I finally pulled out one of the movies that I purchased a few months ago, but never have gotten around to watching.  (Hey, you have to take advantage of those Amazon specials as they come up.)  The movie was Island in the Sky starring John Wayne.  The film was produced by his production company, Wayne/Fellows Productions, and he is one of the two producers.  The story involves the emergency landing of a World War Two-era Douglas C-47 Skytrain in Labrador due to the buildup of ice on the wings and the search and rescue of the crew members.  It was actually a very riveting film with some amazing photography. 

I’m not your typical John Wayne fan.  I like his films, the ones I’ve seen, but I won’t go out of my way to watch one.  My dad, on the other hand, is a die-hard fan and has most likely seen all of his movies multiple times.  I was very pleased with John’s performance here.  He didn’t portray the character with the usual machismo you normally associate with a John Wayne role.  You saw fear and uncertainty.  It was a great role.  James Arness also starred as well as some relatively unknown actors that would later gain fame through television:  Mike Connors (Mannix) and Fess Parker (Daniel Boone).  Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer also had a small somewhat comedic role as the copilot of one of the rescue aircraft.  This is a film that I would whole heartedly recommend to anyone.

DVD Cover for Island in the Sky

I know.  I really do need to get back to this.  Let me first just say that it’s been a beautiful summer here in Germany, and I’ve been enjoying it.  Ok, so that covers some of the time.  How about I REALLY needed to get caught up on CSY: X?  Yeah, well that’s done too.  So here I am.

I currently feel the need to talk about the newest online service that I discovered recently: MP3tunes.  They offer a service called Locker.  You can either sign up for a free account or a premium service for $39.95 a year.  Since I wanted to test it first, I signed up for the free service which gives me up 2 GB of storage space for my music.  It works well, but since it’s free, you have limited control.  Here’s the process:  download LockerSync and then let it run.  It will find the music on your computer and then upload it to your account.  I really do recommend that you start this process before you go to bed, if you have a large connection.  Then go online and sign into your account.  Voila, you can now listen to your iTunes (or other) collection online.  Why you asked?  It keeps you from having to move your music around with you, and if you work in a place that won’t allow you to bring in an iPod, all you need is a computer account.  The premium service offers much more including a 50 GB storage space.  I think it’s time to see what else this site can provide.

Let’s see what the Cute Monster says about me:

What Your Cute Monster Says About You

You are a very natural, real person. You’re comfortable with who you are – and your spirit truly shines through.You are free of inhibitions and hang ups. Because of this freedom, you tend to be very creative. Your inner demon is greed. You can’t help but lust after wealth and shiny objects. People think you’re cute because you are so lively. Your natural glow makes you charming.

I’ve been very delinquent in reporting about the trip to London.  It’s been a busy couple of weeks!  I do want to quickly remark about our Saturday night though.  After a day of sightseeing, we had dinner in Chinatown.  The restaurant where we ate was nice but unremarkable.  Afterwards, we decided to first try to get into one of the pubs near Piccadilly and Leicester Square.  We saw an Irish Pub called O’Neill’s and went for it.  How anticlimactic!  We walked right in and straight up to the bar with no problem.  So, it was two ciders and up to the second floor.  We staked a good location to hang out and watch the people and there we stayed the entire night.  The music was Irish folk for about 20 minutes after we arrived and then switched to good ol’ rock.  We sang and danced until about 2:30 AM with anyone deciding to hang out near “our spot”. 

After leaving the pub, it was a small walk to McDonald’s for some quick food and then a long walk to find a taxi.  Before we decided to hike to find another taxi (this was actually going to be what would have been a disastrous hike back to the hotel,) we ran into a black market taxi.  The man wanted 20, but Uli refused to pay more than 15.  After a few fun moments watching Uli and driver bargain over the price, the man gave up.  I told Uli he was master.  Uli then said, ”There is no way I was getting in that car.  We would be kidnapped and raped.”  That was a good laugh.  After about 30 minutes of walking in the general direction of our hotel, we found a legitimate taxi to take us home.  When we arrived at the hotel, Uli tried to pay with a credit card.  The Taxi driver said, “Where do you think you are?  New York City?”  Again, another good laugh.  We went down the street a bit to an ATM, grabbed some cash and paid for the ride.  I had a great night, but it was definitely time for bed at that point.

Oh, and the title of this entry?   After about my fourth cider and while returning from a trip to the bathroom, I stumbled across a group of people doing pushups.  I’m not sure what was said, but I hit the floor and knocked out a few good Army pushups until they said I was worthy of another drink.  Yep, this old man still has it

O'Neill's Irish Pub at 14 New Row, London, WC2N 4LF

I have been to London twice this year, and on both trips, I decided to see a musical on Friday, the day of arrival.  This time my friend Uli went with me, and we saw Les Miserables.  I have been a huge fan of the story since seeing the movie with Charles Laughton and Fredric March when I was a teenager.  When the musical came out in 1980, I wanted to see it, but never did.  This time I put my money where my mouth is and saw it.  I was not disappointed.  The acting was superb and the music very good.  I don’t know that focus of the book, but the play took a more religious tone than the movies.  It’s always been a story of redemption.  As an ex-convict unable to find work, Jean Valjean’s life is changed by the kindness of a priest when he does not press charges against Jean for stealing the silver from the church.  Jean decides he must become a new man and repay that act of kindness by also being generous and saving lost souls.  However, as a former prisoner, this isn’t possible, and he decides to change his identity and violate his parole.  This brings in the other part of the story, one of obsession and blind obedience to the letter of the law.  He is constantly pursued by a policeman, Javert, who refuses to accept that a person can change.  The story covers a period of 20 years and ends shortly after the Student Revolt of 1832.  There are stories within the story, all dealing with Jean’s redemption and love for life.  It is a moving and beautiful story, and the music is memorable.  Next musical on the list is Monty Python’s Spamalot.

A couple of days ago, I excitedly connected to the iTunes store to see if they had a Season Pass for the new season of Terminator:  The Sarah Connor Chronicles to find out that it was not available.  Whether it will be or not is up in the air.  The show airs on the Fox Network, and they pulled another great show, House, as soon as it became popular.  So, it is entirely possible that I won’t be able to buy it again for my iPod.  I am becoming increasingly frustrated with the networks’ and studios’ greediness when it comes to how I can view my favorite movies and TV shows.  On the one hand, they complain about loss of revenue through piracy and peer-to-peer sharing of their products, and on the other, they make it difficult or costly for those of us who want to stay on the legal side of the entertainment industry. 

The same day I learned that Terminator:  The Sarah Connor Chronicles  wasn’t available, I found out that the last season of Battlestar Galactica is.  However, there’s no season pass, and it costs $2.99 an episode.  I can guarantee that the DVD set won’t cost that much to buy.  30 Rock, another great show, costs about $15 more for the season than if I buy the DVDs through Amazon.  COME ON!!!  Where is the incentive?  iTunes is only selling the episodes and no extras!  It is digitally transmitted, so the cost should be far less than the DVD version, which requires packaging, warehousing and everything else involved in traditional retail.  I’m not blaming Apple for this crime.  The company is being forced (at least that’s what I hope) to charge these ridiculous fees.  While I’m not a conspiracy theorist, it seems to me that “the industry” is trying to shut down the digital media.  For a while there, I really thought I was going to be able to go completely digital.  Maybe I still will….

Talk about a fantasy film!  Many people have wanted to see a movie with Jackie Chan and Jet Li together ever since their names became common place in the American movie industry, and maybe even beyond that.  The Forbidden Kingdom is a film for those who love a good fairy tale as well as martial arts afficianados.  The film has a feel of “The Neverending Story” meets “The Wizard of Oz” to it.  I really liked it.  

Jason, played by Michael Angarano, is a fan of martial arts films.  He lives in Boston and is friends with an elderly Chinese pawn shop owner, Hop, who supplies him with DVDs.  During this latest visit, he notices an antique staff, which Hop informs him is waiting to be returned to its rightful owner.  After the visit, he’s confronted by bullies who force him to return so they can rob the place.  After a fight where Hop is badly injured, Jason grabs to staff to keep it safe, but is then carried back to ancient China.  After being chased from a village, he meets Lu Yan, who helps him fight off the attackers.  Jackie Chan stars as Lu Yan, the Drunken Immortal.  They then begin an adventure to return the staff to the Monkey King who 500 years earlier was tricked by the Jade Warlord, Colin Chou.  Along the way, they are befriended by Golden Sparrow, Liu Yifei, and meet up with the Silent Monk, played by Jet Li.

I hate spoiling films for people and can never decide what is too much, so this will have to be it for this review.  My movie reviews will be always be bare bones and give the briefest of synopsis.  Can you really call it a review then?  Anyway, if you’ve seen this movie, let me know what you thought of it.

The Forbidden Kingdom

Talk about a small, yet inviting fest…  I first went to the Vaihinger Herbst last year after I moved to Vaihingen.  I had a nice time, ate a lot of good food and enjoyed the live music.  This year I went with a few friends for one big evening.  We seem to be having a cold autumn, so we were very happy to see that Glühwein was on the menu at two of the stands.  It warmed us up just right.  Also, to my delight, the band I enjoyed last year, Splash, was back again for some fun.  They are an excellent cover band and perform songs spanning four decades.  One of the musicians does a very good Elvis impersonation, and the female lead can belt out Janis Joplin with no effort.  As the Glühwein “warmed” us up, we sang along with the band with an increasing volume.  They really noticed us when they sang the Beastie Boys “Fight for Your Right”.  One of the guitarists would point our way with his guitar and smile everytime they came to “You’ve gotta fight, for your right, to Party!”  They even acknowledged our table at the closing.  I think that we’ll all be back again next year