The Next Window

Simply, it’s standard PC, including an AMD Athlon XP 2500+, an Abit AN-7 motherboard, a cheap video card with S-Video Out, hard drives, DVD drive and three Hauppauge WinTV PVR-250 TV encoding cards and one PVR-150..

My HTPC case case is a standard Antec tower case. This is not designed for the HTPC service.

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For extra air flow (I have 4 TV tuner cards plus a heat-sinked video card), I added an Antec Cyclone slot fan, but that’s a pretty noisy solution — not motor or bearing noise, but the noise of moving the air. Also, the Antec Cyclone fan only lasted about 4 months before the bearing went out. Not satisfactory. I replaced it with a brand-X similar slot fan which has performed quietly and well. Imagine that…

The motherboard decision was made in concert with the processor decision. I’m a fan of the AMD Athlon XP processor because of its price compared to comparable Intel processors. The processor decision alone saved me a couple hundred dollars. I’ve used Abit motherboards for both AMD and Intel processors. Abit has a history of releasing new BIOS flashes for their motherboards, so I would be able to do some upgrading later.

Read more in Home Theater PC, part 2

Sean Connery personified James Bond, until he stretched Bond into late middle age. Timothy Dalton, well, the less said, the better. Roger Moore was a shot back to the old Bond, but just seemed to rely too much on contrivance, gadgets and visual jokes. Pierce Brosnan was a marvel in the classic Bond style, until he, too, out-aged the persona. Of course, somewhere in there was David Niven as Bond in the often ignored (and rightly so) previous spy movie spoof called “Casino Royale.”

Daniel Craig, the new James Bond, in his first picture has brought new life to this franchise. Not the pretty-boy of recent bonds, Craig brings a cragged and, dare I say it, ugly visage to the role of James Bond. And…it works perfectly!

Dame Judith Dench, while perfect in her M role in earlier films, set a new standard for the role in this one. Dame Judith has dropped the “Dame Judith” from her screen name, and now goes by the simple Judi Dench, presumably the benefit of the huge U.S. following of the Bond films.

Set in the early days of James Bond’s MI6 career, we see him become the James Bond of legend. Tough, no-nonsense, violence when appropriate (and it’s appropriate quite a few times in this film), Bond gets things done.

While we see Bond with a 1964 Aston Martin, it’s a world of cellphones, text messages, laptop computers and tiny tracking devices. In other words, the 1960′s Bond of Sean Connery updated to today’s technologies. No cute devices from Q. Just Bond against the bad guys…

I didn’t read any reviews of the movie before going. I did check the Rotten Tomatoes site to find out when it was showing at my neighborhood theater, so I saw that it had a 95% rating from the reviewers (reviewers rate “fresh” or “Rotten”). I think that’s the best rating that I’ve seen at RT.

After seeing it, I know why. I’ll say “Fresh” too.

If you haven’t seen it, plan to see it tonight, tomorrow or next weekend. This is NOT one for which waiting for the DVD is a good choice. The big screen is a necessary part of the adventure.

Certainly I’ll buy the DVD. The question is whether or not I’ll go back to see it before it leaves the 1st-run theaters.

With the latest news — a new Star Trek movie is on the way — featuring James T. (Tiberius) Kirk during his Starfleet Academy days — many fans have mixed emotions.

You know, “they’re doing it again, I’m not getting suckered into spending more money on Star Trek movies, Opening Day, Sure, I’ll be there.”

The User Friendly cartoon strip has a view that many fans will appreciate…

Just finished watching the movie Under the Tuscan Sun, which my Home Theater PC recorded for me over Valentine’s weekend.

While this was definitely a “chick flick” (that is, full of emotion and low on action), I recommend it for rental, viewing on television or purchase.

Why? The photography in the movie — whether the filming of people or landscapes — was excellent. Sometimes, directors go for a soft look. Other times, they want the focus sharply on the person, but slightly blurred on the background.

Here, it seemed that everything was in focus, but I never had the feeling that I was looking at a soap opera — well, the content maybe gave me that feel, but the photography didn’t.

I'm going to have to give up on going to the movies this summer.<br />
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So far, since mid-May, I've been to <i>Star Wars Episode 3</i> twice, <i>Mr. and Mrs. Smith</i> and <i>Batman Begins</i>. All three are now on my "I want this DVD" list. <i>Batman Begins</i> is now on my "gotta see this again" list, meaning another trip to the theater.<br />
<center><br />
<a class="APCAnchor" href="http://www.thenextwindow.com/exit.php?url_id=402&amp;entry_id=82" title="http://affiliates.allposters.com/link/redirect.asp?item=1182371&amp;AID=1586110618&amp;PSTID=1&amp;LTID=1" onmouseover="window.status='http://affiliates.allposters.com/link/redirect.asp?item=1182371&amp;AID=1586110618&amp;PSTID=1&amp;LTID=1';return true;" onmouseout="window.status='';return true;" target="_top"><img src="http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/153/1182371_a.jpg" alt="Star Wars – Episode III – Revenge of the Sith" border="0" height="115" width="77"></a><img src="http://tracking.allposters.com/allposters.gif?AID=1586110618&PSTID=1&LTID=1" border="0" height="1" width="1">&#160;&#160;&#160;<a class="APCAnchor" href="http://www.thenextwindow.com/exit.php?url_id=403&amp;entry_id=82" title="http://affiliates.allposters.com/link/redirect.asp?item=1222765&amp;AID=1586110618&amp;PSTID=1&amp;LTID=1" onmouseover="window.status='http://affiliates.allposters.com/link/redirect.asp?item=1222765&amp;AID=1586110618&amp;PSTID=1&amp;LTID=1';return true;" onmouseout="window.status='';return true;" target="_top"><img src="http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/153/1222764_a.jpg" alt="Mr. &amp; Mrs. Smith" border="0" height="115" width="78"></a><img src="http://tracking.allposters.com/allposters.gif?AID=1586110618&PSTID=1&LTID=1" border="0" height="1" width="1">&#160;&#160;&#160;<a class="APCAnchor" href="http://www.thenextwindow.com/exit.php?url_id=404&amp;entry_id=82" title="http://affiliates.allposters.com/link/redirect.asp?item=1222766&amp;AID=1586110618&amp;PSTID=1&amp;LTID=1" onmouseover="window.status='http://affiliates.allposters.com/link/redirect.asp?item=1222766&amp;AID=1586110618&amp;PSTID=1&amp;LTID=1';return true;" onmouseout="window.status='';return true;" target="_top"><img src="http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/153/1222766_a.jpg" alt="Batman Begins" border="0" height="115" width="77"></a><img src="http://tracking.allposters.com/allposters.gif?AID=1586110618&PSTID=1&LTID=1" border="0" height="1" width="1"><br />
Star Wars Episode 3 &#160;&#160; Mr &amp; Mrs Smith &#160;&#160; Batman Begins<br />
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Christian Bale has now personified the role of Bruce Wayne / Batman. His performance and this movie have blown away all the earlier Batman films. Since I saw it yesterday, I guess today is a little too early to see it again. Maybe next weekend. <br />
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Michael Caine is his usual urbane self, playing his role of Alfred perfectly. Whether he is a con man on the French Riviera (<i>Dirty Rotten Scoundrels</i>), a thief (<i>Gambit</i>), or a limp-wristed beauty contest consultant(<i>Miss Congeniality</i>), he manages to fit each role perfectly. Liam Neeson (Qui-gon Jin of Star Wars Episode 1) was another well-cast character, as was Katie Holmes in the role of young Bruce's friend, who still had a crush on him.<br />
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Go to the theater this weekend. Watch <i>Batman Begins</i>. Forget the popcorn and drink, however, because you don't want to miss any of this one.<br />

Wow!<br />
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My son went last night. His initial comment was "it was the best movie I saw this week." Since that was the only one he saw, that wasn't too promising. His followup was "it was probably the best movie I've seen this year." Much better. <br />
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I went to see it this afternoon. Two thumbs up. The team of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt had magic. The screenplay was well-done and had lots of off-beat one-line humor. Most of the music was good, although I didn't care for the drum solo during the gunfight in the house.<br />
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Would I watch it again? Not until it comes out on DVD. It will promptly enter the collection.<br />

I'm planning to see <a href="http://www.thenextwindow.com/exit.php?url_id=334&amp;entry_id=74" title="http://www.mrandmrssmithmovie.com/" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.mrandmrssmithmovie.com/';return true;" onmouseout="window.status='';return true;">Mr. &amp; Mrs. Smith</a> this weekend, like most other guys. This definitely isn't a "chick flick" — a personality story with talking and no action. <br />
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This one is action galore, based on what I've seen from the <a href="http://www.thenextwindow.com/exit.php?url_id=335&amp;entry_id=74" title="http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/mrandmrssmith/" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/mrandmrssmith/';return true;" onmouseout="window.status='';return true;">movie trailer</a>. The basic story line, if you haven't heard it already, is the boring husband and wife who each have a secret life unknown to the other. <br />
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It's <a href="http://www.thenextwindow.com/exit.php?url_id=336&amp;entry_id=74" title="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6305364648/terrystockdal-20/102-2370630-1060163?%5Fencoding=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;link%5Fcode=xm2" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6305364648/terrystockdal-20/102-2370630-1060163?%5Fencoding=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;link%5Fcode=xm2';return true;" onmouseout="window.status='';return true;">True Lies</a> squared — True Lies on steroids! In True Lies, Arnold Schwartzenegger was a super secret agent, while his wife Jamie Lee Curtis thought he was a boring computer salesman.<br />
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Here, both Mr. &amp; Mrs. Smith, played by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, are assasins. Neither knows the other lives this action life. Until they get new assignments — each other…<br />
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As usual, I plan to see this at the Rave Theater in Baton Rouge.<br />