5 Ridiculously Expensive Electronics on Amazon
Well today I stumbled across the most expensive electronics on Amazon, after sifting through the way overpriced web servers, hard drives and memory sticks, here are my top five.
1.) Waterfall Audio "Niagara" Diamond Glass Floor Standing Loudspeakers - Pair
At $53,999.95 there a great deal, with Prime you can get FREE 2 day shipping.
2.) Meade 20in MAX2-ACF f/8 Telescope - MAX2 Robotic German Equatorial Mount w/ AZ Pier 2008-MAX-12
At $35,899.00 you can see the moon, but at 878 pounds you may need some help moving it.
3.) Open Air Cinema CBE20 20' x 11' Elite Movie Screen w/ Projector & Speakers
At $29,999.00 you can start your own drive in theater.
4.) Sigma 200-500mm f/2.8 APO EX DG Ultra-Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon DSLR Cameras
At $25,999.00 your neighbors have never looked closer.
5.) Fluke TIR4/FT-10/20 IR Flexcam Thermal Imager with Fusion, 10.5/20MM
At $18,835.00 you'll find that drafty window in seconds.
Hope that helps you with your holiday shopping!
North by Northwest (1959) – Week Sixteen Movie Review
After catching up this week I finally got around to watching North by Northwest (1959) the movie of the week. This was another Alfred Hitchcock movie, a thriller, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. This was another film that I had never seen, and it turned out to be a good one.
Cary Grant plays Roger Thornhill who is a advertising executive who's identity is mistaken for a U.S. agent. Roger is then chased across the country. The story has many twists and turns and always keeps you guessing. North by Northwest was nominated for three Academy Awards but all three Oscars went instead to Ben-Hur.
Fun fact, at the time, the United Nations prohibited film crews from shooting around its New York City headquarters. Hitchcock used a movie camera hidden in a parked van to film Cary Grant and Adam Williams exiting their taxis and entering the building.
If you haven't seen this film give it a go, it's well worth the watch. I may even try to get a collection of Hitchcock films together and watch them, so far they have all been good. Next week I have American History X (1998) on my list of films to watch, a very graphic movie starting Edward Norton.
Citizen Kane (1941) – Week Fifteen Movie Review
Review number two for this week is Citizen Kane (1941), directed by and starring Orson Welles. The story revolves around the life and legacy of Charles Foster Kane, played by Wells, a tycoon newspaper publisher and the search for the meaning of his dieing word "Rosebud." As the reporters search for the meaning, they interview the people in his life in hopes to find the meaning.
The movie was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Outstanding Motion Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Writing. It only won the award for Best Writing. But many critics and scholars name it as the best film of all time.
All in all I enjoyed the movie, it was a bit slow to start but got more interesting as the movie went on. It's worth the watch and wont disappoint. Next on my movie list is North by Northwest (1959) it's another oldie, and I've never seen it.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) – Week Fourteen Movie Review
Late, I know but it's better then never, two weeks ago movie review was for Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)(you can get it on BluRay for all of $5.50). Directed by James Cameron and written by Cameron and William Wisher, Jr. it was the second installment of the Terminator franchise and the sequel to The Terminator (1984). Starting Arnold Schwarzenegger(the Governator), Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong. It is what I would say is the best in the Terminator line of films.
In this installment John Connor a ten years old is living in Los Angeles with his foster parents, when Skynet sends a new Terminator, back in time to kill John. Meanwhile, the future John Connor has sent back a reprogrammed T-800 Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, similar to the one that attacked his mother, to protect his younger self. The story has several good action scenes and plenty of explosions to keep you on the edge of your seat.
The CGI of this film was cutting edge at it's time and was one of the main reasons the film was as successful as it was. Although watching it now the CGI look surprisingly weak it really was state of the art at the time. It was key to the Academy Awards Best Visual Effects that the film won.
Not sure if there is anyone who hasn't seen this film, if you haven't it should be one of the films that you check out in your James Cameron history lesson. It really is one of Cameron's first great films. Later this week we'll be checking out one of the all times great movie by one of the all time great directors Orson Welles's Citizen Kane (1941).
American Beauty (1999) – Week Thirteen Movie Review
This mid-week review is American Beauty(1999) one of my all time favorite movies. Directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan Ball, American Beauty when on to win Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (for Spacey), Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography at the 72nd Academy Awards. Kevin Spacey performance really did deserve best actor for his role, he did a great job.
If you haven't seen the movie the general plot line is the Spacey's character has a bit of a has a midlife crisis witch changes him and his family. Over the course of the movie the characters have a lot of growth and change. The movie also touches on a lot of American issues and stereotypes making it meaningful to everyone.
American Beauty had a slow start in the theaters and had a strange release, being released in September of 1999 it reached 1528 theaters by the end of October. Then by February 4th 2000 it was down to just 10 theaters, it was then pushed back out into even more theaters reaching 1990 theaters by the end of March 2000. It ended up pulling in $130 mill from theaters.
Over all I would totally recommend this film to anyone that hasn't watched it, it's well worth it. Next on the list is Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), the best of the Terminator films I would say.
Toy Story 3 (2010) – Week Twelve Movie Review
This weekend I watched Toy Story 3 (2010), I know I'm a week late but I've had a few things going on. I saw this movie in theaters with my girlfriend, don't think I ever saw the second one, but I don't think it mattered. Buzz, Woody and friends have another adventure, this time Andy is off to college and the toys end up in a daycare.
The stars return to take back their roles in this computer animated film the big names include, Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Estelle Harris, John Ratzenberger, Wallace Shawn, Jeff Pidgeon, and John Morris. The graphics have improved over the years and the story line has kept up with the improvements.
If you like first one, you'll like this one. This week I'm going to be catching up on a couple movies by watching American Beauty (1999) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). It's been a while since I've seen either of those movies, it'll be good to give them another watch.
Saving Private Ryan (1998) – Week Eleven Movie Review
This week I watched Saving Private Ryan (1998) an epic World War II movie with an outstanding cast, directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. The outstanding cast includes Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Adam Goldberg, Jeremy Davies and Matt Damon.
The movie opens with the invasion of Normandy and then follows Tom Hanks and his men as they search for Private Ryan played by Matt Damon. I wont get into all the details of their journey the movie runs about 170 minutes and is action packed. It concludes with an epic battle to defend a bridge and destroy an approaching German Troops.
The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, with wins for Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Film Editing, and Best Director for Spielberg. This film also did very well in the box office and in it video release.
If you haven't seen this movie you should it truly is one of the greats, and yes I did cry at the end of the film, like always. Next week I'll be watching another great movie staring Tom Hanks, Toy Story 3 (2010). I'm pretty sure I wont cry at the end of that film.
Taxi Driver (1976) – Week Ten Movie Review
This weeks movie from the top 52 IMDB movie list is the psychological thriller Taxi Driver (1976). The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader Staring a young Robert De Niro as a depressed young man suffering from insomnia, living in New York he takes a job driving the night shift in a taxi. The rest of the cast is also outstanding and includes Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel, Leonard Harris, and Cybill Shepherd.
The movie's story line was interesting and kept you guessing for most of the movie as to where it was going. There was a bit of voice over in the movie from De Niro's character as he wrote in his journal. I'm not really a big fan of voice overs and wasn't a big fan of these. The characters in this movie are outstanding each is well defined and interesting.
The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor. The movie was filmed on a budget of $1.3 million, and was a financial success earning $28,262,574 in the United States. Interesting rumor was that a sequel is in the works with both Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese.
Over all I liked this one, it's worth a watch, and can see why it was on the top 50 list. Next week on my list is Saving Private Ryan (1998) a classic world war two movie with an outstanding cast.
Square Foot Garden Plans 2012
Well spring is just around the corner and I've started to think about what I'm going to be growing in the square foot garden. This year I'm cutting back on the number of different plants I'm going to put in. Just planted some seeds in my new Germination Station with Heat Mat, the last time I used a germination station I didn't use a heat mat and I didn't have great results. I hope that the use of the heat mat will increase the results and get some of my plants started early.
So what I've got in the germination station to start is some of the plants I'm going to get in early this spring. Getting some lettuce started it's a good in the cold weather. Starting some tomatoes because the last couple years they've been coming out a little late, had blossoms into October. Also getting some blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry plants started from seed, these plants won't be producing any berries this year so I'm getting started early. Hopefully we'll get these sprouting here soon getting some good solid roots grown.
I'm also going to get some cucumbers and green beans planted a little later into the season. We'll also have to see what comes up from last year, I didn't pick out all the green tomatoes that were still on the vines in November. There are also some some onions that I left in the ground last fall.
Already got some dirt and maunder for the 4 by 4 and some berry beds that I put in last year. This will add some fertilizer to the beds and hopefully make those plants happy. Going to be mixing that dirt into the box in the next week or so and we'll be ready to plant.
This year I'll try to keep the blog a little more updated with what's going on and what's going into the square foot garden.
Alien (1979) – Week Nine Movie Review
This week I watched Alien (1979) a science fiction horror film which scared the crap out of me as a kid. This time around I didn't feel as scared, thought a couple scenes did catch me off guard. Alien was directed by Ridley Scott who has directed some great movies like Blade Runner (1982), Thelma & Louise (1991), Gladiator (2000), Black Hawk Down (2001) and American Gangster (2007). There is also an outstanding cast including starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, and Ian Holm.
Watching this movie as an adult I didn't find it very enjoyable. I'm a big fan of science fiction but not a huge fan of horror films, and I think this film really is more of the latter. I wasn't impressed with the plot and I didn't feel that the characters had any reason to get back home. The characters were interesting but I think they could have been developed a little more.
Watching a movie over again is sometimes a problem and sometimes the changing factor each time you watch a movie you're going to have a different experience that the last time you saw it. Sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.
So overall I wasn't super impressed but if you're into science fiction horror films and you haven't seen it give it a watch. Next week we watch Taxi Driver (1976) staring a young Robert DeNiro.