Reviews and More

Let me start off by saying that I’m not exactly a James Bond fan. I’ve seen a couple of the more recent movies with Pierce Brosnan in the lead, but missed everything before that. I’ve never read an Ian Fleming book, and was never interested in the heated debates over which actors were or were not fit to play James Bond.

I’d of course heard that there would be a new Bond this year and, though I didn’t know anything about him, I’d seen pictures of Daniel Craig around the Internet. I thought to myself, “He doesn’t look like a suave, sophisticated spy,” and thought he wouldn’t make a good James Bond. How wrong I was!

I only went to see Casino Royale because my husband wanted to see it, so I wasn’t expecting much out of it. At first, it looked like my low expectations were warranted. There was an extended chase scene after the opening credits that, while at times was exciting, isn’t the way to start a movie, IMO. I wanted to meet Bond first, and then see him in action. There were some cool stunts during that sequence, but it lasted too long.

After that, however, the movie really took off. In the previous Bond films I’d seen, the plot was always so twisted and convoluted that I couldn’t really understand what was going on. Luckily, that wasn’t the case with Casino Royale. Most of the time, I knew precisely what was happening (and why), and that added immensely to my enjoyment of the film.

I won’t go into plot details here, but I do want to say that Daniel Craig was fantastic in this movie! I thought he made a great James Bond and I’ll freely admit that I was way too quick to judge him. I liked what he did with the character here and am looking forward to seeing him in future 007 movies. I also loved Eva Green as Vesper Lynd. She wasn’t the typical Bond girl in that she was witty and intelligent in addition to being beautiful.

Overall, Casino Royale was a fun, exciting movie that is well worth seeing in the theater. I give it 8.5 stars out of 10 and I’m sure you’ll like it too!

I think most people who work outside the home would agree with me when I say that getting your annual review is one of the most important events of the year. After all, most companies base compensation and promotion decisions at least in part on these reviews.

I had one supervisor in particular who was always late turning in my review — sometimes by 6 weeks or more. She really could have used some kind of employee review software to help speed up the process. At least my raises were retroactive to the date when my review was supposed to be turned in, but still…. it would be nice to get these things on time!

A month ago, I wrote about how much ESPN GamePlan sucks. I couldn’t access live games when I wanted, and it wasn’t much easier to get to the archives. Plus, there were a bunch of minor annoyances that I didn’t cover in my last post, like how if I happened to move my pointer outside the GamePlan screen, the damn thing would shut off!

It seems that a lot of subscribers have had trouble with ESPN GamePlan, so my experience was certainly not an isolated incident. A couple of them were kind enough to post the ESPN customer service number for me, which I’m now sharing with you. Please use it if you’ve had problems with GamePlan.

ESPN GamePlan Customer Service Phone Number:
1-888-549-3776

I really like the GamePlan concept, but ESPN needs to know about all the bugs. Even if you can’t get a refund, maybe your input can help the development team come up with a better version for the ‘07 season.

Until then, I wouldn’t bother signing up for the Bowl Game package if I were you!

I feel very fortunate to be able to say that my husband and I have been happily married for almost six years now. We haven’t needed the services of a marriage counselor yet (knock on wood), but I’ve had plenty of friends who have tried this type of counseling with varied degrees of success.

I just learned of a website that features marriage counseling resources and contact information for a network of licensed counselors in the Pennsylvania area. On the site is a free recording of an interview with Arlene Foreman, M.S. I listened to a good portion of the interview and thought Ms. Foreman presented lots of great insight. At one point, she says that she doesn’t try to save marriages; instead, she tries to save people. I like this approach and can see how it could be a very effective one.

I was also struck by the fact that the average couple waits seven years from the time problems first arise to the time they decide to go in for counseling. That’s kind of a shocking statistic, isn’t it? If you’re having problems in your marriage, I certainly hope you won’t wait that long to seek professional help.

Check out the site, give the free recording a listen, and take the necessary steps to turn your marriage around.

It’s been more than a decade since I read >Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens and I’ve forgotten all the details of the book, so when I sat down to watch the 2005 big-screen adaptation directed by Roman Polanski, I had nothing to compare the film to. I basically remembered a few of the major characters’ names, but nothing more.

I thought this would make the film less enjoyable to me, but actually the opposite was true. I read that a lot of fans were disappointed with this particular adaptation because it omits several key storylines and plot points. I didn’t notice the omissions, however, and so was able to take the film at face value.

The title character in this Polanksi version is played by Barney Clark, who chooses to make Oliver appear as a victim throughout the film. I always had an image of Oliver as being slightly more cunning than that, but I guess I was wrong. Anyway, Oliver is an orphan who falls in with a gang of pickpockets headed by an old man named Fagin (Ben Kingsley), who in turn reports to the evil Bill Sykes. Oliver can see that this type of life is wrong, but he’s got no place else to go and would hardly be able to survive in London on his own.

Then one day he is falsely accused of stealing books from a shop, which brings him into contact with Mr. Brownlow (Edward Hardwicke), who is to be his savior. Oliver goes to live with Mr. Brownlow and finallly gets a taste of the good life. But Fagin and Sykes are worried that Oliver will spill the beans about their operation, so they track him down. Once they see how wealthy Mr. Brownlow is, they try to rob him.

One thing leads to another, and Oliver falls back into Bill’s clutches. But Dickens’s stories usually have happy endings, so you can guess how this one turns out.

Like I said, I thought this was an enjoyable film on the whole — as long as you’re not going to sit there the whole time comparing it to the original book. The part that stood out the most for me was Ben Kingsley’s performance. He was simply amazing as Fagin! For some odd reason, though, he reminded me of Geoffrey Rush in this movie….

I give Roman Polanski’s Oliver Twist 7 stars out of 10. I know it bombed at the box office, but it’s actually a pretty good movie. Check it out!

There’s no question that Disney World is one of the top attractions in Florida, and as such, many families head to Orlando for vacation each year. Since there are so many Orlando Florida hotels to choose from, it can be hard to select the right one before you go, especially if you’ve never been to that city before.

How can you overcome this problem? By visiting a website that specializes in Orlando vacations and by searching their database to find hotels that match your criteria. The more criteria you can specify (such as specific location, price range, amenities, etc.), the more precise your results will be and the better your chances of finding great lodgings for your vacation.

I bought a Nintendo DS a few months ago specifically so that I could play the New Super Mario Bros. game. I was sure that I’d find other uses for the DS, so I wasn’t worried about wasting my money for a single game. Here’s what I think of the DS thus far.

I want to say that I also have a PSP, so comparisons with that system are inevitable. At first, it took me a little while to get used to the dual screen on the DS. I couldn’t figure out why it was necessary to have two screens like that, and I’ll admit that it bothered me. But once I got used to it, I actually started to like the layout.

The DS screen seems a lot smaller than the PSP screen. I don’t have actual measurements in front of me, so I can’t give you numbers, but the difference is noticeable, especially after playing exclusively on the PSP for so long. This is a negative, as far as I’m concerned because I like nice, big screens.

The graphics on the DS aren’t nearly as sharp as they are on the PSP (judging from the Mario Bros. game), so this is another area where the PSP has an edge.

Despite these shortcomings, I really like the DS because of the Mario Bros. game. It’s just so much fun to play! Plus, I like the fact that I can buy software other than games for the DS (cookbooks, dictionaries, etc.).

Overall, I’m very satisfied with my purchase. The Nintendo DS may not look as sleek and cool as the PlayStation Portable, but it’s still a fun little system!

One of the most frustrating things about home improvement projects is coming up with a reasonable estimate to ensure that you have enough money to cover the cost of seeing the project through all the way to the end. I personally find it very difficult to estimate painting costs, which is why I like this online estimator tool that someone told me about. Obviously it’s not something that I’ll need to use very often, but it’s a cool site to know about. Plus, there are 12 CertaPro outlets in my area, so I’ll be able to use them when I’m ready to paint.

Bath and Body Works is one of my favorite stores. I can’t go to the mall without stopping in to check out all the latest bath and aromatherapy products. I just love taking baths, especially in the winter. This is a habit I picked up from living in Japan part of the year (where I have an awesome, state-of-the-art self-heating tub, I might add) and it has really grown on me over the years.

Anyway, one of my favorite Bath and Body Works products is the Sandalwood Rose foam bath. This is an excellent foam bath that truly works wonders in helping me relax after a long day of hunching over my keyboard. It feels great and smells great, and I can’t imagine taking a bath without it!

If you like soaking in baths, you simply must check out this Sandalwood Rose Foam Bath. It’s the best!

If you sell products or services through a website, then you already know how difficult it is to attract and retain customers. The sheer number of choices available on the Internet, coupled with the general difficulties of achieving good search engine placement, means that it’s easy for your site to get lost in the shuffle.

One way to increase traffic and therefore generate higher sales is to hire an internet marketing company to promote your site. USWeb is one such company, and their team of SEO professionals can really turn your site around. USWeb will develop a marketing plan specifically for your target audience, which will help with brand awareness, audience development, and customer retention.

If I had something to sell, I’d definitely do everything I could to get noticed. USWeb sounds like the way to go!