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!

I often read literary classics, but since I’m not in school anymore and since I wasn’t a lit major, I’m always worried that I’ll miss out on significant passages, symbolism, etc. in the books I read. Therefore, I started using the Classic Notes portion of the GradeSaver.com website. [I am in NO WAY endorsing the practice of purchasing essays; I am writing this review specifically about the notes section of that site.]

Classic Notes provides free, comprehensive summaries and analyses of numerous classic novels from authors such as Dickens, Faulkner, Austen, Shakespeare, and more. What I do is read a few chapters out of whatever book I’m trying to get through, then go to the Classic Notes website to read the corresponding summaries just to make sure that I’m clear about what’s going on in the book. This practice allows me to get so much more out of what I’m reading!

I really like the way the Classic Notes website is set out. It’s easy to search for novels by either title or author, and you can quickly navigate through the different sections of the summaries. In addition, there are usually a couple of multiple choice quizzes for each novel, so you can check your understanding and retention of the material after you’ve finished reading the book.

Classic Notes is a wonderful resource for anyone who wants to get more enjoyment out of the classics when they don’t have a literature professor to guide them. Excellent site!

I’m moving right along on my quest to read all of Agatha Christie’s mystery novels in chronological order. I recently finished The A.B.C. Murders, her 18th novel, which was published in 1936. This book featured Hercule Poirot and his faithful friend, Captain Arthur Hastings. Here’s my take on the novel.

The basic plot of The A.B.C. Murders is as follows: One day Poirot receives a letter that specifies a date on which “something bad” will happen in a certain town. The writer, identified only as “A.B.C.,” taunts Poirot and tells him to stop the crime if he can.

Poirot thinks the letter should be taken seriously, so he and Hastings go to Scotland Yard to show it to Inspector Japp. The inspector waves it away, saying that Scotland Yard receives numerous letters in the same vein nearly every single day. It’s probably just a crackpot out to mess with Poirot. The Belgian detective feels that something isn’t quite right with the letter, but listens to Japp in the end and tries to forget about it.

But then something does happen on the date specified in the letter. A woman is murdered under mysterious circumstances, and the only clue found at the scene was an ABC railway guide. This was obviously done by the “ABC” of Poirot’s letter, so Poirot and Hastings join the investigation.

A few days later, Poirot receives another letter, again specifying a day and place. The police are unable to stop the killer, so they end up with another dead body. With two murders to examine, Poirot can see a pattern emerging: the killer is choosing victims based on the first letter of their surname. He killed an “A” first, and then a “B”. Poirot and the police can guess what’s coming next.

The rest of the novel deals with the details of the investigation as Poirot races against time to prevent the murderer from making his way through the entire alphabet. As you probably know, Poirot always gets his man, and this novel was no exception.

I enjoyed The A.B.C. Murders very much. I thought I knew who the killer was, but then Christie pulled one of her trademark surprises at the end and I was caught completely off guard. Even though Poirot managed to solve the case based on the flimsiest of evidence and clues (which many readers have grumbled about), I still thought this was an engrossing story. Not one of Christie’s best, perhaps, but a top 10 selection out of the 18 that I’ve read thus far.

Overall, I can definitely give this book a solid recommendation.

I lead a very ordinary life and don’t attend black-tie events or galas very often. Nevertheless, I sure do like to read about those things! I’m always looking for great resources that will help me stay on top of the latest etiquette and fashion news, so I was happy to come across a blog maintained by the people behind Belisi Fashions. The blog is called The Diva’s Dreams and has many interesting articles about topics related to living the high life: wine tasting, party hosting, gourmet dining, and of course upscale fashion and style.

I particularly like the way the blog shows off pieces from the Belisi collection, complete with both photographs and text descriptions. That gives me a better idea of what the products are like so I know exactly what I’m getting. I just wish the blog were updated more frequently.

If you’re interested in high-end neckties, scarves, and other accessories, check out Belisi Fashions!

I was just browsing through another blog and I came across a post about the Gender Genie website. The Gender Genie is a tool that uses an algorithm to determine the gender of the author.

I thought this sounded pretty interesting, so I visited the Gender Genie site and pasted some of my recent blog entries into the box. Out of four tries, the Gender Genie was accurate only 50% of the time in guessing that I am female. I wasn’t really surprised, though, because my writing is often mistaken for a male’s. For instance, if I post on forums or message boards, people tend to assume that I’m a male until I reveal otherwise.

What did surprise me is that the Gender Genie tabbed my reviews as male writing and my promotional posts as female. Weird!

Anyway, it’s a fun site, so check it out!

If you ask most people about their experiences with buying a home or purchasing other real estate, you’d probably find that there are more horror stories than good experiences floating around. Most of the time, that can be attributed to the realty company or real estate agent that you deal with.

For example, I remember when my friend Susan was in the process of relocating from Washington, D.C. to Atlanta, GA. Long-distance moves like that are difficult to pull off anyway, but SUsan’s was made even more complicated by the fact that her real estate agent didn’t listen to a thing she said regarding her wants and needs. The agent was more worried about his commission than anything else, so he kept trying to sell Susan homes that were way out of her price range. As a result, her relocation took six weeks longer than anticipated!

Perhaps if Susan had read some Atlanta real estate articles before attempting her move, she would have had a more positive experience. She would have had a better feel for what was going on in the area and she could have ditched that other agent for someone more in tune with customers.

At least the story turned out well. She did find a nice house in the end and has been living in Atlanta for more than six years now.

I’m going a bit crazy this month because all of my favorite television shows are on hiatus right now. I hate watching reruns, so I’ve been looking for alternatives to help get me through ’til January. As I mentioned before, I received the Season One Boston Legal DVD box set for Christmas and have been watching those episodes. Here’s what I thought of 1×02.

After a strong pilot, episode two felt like kind of a letdown. There were two cases featured in this program, but neither of them was very interesting. First, Alan helped an ex-girlfriend get out of a mental institution. The kicker: she was in there for trying to kill him! That case didn’t last very long, and once she got out, she turned into a weird stalker chick. It looks like she’ll be sticking around Boston, so I doubt that’s the last we see of her.

The second case featured Denny Crane defending a doctor in a malpractice suit. A woman was suing because the doctor caused emotional distress by the way he told her that her husband had died during an operation. Although the case itself wasn’t interesting, there were a few nuances going on, such as the other partners wanting to see Denny bomb in court so they could get rid of him.

So far, Alan and Denny are the only two characters that I have a bead on. I barely even know the names of the other lawyers, but I hope they’ll get into the action soon.

I give this episode 6 stars out of 10, and am crossing my fingers that things will be better the next time around!

In order for business to operate at maximum profitability, it’s critical for managers to know exactly how resources are being consumed, and in what quantity. Armed with this knowledge, managers can then identify problem areas and implement programs that will resolve these problems.

Sometimes, it takes the expertise of outside consultants to identify potential liabilities. That’s where a company like Acorn Systems comes in. Acorn Systems can provide your business with the tools you need in order to derive maximum value from your resources. For example, they have some IT chargeback software that can make it easy for your firm to allocate and predict costs, which in turn can help you understand the relationship between your IT consumption and IT expenses. This information can lead to better profitability in the long run.

If you think your organization might be able to benefit from IT chargeback software, check out the Acorn Systems website today!

Since I just posted a short list of future movie reviews that you can look forward to, I thought I’d do the same thing for upcoming book reviews. Here are the next five on my list:

1. The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie (just finished today; review should be up in a bit)
2. Money by Martin Amis (about 1/4 of the way through thus far; kind of stalled, though)
3. The Ambassadors by Henry James (this is a long one, so who knows when I’ll finish it!)
4. Scoop by Evenlyn Waugh (started this months ago, but haven’t quite finished yet)
5. Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie (short stories featuring Tommy and Tuppence)

It should take me at least six weeks to get through these books — probably even more since my regular television shows will be starting up again soon. So stay tuned!

Networking websites are all the rage these days, and there are now a lot of them out there for you to choose from. You’ve probably already heard of MySpace, but there are definitely alternatives to that site. For example, I just learned about a site called Sharea.com that takes social networking to a whole new level.

I spent some time browsing through the Sharea.com website, and I took the virtual tour to become better acquainted with the services they have to offer. I must say, I really liked what I saw! Users can take advantage of six different services all in one place. They are: social networking, media sharing, blogging, dating, storage, and instant messaging. I think it’s great that you can do all these things right there on the site.

What’s more, I saw that Sharea.com has three different privacy levels, so you can have more control over the information other people have access to. I know that privacy is a major concern with these networking sites, so it’s good to know that Sharea takes this issue seriously.

Overall, I think Sharea.com looks like a fun place to meet new people and share your life with family and friends. Check it out!

A couple of people have written in and asked me how I choose movies to watch and review. I think I’ve said this before, but just in case, I’ll throw it back out here for everyone: it’s a random thing. I go into Blockbuster and rent whatever catches my fancy. Right now I have about 5 movies on my “To Watch” list. They are:

1. Oliver Twist (Roman Polanski version)
2. In Her Shoes (with Cameron Diaz)
3. Guess Who (with Ashton Kutcher)
4. Casino Royale (going to the theather on Friday Night)
5. Robots (with my son)

I’ve already rented everything except Casino Royale, so I definitely have to watch them. If there’s anything else that you think I should see (preferably something already on DVD), leave a comment or shoot me an email.