Feb 4, 2010 Movies/Music/Books/Browser/Beverages

"There is no accounting for taste."

MOVIES

Avatar - See it in 3D. Lots of explosions, great soundtrack by James Horner (Titanic too). Plot is a thinly veiled swipe at Corporations that fuel much of the economy and tries to paint the Military with Vietnam era stigma trying to bulldoze righteous occupants of the rainforest. James Cameron should know better, but no one will see this for the politics. This semi-animated tale of an indigenous people being oppressed with epic battles and explosions is an amazing fantasy brought to life. Seems right that Sigourney Weaver (Alien) stars as well.

One from the Heart - 1982. A real sleeper, and total box office disaster, this was a revisit. Bankrupted Zoetrope Studios. Great love story. Cast: Frederic Forrest, Terri Garr (Young Frankenstein), Nastaskia Kinski (Tess, Cat People), Raul Julia(Kiss of the Spider Woman), Lanie Kazan, Harry Dean Stanton (HBOs Big Love). This is "Moulin Rouge" before there was Moulin Rouge with Nicole Kidman. Quirky, musical and surreal, with elements of "Streetcar Named Desire" and Brando. I almost expected Frederic Forrest to scream a Brando-esque STELLA! a few times during the film. MUSIC by genius Tom Waits & Crystal Gayle. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Rated R: artsy, erotic, not for the kids, and sorry Marty, no explosions, much blood or violence. Did a second view with GREAT DIRECTOR COMMENTARY AS A SPECIAL BY COPPOLA. This film is a MUST for Garr, Kinski, Raul Julia and Tom Waits fans. CAUTION: If you liked the Godfather by Coppola, you are not guaranteed to like this one because he directed it. Most of American brainwashed Disney culture didn't see it. Available on Netflix.

Charlie Wilson's War 2007 HBO

Congressman CIA, true story Soviets covert Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts Music James Newton Howard, Mike Nichols film

WIKIPEDIA: Charlie Wilson's War (2007) is a biographical drama film recounting the true story of U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson (Dem., TX) who partnered with "bare knuckle attitude" CIA operative Gust Avrakotos to launch Operation Cyclone, a program to organize and support the Afghan mujahideen in their resistance to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The film is adapted from George Crile's 2003 book Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History.^[2] It is directed by Mike Nichols, written by Aaron Sorkin, and stars Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Om Puri, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Ned Beatty and Emily Blunt. It was nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, including "Best Motion Picture", but did not win in any category. Philip Seymour Hoffman was nominated for an Academy Award for "Best Supporting Actor".

GOOGLE CHROME BROWSER - Mac Beta
ALTERNATIVE BROWSERS are always a good thing. Especially for MAC. Google Chrome is available in Beta and seems to outperform Firefox for me. Firefox is slow and crashes from time to time, but nowhere as frequently as Internet Explorer did. Firefox can't handle too many open tabs and won't tell you that you have 35 open tabs. Speed is the thing and it hasn't crashed on my yet in two months of use on different machines. PS Opera still disappoints me as it confuses fonts and can't download files to the proper folder on the Mac platform. Safari still works but it can't remember things like id's and passwords.



Books
Buzz Aldrin, Magnificent Desolation, the long return home from the moon. Rocket Hero. a great story by someone who is not a wimp. What do you do for the rest of your life after going to Moon? Interesting story of one of my childhood heroes. Went from Apollo 11 to selling Cadillacs and back to the forefront of promoting Space Flight after recovering from alcoholism and depression.

Wesley the Owl - Romance novel, for the naturalist. True story a woman's 19 year relationship with an adopted, injured Barn Owl. Great for nature fans, biologists and folks who love "critters." I loved it and couldn't put it down. Quick read, it is not SHOGUN.

Yanni In Words. Copyright 2002. Very interesting biography of a perfectionist. Whether you like the music or not (I do), creatives will gravitate toward his story of succeeding agains tremendous odds and roadblocks. Throw in some paragraphs by Linda Evans and stories of his early rock career and it makes for an "R" rated story. I like his view of the creative process as I can relate it to photography.

Music

Yanni Voices After reading the book, I investigated what he had done lately and found an album cover of a clean shaven guy with short hair. I did not recognize him at first. The album is phenomenal IF you like Opera and/or Pop Vocals. Yanni fans will like it no matter what. He teamed up with Producer Ric Wake (Celine Dion, JayLo, etc.) to promote four up and coming vocalists, Nathan Pacheco, Chloe, Ender Thomas, and Leslie Mills. Yanni only composes instrumental music. However, on this project, Ric Wake found four new talents that wrote lyrics for (mostly) existing Yanni music and sang it. While they are all VERY GOOD, to my ears, the standout is Nathan Pacheco who just knocks his songs out of the park. Personally, I put him #2 to Luciano Pavorati. But there is no accounting for taste. http://www.yanni.com/

Al Dimeola in concert with the new World Symphonia ensemble. Saw him at the Count Basie theater last week. Amazing, played for almost three hours. He is going back in the studio and they will have a new CD later in the year. Opened with a new pianist he appears to be mentoring:Taylor Eigsti Gumbi Ortiz is his perennial conga player, and rounds out with Accordion, another guitar, drums and bass. For more info on the Tour and cities: http://www.aldimeola.com/new-site/tour.php

Forgotten Cold night beverages

Hot Buttered rum: Shot of Rum in a coffee cup of hot water. Sugar to taste, float a small pat of butter. Cinnamon stick, nutmeg, allspice optional to taste.

Tea with Port: Coffee mug with 50% water and regular tea 50% Taylor Port or other Non-Vintage port. Sugar to taste.

"Whiskey mac" Any whisky, (best with Generic Scotch): 1:1 with Stones Ginger wine. Serve neat in a Brandy snifter

WSJ-ZumoDrive and the Cloud

Interesting article from the WSJ on Cloud Computing. I have been frustrated by Apple's MobilMe which works for some people but not others, as Walt Mossberg has previously described. Apple admits glitches too. These "Cloud" services simply mean you data is "safely secured" outside your computer and not on your premises. The data is out in Cyberland or the "Cloud." As such, I don't post anything that I would consider confidential. Common sense should dictate what you risk exposing.

I have been using Google docs to have documents in development available for collaboration with only me. I use three computers routinely in various locations and having a Google doc offsite lets me have access to the same version from all three locations. So for today, ZumoDrive and no, I have not tried it.

JA

PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

DECEMBER 3, 2009

ZumoDrive Service Is a Silver Lining In 'Cloud' Storage

By WALTER S. MOSSBERG

As people acquire multiple digital devices, including tiny netbooks and super-smart phones, it becomes harder to coordinate all their documents, music and photos so they have access to them from whichever device they're using at the moment.

People resort to all sorts of time-consuming methods for doing this. Some email the items to themselves. Others copy them to USB thumb drives and manually transfer them to each machine. Still others use Internet-based, or "cloud," storage, uploading all their photos to a service like Flickr or Facebook, or using Web-based productivity programs like Google Docs. And some use Web-based backup, storage or synchronization services.

Each of these methods, even the cloud-based ones, has limitations and frustrations. Some are complicated, or work only with certain kinds of files. Others work only when you have a Web connection, or don't replicate your preferred folder structure. Still, others work OK with standard files and folders, but have trouble with specially arranged content, such as music that is organized in a jukebox program.

I've been testing a cloud-based service that attempts to solve these problems. It is called ZumoDrive, and it comes from a small company called Zecter Inc. A new version is due out this week that aims to add some capability and make the task simpler.

ZumoDrive mimics a standard physical hard disk, which can contain numerous folders and files. It works on Windows, Macintosh or Linux computers, and also comes in a more limited version for the Apple iPhone. It presents itself as a standard hard-disk icon on all your computers. But it's actually a single, identical virtual hard disk that lives on the company's servers, not on the computers themselves. The files it contains are rapidly streamed down to your machines when you need them.

I tested the service on a desktop Windows PC, a netbook, two Mac laptops and an iPhone. I generally liked ZumoDrive and found it easy to use, and pretty fast. But I ran into a few glitches, and it can be pricey. The new version will offer 2 gigabytes of storage free, but will cost a monthly or annual fee for more storage, ranging from $30 a year for 10 gigabytes to $800 a year for 500 gigabytes.

Also, like all cloud-based storage, ZumoDrive isn't fully accessible when you're offline. It caches, or automatically downloads, some recently used files, making them available offline. But you may want to open a document or play a song that is available only when you are online.

There have been online storage services for years, including some that could appear as desktop icons. In particular, ZumoDrive competes with somewhat similar services such as SugarSync and DropBox. But it's different.

Unlike DropBox, it doesn't require you to remember to place files in a single, special folder. You can link your existing folders to the ZumoDrive. And, unlike SugarSync, it doesn't copy all your shared files to the hard disks of all your computers. It keeps the files in the cloud.

Compared with SugarSync, which I also like, ZumoDrive uses much less of your hard disk space, and does a better job with iTunes libraries. But SugarSync doesn't require you to be online to use the files it synchronizes, though it also keeps a backup copy that you can access from the Web.

You don't need to learn any special techniques to use ZumoDrive. Your computer sees the ZumoDrive as if it were a physical hard disk, so you can add and delete files to it in the normal ways. A program like Microsoft Word also sees it as a normal disk, and can open files from, or save them to, a ZumoDrive without a second thought.

And, because a ZumoDrive can be large without taking up much space on your local drive, it is especially nice for netbooks, which may offer relatively little storage. It also allows you to share folders with others, and encrypts the data you store on it, for security.

To use ZumoDrive, you first upload all your key stuff from your main computer. Then, once you install the small ZumoDrive program on your other devices, all those file names show up on your screen and can be fetched from the cloud when you like. You can add files and folders from the other computers as well. And you can also access your files via a Web site or an iPhone.

You can link folders on your computers to identical folders on your ZumoDrive, and they will stay in sync, so you can keep using the folder structure you're used to, and it will be up-to-date on the ZumoDrive.

ZumoDrive understands how to handle and centralize your iTunes music library. In my tests, I uploaded an iTunes library of about 900 songs from a Mac at my home, and was able to play the songs on a Windows XP netbook that had no music stored locally.

I ran into some glitches and limitations, all of which the company says it is fixing. For instance, at first my netbook didn't fetch all the iTunes songs.

But, all in all, ZumoDrive is a harbinger of the new world of cloud computing, and it is worth a look.

—Find all of Walt Mossberg's columns and videos online, free, at the All Things Digital Web site, walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page B11

Al Dimeola / Subway Busker Violinist / SI Italian

"THERE IS NO ACCOUNTING FOR TASTE"

MUSIC
Al DiMeola is on Tour. Jazz / Fusion Guitarist, he is coming to the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, NJ on January 29, 2010, 8PM with the World Symphonia band. This is his Acoustic, Argentinian influenced group. I am planning on going, good seats are still available in the orchestra. Lemme know if you want to go ASAP. Inexpensive by current standards, only $49.50 for orchestra.

NYC Subway
Photographed Micheal Shulman: Neo-Classical Shred Violinst. Sounds incongruous, but he is a very good crossover artist. I bought his CD. Dream Theater meets Paganini. www.blackviolin.com.
Photos at: http://www.photoshelter.com/c/johnares/gallery/MUSICIANS/G00006DdYu5qiNSY/P00003mdKQrJsx9c


FOOD
Staten Island: Enoteca Maria near the St George Theater is a find. With the Island being 35% Italian, you would think we would have better Italian restaurants. Mostly it is great Pizza.

Enter Enoteca Maria. It is really good and unique. It rotates chefs, "Italian Grandmothers" from different regions of the peninsula. So depending on what day you go, you might get Naples as opposed to Sicily. A great concept, in the heart of the city part of Staten Island. Reservations a must, specific seating times, parking on the street nearby, a short walk from the SI Ferry from Manhattan.

www.enotecamaria.com
27 Hyatt St
Staten Island, NY 10301-1801
(718) 447-2777


PHOTOGRAPHY
My blog has taken off for a general audience. Articles for all levels: Beginner, Enthusiast and Pro. News, fun photos, how-to's, tips and resources. Enjoy at: http://www.johnaresphotographic.blogspot.com/

JA PHOTOBLOG LAUNCH

I hate the term relaunch. Implies what was there before didn't work. Updates are good. Folks, I have returned to my roots as a photographer after Wall Street "freed up my future" last year. I started taking pictures at age 7 and never stopped, so this is nothing new to me. I have never been busier.

This is an update. Friends tell me "I don't know what he does." Here is my current Website along with 1000+ photos to view for fun and purchase on-line. www.JohnAres.com

The last 16 months have been a labor of love assembling the archive behind the scenes (always, from now into infinity), finding a capable e-commerce site, figuring that I want a T-shirt site (least developed), plus the archive and a password protected place for photos of family, friends and fiends.

Along the way, a Photo Tip page popped up for Beginners and Intermediates. Some time after that, a more Advanced Series of peer reviewed White Pages has materialized for pros. This will be the basis for a Workshop being presented at the Meadowlands Convention Center in NJ in 2010.

The latest addition is the John Ares Photographic BLOG. I have the vision of this being a resource for improving your photography. Tell me what you would like to see here. How do you want to improve your photos? So far it is mostly collection of articles I wrote, that have been published in DivePhotoGuide.com (DPG). DPG is perhaps the webs largest resource for Underwater Photographers.

" If you want PICTURES, shoot Film. If you want WORK, shoot Digital."
JA

www.JohnAres.com

There is no accounting for taste.
JA

MOVIES
FINALLY! After many years of holding back, CLEOPATRA, the early 1960's version with Liz Taylor, Burton and Rex Harrison has been released. This was particularly good timing coming on the heels of reviewing the two seasons of the HBO series ROME.

ROME has better production values and perhaps the same 80% attempt at historical accuracy, but to see 45 years difference in filming the same subject matter is fascinating. Burton and Taylor were an item that cannot be duplicated on or off screen so just see it for that reason alone. Available on Netflix. Neither Rome nor Cleopatra for the kids despite the good history lessons.


MUSIC
Last installment had the lilting Classical / Popera voice of Haley Wistenra, and the Electronic Classical treatments by Tomita, with the Pandora.com internet radio source. This time exposes my truly schizophrenic musical taste. I confess. None of the following are ever likely to be played on an American Radio Station. Maybe except Johnny Mathis. iTunes is the way I found most of them.

Classic Jazz
Jane Monheit has a new one out "The Lovers, The Dreamers and Me." Check out "I'm Glad there is You." While I like Dianna Krall, Jane I think has a better voice. OK shoot me.

Classic 60's Vocal
I admit it, I finally downloaded Johnny Mathis version of Misty. Probably one of the best songs of all time.

Progressive Rock / Alternative / Metal
Listening to the Internet station MORROW.com on iTunes has produced many additions to my collection inexpensively. So much great new music in the genera that the Beatles spawned: Progressive Rock.

MORROW.com is the French Progressive / Metal / Alternative station that will not be to everyone's taste. Narrowcasting in English, I have found the following bands that deserve exploration on iTunes by Progressive Rock devotees:

VOTEM
Start with the Acoustic Guitar & Piano intro that leads into The Hunt is On. Starting off quietly, it will grow to remind you of the best of Symphony X or Queensreich.

SIEGES EVEN
Start with Eyes Wide Open. These guys remind me of Staind.

FROST
Start with the title cut to the Experiments in Mass Appeal collection.

MASTODON
Start with Oblivion. A great, typically despondent, Metal title. More Pure Metal for your inner headbanger that knows Progressive. Put on your late night, highway "Keep me awake" playlist.

M83
Start with "Kim & Jessie" (Actually found in the NY Times music review section, not Morrow. Not the WSJ ether. M83 is truly a mixed genera band of Electronic / Rock / Alternative and Dance. Interesting stuff with a long history given popular music. Being hard to classify, they make for lot of "oh-need to hear that again."

The Magnificent Seven Samaurai

Happy New Year!

Saw two great, related films recently. The Magnificent Seven (1965) and The Seven Samurai (1954). Yes, we are ever on top of the HOTTEST developments and trends in pop culture. I highly recommend both and seeing them back to back. Reason: The Magnificent Seven was based on the Seven Samurai. Both could be called Action films but they are much more than that. Marty, there are enough gun battles and bloody Samurai battles in both to qualify as worthy material. These are not chick flicks.

Neither of these films appear very often (or ever) on cable or Network. Great film will never sell well to the masses. Consequently, these are not available in the Supermarket machines, saw these through Netflix.

The Magnificent Seven (description from Netflix)
Fed20up with being brutalized and impoverished because of outlaw raids led by a merciless brigand (Eli Wallach), the besieged citizens of a small Mexican town hire seven American gunslingers to stave off the marauders once and for all. Badass Yul Brynner heads the band of mercenaries, which includes Hollywood luminaries Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn and Robert Vaughn. Elmer Bernstein penned the film's unforgettable score.

In the special features there is great background how the major film's producers bought the US rights to a Japanese Film: The Seven Samurai. Yul Brynner was so moved by the Akira Kurosawa film, he wanted to make an English Language version and based it on the old West instead of 16th century Japan. Fans of Shogun will recognize Toshiro Mifune in an early role with Kurosawa.

The Seven Samurai (description from Netflix) NOTE: It is THREE AND A HALF HOURS LONG WITH SUBT ITLES
Akira Kurosawa's heroic tale of honor and duty begins with master samurai Kambei (Takashi Shimura) posing as a monk to save a kidnapped child. Impressed by his bravery, a group of farmers begs him to defend their village from encroaching bandits. Kambei agrees and assembles a group of six other samurai, and together they build a militia with the villagers while the bandits loom nearby. Soon the raids begin, culminating in a bloody battle.

*************************************************************************
Speaking of Chick Flicks, revisited Chocolat over Christmas. Also superb and yes, it could be considered a chick flick. Only one major fire, Marty, avoid this one.

Chocolat (description from Netflix)
An iconoclastic single mother (Oscar-nominee Juliette Binoche) and her young daughter move to a village in France and open a chocolate shop -- that's open Sundays -- across the street from a church. At first, Binoche's rich, sensuous desserts scandalize the town, but soon the villagers welcome the newcomers with open arms. Judi Dench, Lena Olin and Johnny Depp co-star in this 2000 Best Picture nominee.

SI Dining / Music - Mike Oldfield

WEBSITES: What is that tune?
www.whatsthatcalled.com/
Ever need to find out what the addictive tune was in that TV commercial? Go to the site above and find out so you can make an intelligent visit to iTunes.


MUSIC

CLASSICAL
Mike Oldfield
Music of the Spheres
Being a Mike Oldfield addict since Tubular Bells, this is a major work composed in the Classical tradition. I have been OBSESSED by this all summer despite seeing LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT at BB Kings.

I couldn’t help thinking of the “grandeur” of this uplifting piece in two parts and 14 movements. It reminded me in some ways of Holst’s “The “Planets.” Almost an astronomical theme I thought upon listening to it. Dang it if I wasn’t dead on. I went to his website for some background after hearing it three times. I am currently plowing through "The Elegant Universe" by Brian Green and Pythagorus had suggested the title "Music of the Spheres" in times of the ancient Greeks. Hey, no kiddin?

See Oldfield’s comments below. Frankly this has become a very addictive CD, one I find hard to put down for long. It will never get airplay in the US and he will never be featured on a Late Nite Comedy show as a special guest. I consider this one of the greatest pieces of classical music I have heard.

Hayley Westenra is the Soprano that will remind you of Charlotte Church. Absolutely gorgeous, pure voice. He uses a full orchestra with string, horn and woodwind sections. Clearly evident are the Oldfield touches with acoustic Guitar, Piano and Glockenspiel.

Some comments from his website:
Musica Universalis is the ancient theory that every celestial body, the sun, the moon and the stars has an inner music. This is a harmonic and mathematical concept derived from the movements of the planets in the solar system. The music created is inaudible to the human ear.

0A Music of the Spheres is my interpretation of this theory. Every planet and every star; even the whole universe has music within it that no-one can hear, this is what it would sound like if it was set free. This is Music of the Spheres.”

For sample clips go to: http://www.mikeoldfield.com/

Hear an entire segment on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS70GnuNdn8

FOOD - Staten Island
Sapporo Sushi Staten Island
Among the best food on SI. And now for something completely different. What a great local place. Inventive, and pleasant with GREAT FOOD AND get this: SERVICE. Almost impossible to get in this boro of mediocrity. Ping is the genial host that surveys everything. He is a real Captain that watches all the tables and sushi bar like a hawk. He takes real pride in the running of this bustling place in a strip mall. There is ample staff that also pay close attention. A real find for casual dining on Staten Island. This is your terrific weekly “neighborhood place.”

They always have blackboard specials that are worth is but the real secret are their inventive rolls. Cindy Roll with lobster is one suggestion.


ZEST
A newcomer and a winner. Four longs blocks from Hylan Blvd in Clinton near Bailey Seton Hospital is a unique place. Other than Carol’s Cuisine, this may be the only place that serves foir gras on the Island. They even know how to pronounce it. It has just past the one year mark, a milestone that the late Port of Marseilles could not survive for long.

ZEST looks like it is on a track for survival. Sorry that Sweet Basil has gone under. It has the Sweet Basil enthusiasm at their beginning. Dishes like Spring Rolls stuffed with Crab and Shrimp do not remotely resemble the insipid offering of the place around the corner using cheap ingredients. This is packed with shellfish and different dipping sauces. Sauteed calamari with horseradish and polenta, was a nice original here.

977 Bay Street, Staten Island 718-390-8477 Street Parking