January 21st, 2010 jeniii
By now everyone has heard of the 7.0 earthquake to hit Carrefour, Haiti on January 13, 2010. There was also an aftershock that hit 35 miles from Port-Au-Prince with a magnitude of 6.1. With about 80% of the population living in extreme poverty, the country is in dire need of aid from other countries, now more than ever. During this recession, it may be hard to make cash donations, but there are so many other ways to show your support. As Americans, we are surrounded by an infinite amount of resources in relief efforts to help out our neighboring country. Please do your part today.
1. Build-A-Bear will be donating $15,000 to the Red Cross. And now through January 31, 2010 customers can donate $1 at the cash registers in any U.S. Build-A-Bear Workshop.
2. Hope for Haiti Musical Lineup – January 22, 2010 at 8 PM EST. “George Clooney, who has organized the telecast, will host from LA, with CNN’s Anderson Cooper reporting from Haiti and Wyclef in New York City. According to E! Online, “Twilight Saga” star Robert Pattinson will present from London. The performances will be available on the iTunes store, with proceeds benefiting relief funds for the earthquake-stricken nation. The two-hour telethon will air on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, BET, The CW, HBO, MTV, VH1 and CMT as well as networks including PBS, TNT, Showtime, Comedy Central, Brave, E! Entertainment and more, with online live streaming available on YouTube, Hulu, MySpace and more domains as well.”
3. Text “HAITI” to 90999 and a $10 donation will be added to your phone bill. Text “YELE” to 501501 and a $5 donation will be added to your phone bill.
4. Donate blood! The American Red Cross is always in need of blood donations. Click here to locate your nearest blood bank. They are always in need of Type O Negative and Type B Negative blood donors.
5. Continental Airlines has set up a program to its frequent flier members. Members of this program can donate to the American Red Cross and AmeriCares.
6. Handbags Help Haiti – You can buy discontinued or imperfect Jordana Paige handbags for only $50. With 100% of all proceeds going towards Doctors Without Borders Haiti relief, it’s like wearing your heart on your sleeve shoulder.
7. Chase Bank will give $100 million to the charity with the most votes. I just voted for Invisible Children.
8. Help the abandoned animals of Haiti through PETA.
9. Doctors Without Borders is a national medical organization that receives close to 89% of its funding from private funding, not the government. Created in France in 1971, Doctors Without Borders or Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provides medical aid to about 60 countries who are in need.
10. Habitat for Humanity has already started to plan their part in rebuilding homes for as many Haitians as they possibly can. They are always looking for volunteers to help out with projects as well.
Here is an extensive list of other organizations that you can donate using your American Express points or you can make a cash donation.
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December 16th, 2009 jeniii
Listed are (in my opinion) the GREATEST Christmas movies of all time. It’s never too late to get into the Christmas spirit. These movies will definitely lift your spirits!
1. Elf (2003) – Will Ferrell is hilarious in this movie. “Elf is also genuinely funny. Will Ferrell, as Buddy the adopted elf, is hysterically sincere. James Caan, as his rediscovered father, executes his surly dumbfoundedness with perfect aplomb. Zooey Deschanel, as a department store worker with whom Buddy falls in love, is adorably sardonic. Director Jon Favreau (Swingers) shepherds the movie through all the obligatory Christmas cliches and focuses on material that’s sometimes subtle and consistently surprising. Frankly, Elf feels miraculous. Also featuring Mary Steenburgen, Bob Newhart, Peter Dinklage, and Ed Asner as Santa Claus.” –Bret Fetzer, amazon.com
2. Home Alone (1990) – As a troubled and mischievous 8 year old kid, Kevin McAllister (Macaulay Culkin) is accidently left at home while his family leaves for their Christmas vacation. When the family arrives at their destination, they realize Kevin is home alone and try to get home as soon as possible. When Kevin realizes he is home alone, he takes full advantage of his situation. He also holds takes care of some burglars who are trying to break into his home.
3. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) – This movie is dark and kind of creepy, quite opposite of every other holiday movie out there. “Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king of Halloween Town, is bored with doing the same thing every year for Halloween. One day he stumbles into Christmas Town, and is so taken with the idea of Christmas that he tries to get the resident bats, ghouls, and goblins of Halloween town to help him put on Christmas instead of Halloween — but alas, they can’t get it quite right.” – John Reeves, IMDb.com
4. 
A Christmas Story (1983) – “There’s nary a scene to forget in this near-perfect nostalgic look at where Americana and Christmastime meet. The story of a young boy’s epic quest to get his hands on a Red Ryder BB gun provides the hilarious backdrop for a timeless tale rife with family hijinks, frozen tongues and, of course, sex-oozing leg lamps.” – moviefone.com
5.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1947) – Make sure you have a box of tissues ready for this one. “George Bailey (played superbly by James Stewart) grows up in the small town of Bedford Falls, dreaming dreams of adventure and travel, but circumstances conspire to keep him enslaved to his home turf. Frustrated by his life, and haunted by an impending scandal, George prepares to commit suicide on Christmas Eve. A heavenly messenger (Henry Travers) arrives to show him a vision: what the world would have been like if George had never been born. The sequence is a vivid depiction of the American Dream gone bad, and probably the wildest thing Capra ever shot. Capra’s triumph is to acknowledge the difficulties and disappointments of life, while affirming–in the teary-eyed final reel–his cherished values of friendship and individual achievement. It’s a Wonderful Life was not a big hit on its initial release, and it won no Oscars (Capra and Stewart were nominated); but it continues to weave a special magic.” –Robert Horton, amazon.com
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November 26th, 2009 jeniii
As much as I love Thanksgiving and Christmas, my absolute favorite time of the year is Black Friday! Waking up at 3 A.M. to get a good parking spot at the mall; even better, camping outside of Best Buy for days to get the season’s greatest deals! Once inside your select stores, you literally have to shield yourself from claws and hair pulling, and that’s just from your best friend. But, if you’d rather stay home and miss the crazy retail madness, there are many retailers that offer Black Friday deals specifically for online shoppers. Check out sites like blackfriday.com and blackfriday.gottadeal.com. They list top retailers’ advertisements with the best deals. Also, for even more savings they provide you with some online coupon codes. Awesome, right? It gets even better, some companies offer free shipping with a minimum purchase. For example, Target.com offers free shipping for all orders over $50 and Nordstrom.com offers free shipping on orders over $100 (piece of cake!) So relax in the comfort of your warm home, perhaps with a glass of eggnog (don’t forget the rum, haha!) in front of your computer. Black friday isn’t that bad, right?
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May 1st, 2009 admin
50 Albums are available at Amazon for $5 each! Downloads only. Click below to see the selection! Sale good for a limited time only.
$5 Albums on Sale
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January 24th, 2009 admin
Whether or not you were around to listen to this masterpiece the first time around, it doesn’t matter. Jackson Browne, while he isn’t in the limelight in recent years, his music remains to feed the desires of music lovers worldwide.
Arguably his greatest, Late for the Sky is Jackson Browne’s third album, which pursues Browne’s continuing self-analysis while touching on territory normally off limits to the intrepid musician. The main title track involves the effects of a dead relationship and was featured in Martin Scorcese’s film, Taxi Driver
. While For a Dancer stares at death straight on, Farther On explains the difficulties faced by people who live life vicariously through films, books and music. Before the Deluge presciently cautions the imminent environmental catastrophes heading our way. Yes, while obviously dark at times, it is wonderfully intimate, strikingly autobiographical, personal and evocative.
Order Late for the Sky now
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January 23rd, 2009 admin
Very recently, Apple launched a bunch of new iPods. First up is a refreshed nano in 8 GB and 16 GB capacities and nine new colors. The nano now features a built-in accelerometer, so you can rotate the screen to watch videos in widescreen. The new nanos also let you shake them to switch songs.
Next up, a newly redesigned iPod touch, still in 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB capacities. New features include a built-in speaker as well as a contoured, polished stainless steel design. Third, the iPod classic is now available in 120 GB of storage–that’s 30,000 songs or 150 hours of video. It’s available in black and silver. And finally, the second-generation shuffle is available in a new bright blue, bright green, and pink.
All of the new iPods–almost 30 in all–come with the new Genius Playlist feature that finds the songs in your music library that go great together and makes a Genius Playlist for you. It’s like having your own highly intelligent, personal DJ. Find out everything there is to know about these new iPods on the product detail pages.
Want more information?
Check out the newest iPods now
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January 16th, 2009 admin
Slaving away at work day after day with nothing fun in between simply isn’t good for your well-being, so try a new hobby and schedule some fun time in your life. Make it a family activity if you want. You’ve always wanted to tinker in music and sound effects and jingles, and this Yamaha synth could be your ticket to eliminating the big B (boredom) that became routine for you. Life’s short, so embrace a new hobby, get rid of the hum drum life and instead, jazz it up a little.
About the Synthesizer
The Yamaha S90 ES combines a stunningly natural acoustic piano sound with all the sonic flexibility of the award winning Motif ES. A new multi-velocity, stereogrand piano sample, the new sound board simulation and the half-damper capability (when used with the Yamaha FC3) all ensure a rich and realistic acoustic piano sound. The 128 note polyphony tone generator, Studio Connections compatibility, mLAN expansion slot, and PLG expandability give it all the synthesis power and control capabilities of our Motif ES line.
Get Your Yamaha 88-Key Synthesizer Now
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November 17th, 2008 admin
This LJ Hutchen flute is significantly different from other brands. This instrument allows young musicians to learn without the frustration that comes with playing a poorly designed product. The materials used throughout the LJ Hutchen flute are simply the best that money can buy. Every instrument is double-bench tested and meets the most stringent level of quality before leaving our facility. LJ Hutchen instruments are an outstanding option for student musicians. Pricing and warranty terms are the best value offered in todays instrument market. Because LJ Hutchen instruments are predominantly used by students, we believe that high quality is not only necessary, but is imperative for successful music education.
LJ Hutchen Silver C Flute with Case – 2 Year Warranty
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November 14th, 2008 admin
No, it’s NOT too early to start thinking of holiday gifts. Believe me, you will be SO incredibly happy if you get your gift shopping done well before the holidays.
Mamma Mia is, to me, the ultimate feel good movie of the year. I saw it three times this summer, and every time I loved it a little more. The critics seem to have forgotten that this is, in fact, supposed to be a musical. Musicals are NOT meant to be like “regular” movies.”
Meryl Streep’s performance was outstanding, hilarious, sweet, fun… and her voice rocks! Pierce Brosnan may not make a career as a singer, but he was wonderful, just as my very favorite actor Colin Firth. But really I loved all the actors and their performances… and Mamma Mia is on my wish list for christmas.
by Ute Mitchell “Phoenix Mommy” 
Mamma Mia! The Movie 
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August 10th, 2008 admin
It’s virtually impossible to approach No Direction Home without a cluster of fixed ideas. Who doesn’t have their own private Dylan? The true excellence of Martin Scorsese’s achievement lies in how his documentary shakes us free of our comfortable assumptions. In the process, it plays out on several levels at once, each taking shape as an unfailingly fascinating narrative. There is, of course, the central story of an individual genius staking out his artistic identity. But along with this Bildungsroman come other threads and contexts: most notably, the role of popular culture in postwar America, art’s self-reliance versus its social responsibilities, and fans’ complicity with the publicity machine in sustaining myths. All of these threads reinforce each other, together weaving the film’s intricate texture.
Scorsese’s 200-plus-minute focus on Dylan’s earliest years allows for a portrayal of unprecedented depth, with multiple angles: a rich composite photo is the result. The main narrative has an epic quality: it moves from Dylan growing up in cold-war Minnesota through Greenwich Village coffeehouses and the Newport Folk Festival, climaxing in the controversial 1966 U.K. tour that crowned a period of unbridled and explosive creativity. In his transition from Robert Allen Zimmerman to Bob Dylan, we observe him concocting his impossible-to-describe, unique combination of the topical with the archaic, like an ancient oracle. Scorsese was able to access previously unseen footage from the Dylan archives, including performances, press conferences, and recording sessions. He also uses interviews with Dylan’s friends, ex-friends, and fellow artists, and, intriguingly, with the notoriously reclusive Dylan himself (who looks back to provide glosses on the early years), fusing what could have turned into a tiresome series of digressions and tangents into a powerful whole as enlightening, eccentric, contradictory, and ultimately irreducible as its subject.
Some of the deeply personal bits remain unrevealed, but Dylan’s preternatural self-assurance acquires a slightly self-deprecating, even comic edge via some of his reflective comments. Alongside the arrogance, we see touching moments of the young artist’s reverence for Woody Guthrie and Johnny Cash. Joan Baez, in a poignant confessional mood, comes off well, and the late Allen Ginsberg is so seraphically charming he almost steals the show a few times. A crucial throughline is Dylan’s hunger for recognition and ability to shape perceptions so that would be singled out as not just another dime-a-dozen folk singer. It’s illuminating–particularly for those familiar with the artist’s latter-day aloofness on stage–to see his reactions to audience booing in the wake of his “betrayal” in this fuller context. No Direction Home also makes clear–in a way that wasn’t possible in D.A. Pennebaker’s iconic Don’t Look Back–how Dylan’s ability to manipulate his persona always, at its core, protects the urge for expression: Dylan’s ultimate mandate, as an artist, is never to be pinned down. As Scorsese masterfully shows, the myth around Dylan only grows bigger the more we discover about him. –Thomas May
Order the DVD: Bob Dylan No Direction Home now
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