Timescapes Timelapse: Learning to Fly from Tom Lowe @ Timescapes on Vimeo.

If you haven’t already seen this, you should check it out.  It’s a really cool timelapse nature video set against some music by Pink Floyd.

Don’t forget to turn up your sound!

About a year and a half ago, in an effort to get fit, we purchased a Horizon E900 Elliptical from Dicks Sporting Goods in Leominster, MA.

Before I make any major purchase I do a lot of research and for the price we were willing to pay, this appeared to be the best model available.  People that owned it seemed to think highly of it.

The unit has worked well.  On average, I probably use it two or three times a week and although I still weigh more then I’d like, it has done a pretty good of keeping me fit.

Tonight, I was about half way though my thirty minute session when I heard a strange noise coming from the bottom of the pedal arm.  I didn’t stop immediately, as I probably should have, but it didn’t matter because within a few seconds, the pedal arm had jumped out of the track and was moving on the floor.  I got off the unit and knelt down to see what was going on and found that the axle on the inside right wheel had sheared off.  Bummer.

I’m not surprised that something is broken on the unit, because it does take a lot of abuse in it’s day to day operation, but I am surprised by the part that did break.  It seems like it shouldn’t be a high stress area.  The wheel …

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Tom Cruise : Ray Ferrier
Dakota Fanning : Rachel
Justin Chatwin : Robbie
Miranda Otto : Mary Ann
Tim Robbins : Harlan Ogilvy
Directed by Steven Spielberg

It’s quiz time. Which of the following best describes the reason that Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds was produced:

A. The original movie wasn’t all that good and the new version improves on it.
B. The original movie was good but the director has a new take on the film
C. The original movie was good, but If we put out a new version we’ll make a lot of money

Let’s see it’s not A because the original version of War of the Worlds was actually a pretty good movie and the new version didn’t improve on it one bit.

And it’s not B because the new version tells the same story as the old version; the new version breaks no new ground.

So it must be…

You guessed it C. Dollar signs were apparently foremost on the mind of Spielberg and his DreamWorks buddies when they decided to produce this picture.

It’s not really a bad movie, it just wasn’t really needed. The 1953 movie had already told this story quite well and the 2005 version does absolutely nothing to improve on it.

In the original version, Gene Barry plays the …

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James Cagney : Arthur ‘Cody’ Jarrett
Virginia Mayo : Verna Jarrett
Edmond O’Brien : Vic Pardo/Hank Fallon
Margaret Wycherly : Ma Jarrett
Directed by Raoul Walsh

White Heat is one of those rare old movies that actually lives up to the hype. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard great things about an old movie but when I finally get to see it, I end up disappointed. This isn’t the case with White Heat however; it’s just as good as everyone says it is.

The story is about a psychopath, tough as nails gangster, Cody Jarrett, who has a weird, child-like attachment to his mother. Jarrett thinks nothing of robbing trains, stealing payrolls and killing people, but when times get tough, he needs the love and encouragement of his mom.

The story begins with Jarrett and the boys staging a train robbery during which Jarrett brutally kills the train engineers. During the heist, one of the gang members is seriously injured and his later death gives the Feds the ability to link the train robbery back to Jarrett. Jarrett sensing that the Feds now have the evidence needed to put him in prison for a long time confesses to another crime that he did not commit, but which serves as a alibi that prevents him from being implicated in the train robbery.

Jarrett later …

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Written and Directed by : George Lucas
Obi-Wan Kenobi : Ewan McGregor
Padmé : Natalie Portman
Anakin Skywalker : Hayden Christensen
Supreme Chancellor Palpatine : Ian McDiarmid

You’ve probably already heard people say that this movie is good and they are right, it really is.

This movie is the conclusion of the trilogy telling the story of Anakin Skywalker’s transformation into the evil Darth Vader.

As you already know, the original Star Wars (the first movie) was actually episode four of the series. It was followed by two sequels Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi that told the story of the restoration of the Jedi knights and the fall of the evil empire. The latest movie, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is the conclusion of the second trilogy which was actually the prequel of the first trilogy. Confused yet? This might help:

1. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (Movie #4 Released 1999)
2. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (Movie #5 Released 2002)
3. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Movie #6 Released 2005)
4. Star Wars (Released 1977 Movie #1)
5. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (Movie #2 Released 1980)

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