Reviews and More

I have a Beagle who has been suffering from terrible skin irritations for the last couple years. The vet doesn’t have any real answers for us, but thinks the red, itchy, flaky skin is the result of stress and anxiety.

I’ve tried a bunch of different prescription medications for my dog, but none of them work for an extended period of time. Plus, they’re very expensive and I simply can’t afford to spend $80 per month indefinitely. So I finally decided to try Tea Tree Spray from a company called Gold Medal Pets.

Tea tree oil comes from a tree that is indigenous to Australia and that has been used medicinally for hundreds of years. Some of the specific applications of tea tree oil include relieving itchy, dry, scaly skin, so this sounded like something my dog could benefit from.

I bought an 8 fl oz. bottle for about $6.00 at my local pet store and have been spritzing my Beagle twice a day for the last month or so. I’m happy to report that the Tea Tree Spray seems to be working! It hasn’t “cured” the skin problem, meaning that there are still red, irritated patches on my dog’s sides, neck, and paws, but the amount of scratching has decreased drastically! I feel so much better knowing that I’ve been able to provide my dog with some relief at last!

If your dog has stubborn skin problems, I recommend giving Gold Medal Pets’ Tea Tree Spray a try. It worked for my dog!

In the past few days, I’ve watched numerous episodes of Boston Legal from my DVD box set of the first season. Rather than recap all seven of them, which I simply don’t have time for and which I’m sure you don’t want to read back-to-back, I’m just going to give an overview of the positives and negatives of the series thus far.

First, the good:

• James Spader as Alan Shore — Spader is a fantastic actor and he really brings Alan Shore to life. I love how this character resides squarely in a moral “gray area.” He’s not a totally upstanding guy, so I’m not always in his corner, yet he’s not without some redeeming qualities, so I can’t hate him.

• Alan and Denny’s relationship — I like how these two seemingly different men have such a strong relationship. One of the best parts of the show for me is when Alan and Denny sit out on the balcony at the end of the day, smoking cigars and drinking brandy while talking about life in general.

• The Kelley touches — This is the fourth primetime legal drama from David E. Kelley, and I was a big fan of the other three (L.A. Law, Ally McBeal, and The Practice). I like how there are elements of the other shows in Boston Legal, yet BL remains very much a distinct, separate entity. I especially like how the Paul Lewiston character reminds me of Leland McKenzie from L.A. Law, and how most days begin with a staff meeting. Plus, drinking and music are big parts of BL, as they were for Ally McBeal.

And now the bad:

• Denny Crane — He is such a buffoon most of the time that I find it hard to believe he helped build the firm and still has so many contacts in high places. I mean, he’s so far out there that he’s barely competent anymore. How can every single high-ranking person in Boston owe him favors??

• The Supporting Staff — Tara and Lori are starting to grow on me, but Sally and Brad are pretty boring. Either give them some storylines that will develop their characters or get rid of them. Please!

• The ethical situations — I don’t like how in nearly every single show, the lawyers face such extreme ethical dilemmas. My stepfather is a partner in a large Chicago firm and he doesn’t run into these situations very often. I know the writers are trying to make the show dramatic and eventful, but find some other way to do it, please. Like have interesting cases, perhaps?

  In 10 episodes, there have been no less than three cases of lawyers impersonating someone else in order to get information: Sally pretending to be interested in that security guard, Lori pretending to be a therapist, and Tara pretending to be a flight attendant. Come on!

Overall, I do like this series and will definitely keep watching. I think the next episode is the one where Candace Bergen joins the cast, so I can’t wait to watch it!

I’m a huge sports fan and have been collecting memorabilia for a few years now. I have a lot of signed motocross jerseys, a couple of signed baseballs, and lots of autographed pictures of my favorite players in football, hockey, and baseball.

I want to increase my collection, but am having trouble finding reputable sports memorabilia dealers. I’ve heard so many horror stories about people getting stuck with fakes from eBay that I would never even try to buy from there. So today I was browsing around the Internet when I came across SportsMemorabilia.com. I could tell right away that this site was different because of their clear authenticity guarantee. Now that’s the kind of thing I want to read before spending hundreds of dollars on a product!

I was impressed by the number of items they have for sale. I’m particularly interested in this full-sized USC helmet signed by Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart. I was a fan of the Trojans when those guys were tearing up the NCAA, and now I’m following their pro careers in New Orleans and Arizona, respectively. Those two are going to be major superstars, so it would be nice to grab a piece of memorabilia while it’s still affordable.

SportsMemorabilia.com is a cool site, and it’s definitely going into my Favorites folder right now!

Even though Christmas is over, the video store that I always go to still has a bunch of holiday DVDs up on a special display near the register. I happened to see the cover to Noel, a 2004 film starring Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams, Penelope Cruz, Paul Walker, and Alan Arkin, and just grabbed it at the last minute. I thought one more Christmas-themed movie wouldn’t hurt, and I thought the premise sounded interesting, so what the heck.

There are several different storylines in this movie. First, there’s Rose (Sarandon), a middle-aged woman who has a successful career but little else in her life. Rose has spent the last decade taking care of her mother, who is hospitalized with Alzheimer’s, and she has neglected her own personal life to do so.

Then there are Mike (Walker) and Nina (Cruz), a young couple on the verge of getting married. The problem is that Mike is insanely jealous and possessive of Nina, to the point that he assaults a male friend of hers because he mistakenly thinks they’re having an affair. Nina then gets second thoughts about marrying him, and goes to her family’s place to think things over. Meanwhile, Mike runs into a creepy diner owner named Artie (Arkin) who seems to think that Mike is the reincarnation of his dead wife.

And finally, there is Jules (played by Marcus Thomas). He’s a young man whose best Christmas ever was the one he spent in the emergency room as a child. The hospital staff gave all the patients a Christmas party with presents and all. Jules wants to relive that time, so he does something to ensure that he lands in the hospital once again.

All the action in the story takes place on Christmas Eve, and the movie is full of typical scenes showing what lonely people supposedly do. One character thinks about suicide. Another does something desperate so as not to be alone. Someone else has an epiphany and changes his entire personality overnight.

I wanted to like this movie because I like Susan Sarandon so much. And indeed, her character’s story was the most compelling for me. But the way it was resolved, and the way the Robin Williams character was introduced, just didn’t sit well with me. It felt more like a cop-out than a “miracle,” and I didn’t like it. The other storylines were completely uninteresting, and the one involving Arkin and Walker’s characters was so ridiculous that I felt like skipping through their scenes.

Overall, I think Noel tries to be a heartwarming holiday story, but it falls far short of that goal. There are better Christmas movies out there, so you’d be wise to avoid this one. I give it 4.5 stars out of 10.

I’ve had this Review and More blog for just about four months now, and it finally seems that the site is developing its own personality. I’m getting more and more comfortable writing my reviews, I’m seeing a steady increase in the amount of traffic I get, and I’m noticing a good number of repeat visitors (i.e. faithful readers). So now I think it’s time to address the design of the site.

As you can see, I went with a minimalistic theme at first because I didn’t have the patience to sort through the options that are out there. But this particular design is pretty boring, so I’m interested in having a company create something specifically for me. I have a few ideas in mind; I just need the right people to execute it.

I recently learned about a Spokane web design firm that handles this kind of project. The company’s website is at jquindlen.com, and I spent some time browsing through their online portfolio of completed designs. I was very impressed by what I saw, and am certain that they’ll be able to help create an excellent theme for my site. Plus, I noticed that the prices they charge are incredibly affordable, which should make this decision a no-brainer when it finally comes time for me to take action.

While I was on the site, I noticed that jquindlen.com has done work for a number of commercial entities as well. If you’re currently marketing products or services on the Internet, then you already know how crucial it is to make a good impression on customers. If your site looks amateurish, people aren’t going to want to spend their money with you. They’ll go to a competitor and you’ll lose out on all those sales. If you’ve got high traffic numbers but low conversion rates, then this could very well be your problem. I recommend contacting jquindlen.com to see what they can do for you.

Whether you have a personal website or a commercial one, chances are you can benefit from a brand new design from jquindlen.com. Take a look and let me know what you think!