass uns knobeln”, schlug Sarah vor. “Stein schleift Schere, Schere schneidet Papier und Papier wickelt Stein ein.”

Sie versteckten eine Hand hinter dem Rücken, Leonie begann zu zählen und bei drei schoss Sarahs Faust hervor, während ihre Freundin die Hand ausstreckte. “Papier wickelt Stein ein”, rief sie. “Ich habe gewonnen. Wir nehmen also die goldenen.”

“Wieso? Dir gefielen doch die silbernen besser.”

…

Wie diese Geschichte weitergeht, erfährst Du in dem Buch
Eva Markert
Adventskalender zum Lesen und Vorlesen

Eva Markert: Adventskalender zum Lesen und Vorlesen

24 Weihnachtsgeschichten für Große und Kleine
Zum Lesen und Vorlesen

1. Dezember: Das erste Türchen
2. Dezember: Die kleine Schneefrau
3. Dezember: Der Sternenjunge, der nicht leuchten wollte
4. Dezember: Backen ist reine Glückssache
5. Dezember: Der Schlamassel mit der Laterne
6. Dezember: Nikoläuse gibt es nicht
7. Dezember: Die Zankäpfel
8. Dezember: Sternenfenster
9. Dezember: Der bitterböse Mond
10. Dezember: Der grimmige, grausliche Nussknackermann
11. Dezember: Mama hat einfach kein Händchen für Blumen!
12. Dezember: Die Kinder des Weihnachtsmannes
13. Dezember: Petrus und der Weihnachtsmann
14. Dezember: Der Weihnachtskreisel
15. Dezember: Der Junge, der dies und das vergaß
16. Dezember: Der freche Teddybär
17. Dezember: Kinderfragen, mit Zucker bestreut
18. Dezember: Gefährliche Dinger
19. Dezember: Der echte Weihnachtsmann
20. Dezember: Unfrohe Weihnachten
21. Dezember: Der neugierige junge Tannenbaum
22. Dezember: Eine verrückte Geschichte
23. Dezember: Der altmodische Dorfweihnachtsmann
24. Dezember: Der nutzlose Weihnachtsengel

..

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Bryan has bought us four, maybe five rounds. Sara and Chana lean against the bar and take shots of sake with Shane. Bryan has momentarily turned his attention away from Sara to me, and grins. I think his leather coat is fake, judging by the way the rain water beads up on the collar.

“You haven’t been in love many times, have you?” he asks, a question pounced on earlier by Chana.

I frown and sip my wine, or beer, or some sort of sake we’ve been downing. “What do you think?”

“I just told you what I think!” says Bryan. He is only half-paying attention to me as he writes up a slimmed down check for us. His handwriting is sharp.

“How many times is not many?”

Bryan looks at me hard this time with lapis lazuli eyes. “Seven times.”

I laugh. “I’m 24!”

“I know. You told me. But you’ve been in love about seven times, right?”

I want to laugh again but I don’t. I drink the rest of my drink and duck outside for a cigarette. Seven is an unlucky number, a lie, a myth, a stupid idea. And anyway, it’s raining outside. What the fuck does Bryan know about being in love anyway.

Two to three weeks ago, I made one of the best decisions in my life, by saying yes to a MacBook Pro. I bought it from an authorized apple store in Funan the IT mall.

For the two to three weeks I’ve used the laptop for almost 24 hours, it was there when I did my homework, it was there when I did my projects, it was there while I was bored and it was there even when I slept.

Two to three weeks later, in other words now, there is no evidence of regret. I have to admit, Macintosh owns Microsoft hands down.I will elaborate later.

Out-Of-The-Box Boxing by Apple.

So I opened the box slowly and carefully, it was one of the best product packaging I’ve ever seen so far. It’s so integrated, it’s all fitted in one neat box. No unwanted styrofoam thingies, unwanted plastic covers or whatsoever. Even unboxing the laptop is an experience itself.

Neat.

The black slip there says designed by Apple Califonia, I think. I slowly took the MacBook out by pulling the slip and off it went. I tore the plastic cover apart like a freaking tiger and was amazed at the super smooth material used on the surface, or rather, the whole body. The new macbook is made by a block of aluminium, which is stated to be more light-weight, less parts which means its quite “green”.

When I lifted the screen, the keyboard was protected by a thin sheet of styrofoam-like thingy.

Keyboard protector

Took the sheet of Styrofoam off to reveal the beauty, without clothes!

There you go! The MacBook Pro!!

I pressed the on/off power button on the top right of the body and it booted up very quickly.

A short video to welcome us to the world of Macintosh, in many languages like german, chinese, korean etc.

Willkommen!!!!(Welcome!)

I was greeted by a new user set-up wizard, it was a seamless process, entered the password, settled all the settings and off I go, into the world of Macintosh.

I let the battery charge for awhile before indulging myself in the excitement of exploring the laptop

My room in a mess

As you can see, my room is in a complete mess, excited to try the laptop out, I just threw everything around. But its definitely neater than the previous time I opened my HP laptop.

Crisp and Clear LED backlit display

The screen is an ultra-thin LED backlit display with adjustable brightness, which is very useful for different situations such as typing this post right now in a very dark room. You can turn the screen off, very useful for cleaning the screen to look for thumbprints and dusts.As mentioned earlier , the details on the screen are very clear.

Many reviews on the web stated the reflection on the glass surface is very irritating, but I don’t have any problems with it indoors, I have not tried using it outdoors though.

Beautiful and superb keyboard

The keyboard on the MacBook Pro is indeed a dream come through. It is evenly spaced apart and it’s very nice to type with. It is not too soft nor too hard and typing isn’t very noisy.

There are many command buttons on the top-most row such as brightness adjustments, dashboard, music control and speaker volume. It’s working well so far, very useful especially when you are listening to music.

Also, the dvd-eject button is positioned at the top-right corner, which will eject the dvd when you hold the button to prevent accidental ejection of the dvd. Pretty neat function.

Backlit keyboard

The backlit keyboard is very useful for ultra-dark situations. Nicely lit up as seen on the picture above.

The multi-touch trackpad

The most ingenious trackpad I’ve ever used, the mult-touch trackpad. There is nothing but a huge button, which is the trackpad itself. You can simply click by either tapping the trackpad or just by pushing the whole trackpad down like a traditional trackpad button.

It recognizes different combinations of touch commands such as swiping left or right with 3 fingers, scrolling up, down,left or right with 2 fingers and even viewing the desktop with 4 or more fingers.

The only thing I dislike is the sheer difficulty of right-clicking an icon. You have to either click on the bottom left or right corners of the trackpad or putting one finger on the trackpad then followed by pressing the whole trackpad with another finger.

There are occasions where I have to repeat the process many times, the most I’ve attempted is as much as 15-16 times. There is just this period of time where its not sensitive enough to pick up your touches when you need the right-click command.

The speakers

Don’t judge the book by its cover. It looks tiny and small on the surface but in reality, it is very impressive. The speakers can be said to be as loud as any normal desktop speakers. Sound quality is good. The only drawbacks are that the holes on the speaker might be trapped by dusts for example. I don’t know if thats the case but you can see different portions of the speaker coloured differently, for example, a portion being black and a small portion being white.

The different ports

It comes with:

• 1x MagSafe power port
• 1x Gigabit Ethernet port
• 1x FireWire 800 port
• 2x USB 2.0 ports
• 1x Mini DisplayPort
• 1x Audio line in
• 1x Audio line out
• 1x ExpressCard/34 slot
• 1xKensington lock slot

The only ports that’ve used so far are the magsafe power port and the two usb ports. I have to say that the USB ports are not very convenient to use. Firstly, there are too little USB slots, two is definitely not enough. This can be easily solved by buying a seperate USB hub.

The second problem is more severe though. The USB ports are placed too near each other. Without the use of a USB Hub, plugging two usb plugs/device together is totally impossible. If you have a horizontally-thick USB thumbdrive or device, for my case, the Starhub Mobile internet device as seen below, you can forget about ultilizing the next empty USB slot.

Starhub USB Device

Other than that, I have nothing more to complain about since I don’t use the FireWire port and the DisplayPort port yet.

Magsafe Port

The MagSafe port is another unique feature that can’t be seen in other laptops. Its basically an A/C power wire but with a safety feature. It connects to each other using magnetic forces.

In case anyone trips on the wire, it will be automatically disconnected, preventing the laptop from being flunked away. Maybe it might be exeggerating but who knows if it might happen. Safety first I guess :).

Apple Adapter

The unique power adapter that allows you to coil up your unwanted wires. There are two-three different accessories for this adapter if I remember correctly. One wired adapter, one direct adapter and one adapter for international power outlet inputs.

The power indicator

The battery power indicator is placed at the left side of the laptop so that you can check your battery life without turning the laptop on. Useful feature but I haven’t really used it since I bought it.

The Glowing Logo

The instantly recognizable glowing apple logo. It gives a glow when you turn the lit up and stop glowing when you put the lid down. An interesting feature indeed. It’s just beautiful.

In conclusion, here are the pros and cons:

Pros(Major):

• Beautiful and sleek design
• Performance is superb
• Interface is very userfriendly
• Multi-touch touchpad very useful
• Superb Keyboard
• Crisp and clear display
• Good speakers
• Good battery life(2.5 to 3.5 hours)
• Dual Graphic card(able to choose either high performance or good battery life)

Cons(Minor):

• USB Ports placed too close together
• Automatically go off standby mode if you remove any usb device when the lit is closed
• Confusion of the state of the computer after the usb incident occurs. For example, turning the lid down turns standby off whereas turning the lid up turns standby on.
• 2.5kg is definitely quite a burden
• Screen is thumbprint and dust magnet
• Material might be easily scratched, its aluminum after all, right?
• Lack of games for Macintosh
• Internet might be laggy at times compared to using Windows.

In all, I give this MacBook pro 4.5 stars out of 5. It’s the best buy of my life, apart of the iPod touch 2nd gen. I know I sound like an Apple fan, but their products are really, well..Innovative. Sheena don’t hate me plz k thx.

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Questo spazio, nato come “spin-off” di “TV USA Gazette”, contiene un calendario quotidiano degli episodi inediti dei telefilm in onda negli Stati Uniti nel corso della prossima settimana, un approfondimento sulle serie in partenza sui canali via cavo statunitensi (tutti i telefilm che debuttano quotidianamente sui cinque network principali vengono presentati nello spazio “TV USA 2008/09, i debutti”) ed una panoramica dei dati di ascolto dei telefilm più visti al momento.

SERIE E SIT-COM IN PRIMA VISIONE
Settimana da domenica 16 a sabato 22 novembre 2008
In questa sezione sono elencati gli episodi in prima visione di serie e sit-com (non sono considerati reality, news, varietà e giochi) in onda sui principali canali (network e cavo) statunitensi. Se una serie non è indicata nella settimana considerata, ne verrà proposta una replica o non andrà in onda.
L’indicazione tipo 1×04 indica che si tratta del quarto episodio della prima stagione; tra parentesi è indicato il canale su cui va in onda il telefilm. Come di consueto indico i titoli italiani dei telefilm, se diversi da quelli originali.

Domenica 16 novembre 2008

• ore 20.00 I Simpson 20×06 (FOX), Brotherhood 3×03 (Showtime)
• ore 20.30 King of the Hill 13×06 (FOX)
• ore 21.00 Desperate Housewives 5×08 (ABC), Cold Case 6×08 (CBS), I Griffin 7×06 (FOX), Dexter 3×08 (Showtime), True Blood 1×11 (HBO)
• ore 21.30 American Dad 4×06 (FOX)
• ore 22.00 Brothers & Sisters 3×08 (ABC), The Unit 4×08 (CBS), Californication 2×08 (Showtime), Entourage 5×11 (HBO)
• ore 22.30 Summer Heights High 1×02 (HBO)
• ore 23.00 The Life & Times of Tim 1×08 (HBO)

Lunedì 17 novembre 2008

• ore 20.00 Chuck 2×07 (NBC), The Big Bang Theory 2×08 (CBS), Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles 2×09 (FOX), Gossip Girl 2×11 (CW)
• ore 20.30 E alla fine arriva mamma! 4×08 (CBS)
• ore 21.00 Heroes 3×09 (NBC), Due uomini e mezzo 6×08 (CBS), Prison Break 4×11 (FOX), One Tree Hill 6×11 (CW)
• ore 21.30 Samantha chi? 2×06 (ABC), Worst Week 1×08 (CBS)
• ore 22.00 C.S.I.: Miami 7×08 - 150° episodio del telefilm (CBS), Boston Legal 5×09 (ABC), My Own Worst Enemy 1×05 (NBC)

Martedì 18 novembre 2008

• ore 20.00 NCIS - Unità anticrimine 6×08 (CBS), Dr. House - Medical Division 5×08 (FOX), 90210 1×11 (CW)
• ore 20.30 Rita Rocks 1×08 (Lifetime)
• ore 21.00 The Mentalist 1×07 (CBS), Fringe 1×08 (FOX), Privileged 1×10 (CW)
• ore 22.00 Senza traccia 7×07 (CBS), Eli Stone 2×05 (ABC), Law & Order: Unità speciale 10×07 (NBC), The Shield 7×12 (FX)

Mercoledì 19 novembre 2008

• ore 20.00 Bones 4×10 (FOX), Knight Rider 1×08 (NBC), Pushing Daisies 2×06 (ABC), La complicata vita di Christine 4×09 (CBS)
• ore 20.30 Gary Unmarried 1×08 (CBS)
• ore 21.00 Criminal Minds 4×08 (CBS), Private Practice 2×06 (ABC), Life 2×09 (NBC), Friday Night Lights - High School Team 3×08 (DirecTV)
• ore 22.00 C.S.I.: NY 5×08 - 100° episodio del telefilm (CBS), Dirty Sexy Money 2×06 (ABC), Law & Order 19×03 (NBC), Sons of Anarchy 1×12 (FX), South Park 12×14 - finale di stagione (Comedy Central)

Giovedì 20 novembre 2008

• ore 20.00 Ugly Betty 3×09 (ABC), My Name is Earl 4×11 (NBC), Smallville 8×10 (CW)
• ore 20.30 Kath & Kim 1×07 (NBC)
• ore 21.00 C.S.I.: Scena del crimine 9×07 (CBS), Grey’s Anatomy 5×09 (ABC), The Office 5×09 (NBC), Supernatural 4×10 (CW)
• ore 21.30 30 Rock 3×04 (NBC)
• ore 22.00 Eleventh Hour 1×07 (CBS), E.R. - Medici in prima linea 15×08 (NBC), Life on Mars 1×07 (ABC), C’è sempre il sole a Philadelphia 4×13 - finale di stagione (FX)
• ore 22.30 Testees 1×07 (FX)

Venerdì 21 novembre 2008

• ore 20.00 Ghost Whisperer 4×08 (CBS), Tutti odiano Chris 4×08 (CW)
• ore 20.30 The Game 3×08 (CW)
• ore 21.00 Crusoe 1×07 (NBC), Stargate Atlantis 5×16 (SciFi), Star Wars: The Clone Wars 1×08 (Cartoon Network)
• ore 22.00 Numb3rs 5×08 (CBS), Lipstick Jungle 2×09 (NBC), The Starter Wife 2×08 (USA), Sanctuary 1×08 (SciFi), Crash 1×07 (Starz)

Sabato 22 novembre 2008

• ore –.– Legend of the Seeker 1×05 (syndication)

UN SALTO IN EDICOLA
La copertina del numero del 17 novembre 2008 del settimanale “TV Guide” vede protagonista Kiefer Sutherland, protagonista della serie thriller 24 che torna con il film TV prequel di stagione, e da gennaio 2009 con l’attesa settima stagione inedita.

RIEPILOGO ASCOLTI USA
Settimana da lunedì 3 a domenica 9 novembre 2008

I network più visti
Nella prima colonna trovate gli spettatori totali (in milioni) ottenuti nella media settimanale da ognuno dei principali 5 network, nella seconda il rating e lo share nella fascia di pubblico 18-49 anni.

	Audience	Rating/ Share
	11,04	3,0/8
	10,40	3,2/8
	8,89	3,2/8
	5,87	2,3/6
	2,26	1,1/3

Le serie TV più viste della settimana
Ecco la classifica generale delle serie TV (con episodi inediti o in replica) in onda negli Stati Uniti: sono considerati i telespettatori totali degli episodi delle serie più viste nel corso della scorsa settimana, in base ai dati di ascolto definitivi forniti da Nielsen.
Invito a visitare lo spazio non quotidiano “TV USA Giorno per giorno Flash” per i dati di ascolto più dettagliati delle singole serate dei cinque principali network statunitensi.

1. C.S.I.: Scena del crimine (CBS, giovedì ore 21.00) 18,18 milioni
2. Desperate Housewives (ABC, domenica ore 21.00) 15,85 milioni
3. Grey’s Anatomy (ABC, giovedì ore 21.00) 15,74 milioni
4. Criminal Minds (CBS, mercoledì ore 21.00) 14,30 milioni
5. Due uomini e mezzo (CBS, lunedì ore 21.00) 12,76 milioni
6. C.S.I.: Miami - replica (CBS, lunedì ore 22.00) 12,74 milioni
7. Cold Case - Delitti irrisolti (CBS, domenica ore 21.00) 12,69 milioni
8. C.S.I.: NY (CBS, mercoledì ore 22.00) 11,80 milioni
9. Numb3rs (CBS, venerdì ore 22.00) 11,28 milioni
10. NCIS - Unità anticrimine - replica (CBS, venerdì ore 21.00) 11,22 milioni
11. Eleventh Hour (CBS, giovedì ore 22.00) 10,90 milioni
12. Ghost Whisperer (CBS, venerdì ore 20.00) 10,89 milioni
13. Bones (FOX, mercoledì ore 20.00) 10,17 milioni
14. Brothers & Sisters (ABC, domenica ore 22.00) 10,11 milioni
15. The Unit (CBS, domenica ore 22.00) 9,87 milioni
16. The Big Bang Theory (CBS, lunedì ore 20.00) 9,67 milioni
17. E alla fine arriva mamma! (CBS, lunedì ore 20.30) 9,40 milioni
18. Private Practice (ABC, mercoledì ore 21.00) 9,17 milioni

Tutte le altre “matricole”
Di seguito, le serie e sit-com al primo anno di programmazione in onda in prima visione nella settimana considerata e non già specificate nella classifica qui sopra.

• Life on Mars (ABC, giovedì ore 22.00) 8,71 milioni
• Worst Week (CBS, lunedì ore 21.30) 8,28 milioni
• Kath & Kim (NBC, giovedì ore 20.30) 5,63 milioni
• Knight Rider (NBC, mercoledì ore 20.00) 5,12 milioni
• Crusoe (NBC, venerdì ore 21.00) 4,20 milioni
• Privileged (CW, martedì ore 21.00) 1,85 milioni

Le serie al secondo anno
Di seguito, le serie e sit-com al secondo anno di programmazione in onda in prima visione nella settimana considerata, un po’ tutte in calo rispetto allo scorso anno.

• Samantha chi? (ABC, lunedì ore 21.30) 8,72 milioni
• Dirty Sexy Money (ABC, mercoledì ore 22.00) 6,15 milioni
• Life (NBC, mercoledì ore 21.00) 5,94 milioni
• Lipstick Jungle (NBC, venerdì ore 22.00) 3,35 milioni

Gli altri programmi più visti della settimana

Tra reality, sport e news, ecco in ordine i più visti:

• il programma giornalistico “60 Minutes” (CBS, domenica ore 19.30) 18,47 milioni
• lo sport: “Sunday Night Football”, New York Giants - Philadelphia (NBC, domenica ore 20.30) 17,56 milioni
• il reality “Dancing With the Stars” (ABC, lunedì ore 20.00) 17,09 milioni
• il reality “Dancing With the Stars” (ABC, mercoledì ore 20.00) 15,85 milioni
• il varietà “Saturday Night Live Presidential Bash” (NBC, lunedì ore 21.00) 14,44 milioni
• il programma di commenti elettorali “Vote 2008″ (ABC, martedì ore 21.00) 14,19 milioni
• il programma di commenti elettorali “Decision 2008″ (NBC, martedì ore 21.00) 12,46 milioni
• il reality “Survivor: Gabon” (CBS, giovedì ore 20.00) 12,01 milioni

In the ongoing quest to find new and rocking artists for Best Week Ever I was sent this awesome song “Little Toy Gun,” heard in tonight’s episode, from a band called Honeyhoney. That is right, Honeyhoney – one word, no hyphens. Don’t make the same mistake I did when trying to look them up on the nearest search engine. You’ll probably get a bunch of ABBA videos.

When I first heard “Little Toy Gun,” it struck me as something Tarentino would use in Kill Bill Vol. 3 if he ever got around to making it. They also have a nice turn-of-the-century White Stripes thing going on (if Jack White looked like Shirley Manson and sang like Nancy Sinatra). For further evidence, listen to “Give Yourself to Me,” a song that has made its way on to my regular iTunes rotation.

If you are not quite yet sold on this band, maybe Jack Bauer himself can electroshock you with near-fatal levels of appreciation: KEIFER SUTHERLAND directed their video. Yes, it seems during last season’s 24 hiatus, Keifer was not just sitting on his couch playing ‘Twenty-four Shuffle’ (the game where you watch episodes from all six seasons of the show in completely random order – it makes the story wayyy better). The video is a badass homage to old-timey westerns and further proof of my White Stripes connection.

Pick up Honeyhoney’s new album “First Rodeo” in stores and on iTunes now. Check out the aforementioned video of “Little Toy Gun.”

Honeyhoney website

Honeyhoney MySpace

Kiefer Sutherland habla en una nueva entrevista sobre este tema.

Jack Bauer, o mejor dicho, Kiefer Sutherland es portada de la edición del día 17 de noviembre de TV Guide hablando de la tan esperada vuelta de “24″. El actor ha permitido la publicación fotos particulares y otras que él sacó en Sudáfrica durante las grabaciones de la película “24: Redemption”, que va a abrir la séptima temporada y será emitida en los Estados Unidos el próximo el día 23 de noviembre.

“Con la película es como si estuviésemos diciendo ‘eh, ¿se acuerdan de nosotros?’. Queriendo estar seguros de que seguimos interesando. Por eso pensamos en dar un aperitivo antes del gran banquete”, dijo Kiefer.

Y no es sólo el público el que precisa que le reavivien la memoria sobre Jack Bauer. El actor confesó que antes de empezar a grabar, él escribe una especie de diario con los pensamientos del personaje.

“Antes de cada temporada, yo escribo un libro sobre el personaje para hacerme entrar en sintonía con Jack y creo una historia como telón de fondo. Este año, escribí que Jack tenía que desaparecer del mundo occidental y volver hacia dónde comenzó en la primera temporada, en el bloque oriental. Él conoce personas allí y podría esconderse antes de marcharse a Kazajstán, a través de Oriente Medio, cruzando la India y después llegando hasta África para encontrarse a su viejo amigo Carl (Robert Carlyle). Es ahí que la película - y los problemas - empiezan”, contó Kiefer.

¿Y lo que pasa en la película? Tres años pasaron desde que la sexta temporada terminó y es el día de la toma de posesión de la primera presidente mujer de Estados Unidos, Allison Taylor… Un inciso… recordar “primera mujer presidente” ¿increíble? Obama es el primer presidente negro pero antes ya había habido uno en… 24.

En el momento en el que Allison asume el poder, la historia que se está desenrollando en África, en la ficticia ciudad de Sangala, va a volverse prioridad. Veremos, inclusive, el paso de una administración a otra con la presencia de Noah Daniels, lo que va a servir para rellenar el agujero entre la sexta y la séptima temporada.

Tony Almeida también estará de vuelta, él estará bastante vivo.

“No sólo Tony no está muerto, es que ha estado haciendo algo muy malo. Será el momento de oscuridad de la serie”, dijo el co-productor ejecutivo Howard Gordon.

La séptima temporada de “24″ se estrena en ESTADOS UNIDOS el día 11 de enero.

ADAPTADO DE PIZQUITA TV…

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