Review - Library Thing

In the long list of wildly popular social networking websites, LibraryThing is an odd man out. While it has over 400,000 members since its creation, its popularity and publicity is not even close to the bigger name social networking sites. Thats mostly because LibraryThing isn't just your standard social networking site. Rather, it is hybrid virtual bookshelf for its members. Once you sign up for the site, an incredibly easy and quick process, you can immediately begin adding books to your online library from over 200 different libraries around the world, meaning if you have a book in your personal collection, no matter how obscure, you will almost definitely find it.

LibraryThing is not just a place to categorize your library however, it truly is a social website. LibraryThing allows you to see who has similar books to you, and allows you to create your own groups, from topics to mystery novels to groups for members of other websites. Members also can tag and review their books, helping you find out what others think of a book you are interested in or to find the book most of the members believe classifies as a mystery novel. All this adds together to create an atmosphere of sharing and encouragement for a passion about reading, something that seems to be a dying idea. Fortunately, the website is free for most users, with fees ($10 a year or $25 for lifetime membership) only kick in if you want to post over 200 books, an impressive number for your average person. Overall, LibraryThing promises to be around for a long time. Its commitment to excellence and its ever expanding database of books, English and otherwise, will help guarantee it will be the place to be for book lovers.

Scored Review – The Shade of Poison Trees

Dashboard Confessional is certainly one of the bigger bands around today in an increasingly fragmented music scene. It also happens to be one of my favorite bands, so I was pretty excited when I picked up their most recent album. And luckily, my loyalty in actually paying for it (and full price at Borders as well) was repaid.

Dashboard doesn’t try to pull any gimmicks on this album, its classic Dashboard all the way, with their own style shinning through. There are no new hits on the scale of “Screaming Infidelities” or “Stolen”, but it is a well-rounded album none the less, with “Thick as Thieves” and “Little Bombs” being fantastic songs and my favorites on this album. But “Matters of Blood and Connections” is just amazing, and the closest in my opinion of reaching classic Dashboard status. It’s a witty critique of a trust-fund baby who is trying to pretend to be from the streets.

Pros:
Classic Dashboard Style
Well-rounded track list

Cons:
A little bland

Final Rating: 4 Guitar Strings out of 5

Review - Marina Gardens Restaurant

Well to be honest, I've never written a review of a restaurant before, but Marina Gardens in Kenosha, Wisconsin (or just Marina to its pack of loyal fans) holds a special place in my heart.

Its nothing specially from the outside, just you average-looking restaurant with cheesy Mediterranean murals for decor. But if you are so lucky as to stumble upon this 24-hour gem of goodness, you are in for a treat. The menu is nothing special really, a mixture of classic American food (including the glorious Wisconsin treat of fried cheese curds) and Greek classics like gyros. But if you really want something good, its the breakfast menu you want. It is here that Marina Gardens truly excels.

The skillets, a mixture of potatoes and several other ingredients from corned beef hash to feta cheese, all topped with cheese and two eggs any style, are my recommendation. If it sounds like a heart attack in a skillet, well, thats because it is. But it is well worth it in my opinion, and it is what I get nearly every time I go.

In short, Marina Gardens is what a restaurant should be: great food for reasonable prices with a staff that is friendly and knows what they are doing. I recommend going after midnight, when the staff and the food is at its best.

Review - The Omnivore's Dilemma

Few Americans think about where their food comes from, beyond the grocery store shelf. One might admire the picturesque farm pictured on a bag of salad, or even prefer Florida oranges, but is probably safe to say that’s about as deep as the average person’s thinking goes on the subject. Yet what we don’t realize is that where are food comes from has a dramatic impact on our lives and on the lives of future generations. Yet this is the main focus of Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, the widely popular look at what is wrong with America’s food system. As you read, you not only trace Mr. Pollan on his personal quest to learn about the food he eats, you also trace the food from the farm or stock yard to your table.

To understand the basics of the American food system, you have to understand the miracle crop that is corn. For well, pretty much everyone in America except the people who grow it, it should seem odd that such an unassuming crop should play such an important role in our everyday lives. The fact is that it is in pretty much everything we consume, from the sugary soda you drink to the ethanol in your gas tank. It is also the topic of the first portion of the book aptly named ‘Industrial Corn’. While there have been undoubtedly been many studies and other works that go into detail about why this reliance on corn should matter to us as the everyday consumer, and it does, few are as well written or as personal as “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”.

The fact is, nothing on our table is exactly what it seems. That the organic chicken you ate for dinner? Raised in a massive farm-factory barely different that a ‘normal’ (for little in grocery stores can be called normal) chicken. That shine on your orange? Made from corn and a bit little food magic. And those organics steaks you bought probably spent almost as much time in a stockyard as the much cheaper, normal steaks did. Confused? Angry? You should be, especially since the way we raise food (according to Pollan and proven by an increasing amount of studies) is destroying not only the environment, but hurting our health too. And that is the omnivores dilemma: with some many choices available for us to eat, how do we decide which ones are safe?

This is the basic question Mr. Pollan sets out to answer, and it one that he definitively answers: the modern food system is fundamentally broken and unable to provide us with food that both is nutritional to us and does not leave the earth irrevocably damaged.

Scored Review - The Wind That Shakes the Barley

I had heard good things about this movie, and I recently decided to buy it even though I wasn't quite sure what it was about, much less what to expect from it. And to be honest, I was stunned.

Set during one of the many Irish rebellions against British domination, this time in 1920, it tells the story of Damien and his brother Teddy as they fight for freedom against British troops. The British troops, committing atrocities against the Irish people, are constantly under fire from Irish Republican Army. Eventually they are forced to give Ireland some political and economic freedom. That does not end the conflict as Ireland violently splits against itself with those who feel the piece treaty did not give them enough and those who just want the violence to end.

Simply said, this is a beautiful film, theres just no way around it. While it most certainly not a pure action/adventure film, there is plenty of violence to keep fans of the more violent side of any war entertained. But this movie isn't just about the violence that is going on in Ireland. This movie is about showing the struggles of those brave souls fighting against the British army. This is a movie about them, along with the conflict that has become to define their lives and that consumed them, driving them to turn against each other. So no, its not just an action flick, and yes their is a lot of down time. But this is a powerful and deeply moving movie. It was beautiful and moving like very few movies are.

Pros:
Superb actors
Unrivaled plot
Beautiful scenery

Cons:
......

Final Score: 5/5

Scored Review - Bender's Big Score

I was a little surprised when I first heard that there was a Futurama movie. I have always been a big fan of the show ever since I saw they began to play the series on Cartoon Network (yes, I missed its original showing on Fox). For those of you who don't know what the series is about, look up the wikipedia article, because I have neither the time nor the patience to explain it now. I can tell you it is created by Mat Groening, the man that brought the world "The Simpsons" so the show is fantastic, witty and at times slightly immature.

With a lot of movies based on TV shows, there is always that fear that after the first half hour of the movie, it will die because the writers just don't know how to write a long plot line. But its clear that Mr. Groening used his experience in writing The Simpsons' Movie to good use. Needless to say, the movie is fantastic from the beginning, starting strong with a unabashed, well bashing of the semi-retarded Fox executives (referred to as the "Box Network") who canceled the show several years ago. The plot revolves around the usual gang trying to win the company back after a group of aliens steal their company using an internet scam. The plot takes off from their, and never looks back.

Time seems not to have affected the writers to much as the characters are the same as always, and the running gags and recurring themes/characters make an appearance, such as the Harlem Globe Trotters, Evil Santa and Fry's fossilized dog. As you can guess, Bender plays a big part in this movie, but the movie spends a lot of time as Fry (which I guess makes sense considering the series is really about him). Fry's love for Leela also is key to the later part of the movie, which I always have big mixed feelings about, but the movie handles it pretty well.

Pro's:
Its about Bender isn't it?
Enough homages to earlier to the original show to satisfy even the most demanding fan
Hilarious in general

Con's:
Lots of the comedy depends on the watcher's knowledge of the show
Love story is iffy

Final rating: 4/5

Scored Review: Crash

Crash is perhaps the most socially and culturally insightful movies I have ever seen. It makes comentaries on and exposes racism in modern society. The movie simultaneously follows the storyline of multiple characters of various races and how and where there stories intertwine. It is at these moments when the movie most directly shows the prejudice between and even amongst races. Crash is intense throughout, inducing hatred and sympathy on its viewers. This is a movie that no review can do it justice, you have to see the movie for it to be in any way rewarding. I recommend this movie for anyone who is open-minded and willing to see what racism and its effects truly look like.

Pros:
- Great acting
- Intriguing plotline
- Amazing depth and meaning

Cons:
- You have to be in the mood to watch this kind of movie

Final Decision: 5 impenetrable cloaks out of 5