In times of Corona, how to choose a good internet connection?

During this time of social distancing and loneliness, we are all dependent more than ever on the Internet. So during the COVID-19 pandemic, if anyone is out of internet connection we have everything you need to learn the factors you need to keep in mind to support you remain linked to education, work and the family. Instead of merely signing an ISP contract that includes glittering bells and whistles, ensure that the one you choose can fulfill your needs. We have gathered a few suggestions to help you make an educated decision.

Serviceability

The most important feature, of course, is availability. It’s completely pointless to spend time studying an ISP that is not providing services in your area. First of all, we recommend that you visit localcabledeals to check the providers available in your region, all you gotta do is put in your Zip Code in the zip code bar. It breaks down the options available categorically, from cheapest to highest-speed internet.

Customer Service

The smartest way to learn about an ISP is to question their current customers about their customer service experience. How easy is it to get help if you have crashes or other internet problems? How quick will the customer support be achieved? Does the business provide client support through email, telephone or live chat? What is the phase of installation? Is it simple or difficult? Well, most of the time, it can be too difficult to search for support from your ISP. Nevertheless, there are organizations who provide their customers with exquisite assistance, for example, spectrum customer service is among those companies that put their customers at the utmost priority and has a team of highly qualified representatives to take care of all your issues promptly.

Internet Speeds

The internet speed is definitely the most critical factor when it comes to selecting a new ISP. Everybody wants to get the fastest speed possible with the rates they are paying. Make sure the services are compared closely that are associated within the most common systems, contrasting both downloading and uploading rates. Speeds typically differ from an area to another. A network providing download speeds of up to 20 Mbps in one area, could be providing up to 100 Mbps a few miles afar at the same price. Therefore, it has to be an important part of your research to know what speeds are offered at your particular location.

Contract Policy

Some companies demand that you borrow the modem and routers, whilst some will ask you to buy them, whereas some will also provide free of cost equipment. Similarly, some of them offer free of charge installation while others bill you for the installation services. Most provide promotions on the web services when bundled with televisions or telephone services (and sometimes just for a few months, and even if the deal ends, you have to keep evaluating cost). In fact, certain companies are adopting contract-free strategies such as Spectrum, while some cannot subscribe you without at least a yearlong contract. Also, at some extra amount, you might even avoid a multi-annual contract with some providers.

Add-ons

Most of the time, ISPs offer additional features to make it look as if you have a high value for money. Those extras that you probably need are things such as subscriptions for antivirus programs, a branded ISP e-mail address or a personalized webpage. One super cool add-on, though, is free Wi-Fi hotspot connectivity. If you use your laptop regularly on-the-go and you can access a Wi-Fi hotspot near you at a coffee shop or in the park, this add-on might be very beneficial to you.

Terms

Make sure you are well-aware of the service limitations. There might, for example, be capacity limitations that restrict the amount of data you may use per month or restrict the type of things you may do, such as operating a website or file server.

Money

Finally, none of these features are relevant if you cannot use the services quite often. Therefore, you need to be sure that an ISP you’re looking for is trustworthy in terms of reliability. It can be done through its ratings online or you may only ask current clients regarding their overall experience.

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Filed Under: Commentary Tagged With: choose, connection, corona, good, internet, times, ...

Win Passes to the Kansas City screening of “Bad Times at the El Royale”

 

Media Mikes has teamed up with their friends at 20th Century Fox to give (50) readers and their guest a chance to be among the first to attend the Kansas City screening of the new film “Bad Times at the El Royale.”

The film, starring Jeff Bridges,  Jon Hamm and Chris Hemsworth, will screen on Monday, October 1st at the AMC Studio 28 Theatre in Olathe, Kansas.  The screening begins at 7:00 p.m.

All you have to do to attend is click HERE.  The first (50) readers to do so will receive a pass for (2) to attend the screening.  This is a first come/first serve giveaway.  Once all (50) passes have been claimed the giveaway has ended.  Good luck!

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Filed Under: Kansas City Tagged With: bad, city, el, kansas, passes, royale, ...

Luke Hemsworth discusses new film “Kill Me Three Times”

Now available on Video On Demand and opening Friday April 10th in New York City, “Kill Me Three Times” is an Australian dark comedy thriller from director Kriv Stenders. The film centers around sniper Charlie Wolfe (an amusingly malicious Simon Pegg) who’s being paid to execute a hit on Alice (Alice Braga), the cheating wife of Jack (Callan Mulvey). Little does Wolfe know that Jack is not the only person out for his target and bloody mayhem and blackmail ensues.

Luke Hemsworth takes on the role of Dylan the tough mechanic with whom Alice is carrying on her affair. I got a chance to speak with Luke on a phone call from LA about the film, working in Australia and his recent stint on Saturday Night Live with younger brothers, Chris and Liam.

Lauren Damon: The film is kind of crazy, who first introduced you to the project?
Luke Hemsworth: That’s a good question, I think someone sent the script and said ‘have a read of this, if you like it, let’s talk more about it’. And of course I read it you know in one go—which  is always a good sign—and then I jumped on Skype with Kriv and you know, we were all on the same page and then from that point we went on and did a chemistry reading with Alice Braga and that obviously went pretty well and here we are!

LD: Was Alice already signed on at that point when you did the chemistry read?
LH: She was signed on. She had been signed on for like five years or ten years or something, she was signed on since she was a little kid I think! [Laughs]

LD: How would you describe your character Dylan?
LH: I would describe him as a loyal, humane puppy dog who is forced to deal with revenge and deals with it pretty well!

LD: Was it more appealing for you that Dylan is one of the characters that is decent and can have a happy ending versus everyone else?
LH: Yeah, it’s an added bonus I think. I haven’t even looked at it from that point of view—the journey is you know, that’s the fun part.

LD: Your journey mostly includes scenes with gunfights and you get a car chase. Did you have  fun making that? Had you experienced that before?
LH: Soooo much fun! I’ve experienced a little bit of that, but yeah…it was a complete blast. I got to do some really good, heisty you know, funny stuff. There wasn’t a day on set I didn’t enjoy and think ‘gee I really wanna be here.”

LD: Particularly was it fun having a big standoff with Simon Pegg’s character?
LH: Yeah, I mean it was great. It was really at the start of what we were doing. I think it was one of my first days was the stand off with Simon Pegg. And we kinda hung out and got to know each other, so yeah, it’s just such an interesting dynamic when that happens. And fortunately Simon is like the coolest guy in the world so we got on really well and we had an awesome time.

LD: Contrary to the bloody fights, you’re really in the most beautiful settings, how was it to shoot on these locations and was that an intentional juxtaposition?
LH: Oh for sure, yeah. The locations became a character in a way, so it was very intentional. For me, it was a huge added bonus to work not only as an actor, but also a human being I got to spend time surfing and you know, playing in an area of my native country, which is exceptionally rugged and beautiful with amazingly grounded people.

LD: Are you still based in Australia generally or have you also moved to Hollywood?
LH: I’ve been here for two years now, yeah, I’d moved before this all happened. And of course you when you make the move, then something’s happening back in Australia or somewhere else. So I spent a little bit of time back in Australia.

LD: So you were in LA when you got this part in Australia?
LH: I was yeah I got taken back two or three times, I did another project called Infini with Shane Abbess, who directed Gabriel, which also drops very soon—comes out in May I think—which is amazing, another amazing Australian kind of phenomenon which I’m sure we’ll be talking about soon.

LD: I noticed up until recently, you have a lot of television credits, does that affect at all how you approach a project? Do you prefer one or the other?
LH: No, I definitely don’t have—I don’t care one or the other, you kind of approach them both the same. Yeah, definitely approach them both the same. There’s a level of you know, pre-production work and research which goes into each character which goes into each and every day. I think that kind of falls away and hopefully you’re left with something which looks presentable [laughs].

LD: Do you foresee pursing more films going forward?
LH: Umm, yes and no, you know I don’t rule out one or the other. I’m about to start shooting West World for HBO so you know that’s TV but it’s…kind of—

LD: Their slogan is ‘it’s not TV, it’s HBO!’
LH: Yeah! It’s the pinnacle of TV. You know it’s Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, Bad Robot are producing so you know it’s a huge project.

LD: If you’re allowed to talk about about that at all, what’s your Westworld role like?
LH: I’m like the head of tech security for the army and it’s the robot part. The human technological side. I can’t give much too away other than that I think.

LD: Thanks! Of course the last time I saw you on US TV, you were on SNL a last month with your brothers, what was that like?
LH: [Laughs] It was great! I mean hilarious. You know a huge kind of notch on the belt for me, definitely. For all of us. Chris did such a wonderful job, incredibly honored to be a part of that process. It was fun.

LD: Is SNL as iconic to Australian viewers as it is here?
LH:  To certain Australians, definitely. Maybe not as much as Americans, but you know I know of it, I definitely hear of  a lot about SNL. Maybe not the same kind of love and mystery that it does here, but definitely a huge honor, absolutely.

Once again, Kill Me Three Times premieres this week at NYC’s Landmark Sunshine Cinema and is still available on VOD. Meanwhile, as Luke said, you can next look for him in Infini, opening on May 8th.

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Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: discusses, film, hemsworth, kill, luke, times, ...

Concert Review: Blake Shelton “Ten Times Crazier Tour 2014”

Blake Shelton with The Band Perry, Dan + Shay & Neal McCoy
“Ten Times Crazier Tour 2014”
Amway Center
Orlando, FL
August 30th, 2014

Our Score: 5 out of 5 stars

Blake Shelton is no question one of the best thing that country music has going for it in recent years. His music is fun, careless and if you don’t like it you can kiss my country music loving ass. The “Ten Times Crazier Tour 2014” is not your regular concert. It features Blake Shelton along with The Band Perry, Dan + Shay & Neal McCoy (who not plays once but three times).  This is a real party. The event started at 6:45pm and went all the way to just past 11pm. Now if you ask me that is one hell of a concert and these fans are really getting their money worth.

The night kicked off with Neal McCoy, who only took stage for 15 minutes and sang some fun cover songs…but don’t worry we didn’t see the last of him and his band. Next up was Dan + Shay, who I did not get to see due to being backstage  meeting up with Blake Shelton! That’s right baby meet and greet! He is one cool (and tall) dude! What I did hear though, there were really stealing the crowd and getting them warmed up. Neal McCoy came out again after that for another 15 minutes before The Band Perry really stole the show.

I have never seen The Band Perry live and not really a huge mega fan. I know (and like) a bunch of their songs but not really a number #1. Well after this performance, I am now a number #1 fan! The Band Perry took the stage and literally tore the roof off the Amway Center. Kimberly Perry is such an amazing performer and has such presence. She is also quite theatrical and dramatic, which really adds to the performance. Of course they song their classics like If I Die Young and Chainsaw, which really drove the crowd into an all out singing fest.

After The Band Perry, Mr. McCoy took the stage once more again singing some amazing classics and keeping the crowd ready when the stage was being set for the main attraction, Blake Shelton. Having met the man, a mere minutes before, it was surreal when he hit the stage and he was belting out his hits literally six rows from my seat (thanks to his management team for the outstanding seats BTW).  What I love about Shelton is that it just seems so effortless for him and yet at the same time, the guy seems like an average Joe who at points honestly seems nervous. He is just a great performer and keeps his audiences attention from the moment he comes. He is funny and also a great storyteller.

The top selling/Grammy winning country singing artist played his hits like “Kiss My Country Ass”,  “Mine Would Be You”, “Some Beach”, “Hillbilly Bone”, “Sure Be Cool If You Did” and “My Eyes”. Also in one of the coolest things that I have ever been a part of, Blake actually recorded the video to his latest single “Neon Light”, which is set to be released on his new album “Bringing Back the Sunshine”, due out September 30th. It was a blast to get to be a part of such an amazing event.

As the night grew later, Shelton went all Acoustic on us and came up to the front of the stage solo only with a guitar and really poured his out with tracks like “Austin”, “Drink On It” and one of my favorites, “Home”, which is of course a Michael Bublé cover. But the mood didn’t end on a quite not as he closed out the night with his biggest hits “Honey Bee” and “Boys ‘Round Here” and brought in the night with fireworks. I do not think that there was one person not singing or screaming those lyrics.

This was no question of the most fun that I have had at a concert in recent years. When I left the Amway Center, my cheeks were killing me and mine and my wife’s voices were shot due to singing for hours straight. I hope Blake and his team realized that Florida has its share of country fans and knows how to tear it up with the best of them! Till next time Mr. Shelton! Thanks for a great night, you sure know how to throw a great party!

The Band Perry Setlist:
Done
Night Gone Wasted
You Lie
All Your Life
I’m a Keeper
Timber (Pitbull feat. Ke$ha cover)
Chainsaw
Fat Bottomed Girls (Queen cover)
Don’t Let Me Be Lonely
If I Die Young
Better Dig Two

Blake Shelton Setlist:
All About Tonight
The More I Drink
She Wouldn’t Be Gone
Doin’ What She Likes
Kiss My Country Ass
Mine Would Be You
Nobody But Me
Some Beach
Ol’ Red (George Jones cover)
Who Are You When I’m Not Looking
Hillbilly Bone
Sure Be Cool If You Did
Neon Light
My Eyes
Over You
(Acoustic)
Austin
(Acoustic)
Drink On It
Home (Michael Bublé cover)
Honey Bee
Boys ‘Round Here
Encore:
Footloose (Kenny Loggins cover)
God Gave Me You

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Filed Under: Concert Reviews Tagged With: 2014, blake, concert, crazier, review, shelton, ...

Marvel’s Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. at Discovery Times Square

Photos by Liz Phillips
Note: There are spoilers for Captain America: The Winter Soldier within this article.

For New York City-bound Avengers fans looking to bridge the Marvel Cinematic Universe gap between April’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier and August’s Guardians of the Galaxy, they needn’t look any further than Discovery Times Square’s Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. Located in the heart of midtown, the exhibit replicates an actual SHIELD base with state of the art interactive exhibits and Marvel artifacts. We got the chance to tour this unique experience during its preview period in late May and were glad to return last week to see its completion and test whether we were worthy of our newly-issued SHIELD ID cards.

Upon entry into the exhibit, “probationary” level agents are scanned and welcomed with an official message from none other than Agent Felix Blake (Titus Welliver). After Blake’s message, the entry room gives way into the further secret headquarters of S.H.I.E.L.D. It should be noted for anyone reading this in confusion in light of what occurred in The Winter Soldier that this exhibit hails directly from Phase 1 in the MCU timeline, right after the events of the Avengers. Though it begs the question: How awesome would a HYDRA station be? Bring on the digitized Dr. Zola and his databanks brain, Marvel! But I digress.

After briefing, each Avenger gets highlighted starting with beautiful costume displays of the SHIELD agents Black Widow and Hawkeye (even if the mannequin’s arms don’t hold a candle to Mr. Renner’s). Beside them are the suits of SHIELD higher-ups Agent Phil Coulson and Director Nick Fury. Like most all of the props on view throughout the exhibit, the costumes are accompanied by touch screens giving in-depth info on the items on display. Other noteable props we encountered on our tour included Loki’s infamous helmet and scepter, the Tesseract portal device and of course, Captain America’s iconic shield.

What makes this exhibit special however, beyond its wealth of actual props and costumes, is that ID everyone was issued. As the station’s staff move recruits from the designated rooms of Captain America, The Hulk, Thor and Iron Man, would-be agents can scan into interactive exercises that test their skills versus the Avengers. Spoiler alert: None of us are stronger than Steve Rogers. It also allows users to share some of their results with Facebook if they chose to connect with the social network upon registering their ID.

Unsurprisingly, the most interactive room is that of Tony Stark himself where visitors can watch themselves get suited up on screen and maneuver Iron Man in his virtual garage or operate an actual robotic arm.*

The largest space belongs to Thor, whose costume from the first film is cleverly displayed as a gift from Asgard to Midgard. Beside it, S.T.A.T.I.O.N. boasts apparently the largest holographic projection in North America, that of Thor’s legendary hammer, Mjolnir. Across from these artifacts, agents can virtually manuever through stars in a program the center developed in collaboration with NASA. Jane Foster would be proud.

Marvel’s Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N.  at Discovery Times Square is now open and you can find ticketing information on their official website. 

(Special thanks to Heather for being our model agent!)

*Our team discovered an amusing Easter egg in regards to this arm, clearly the exhibitors know their NYC audience! Head on over to our TUMBLR page to enjoy our short video as well as additional photos from the exhibit.

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Filed Under: Headlines, Travel Tagged With: avengers, discovery, marvels, square, station, times, ...

Adventure Time’s Jake vs Finn Mimobot Designer USB Flash Drive Giveaway [ENDED]

Media Mikes is teaming up with Mimoco to bring you the ultimate MIMOBOT giveaway. What time is it “Adventure Time” fans? Media Mikes wants to you decide who will win in a Jake vs Finn best quote battle. This is for hardcore fans of “Adventure Time” only. The best quote will be chosen and the person will be awarded either a Jake or Finn MIMOBOT Designer USB Flash Drive. If you would like to enter for your chance to win one of this prizes, please leave us a comment below or send us an email with either your favorite Jake or Finn quote. This giveaway will remain open until March 19th at Noon, Eastern Time. This is open to our readers in US and Canada only. One entry per person, per household. All other entries will be considered invalid. Media Mikes will randomly select winners. Winners will be alerted via email.

Finn from Adventure Time is way more than just a little kid with a dog, a sword, and a hat, and Finn MIMOBOT is way more than another flash drive. Armed with his ‘awesome hat’, backpack and sword, there is no evil too scary for him to face, no adventure too big to be adventured, and for Finn MIMOBOT, no file too important. Oh yeah, and when you whip Finn MIMOBOT out, everyone will know that you are King Awesome.

Adventure Time’s Jake is not your average dog- he’s, well… stretchy. as in flexible. And he can talk, too. But he’s still loyal and loving and Jake MIMOBOT can be just as good a friend and just as flexible. Store a small file on Jake MIMOBOT. Go on, store a big file… whatever you want! He can hold up to 64GBs of your stuff, and he won’t complain. Jake MIMOBOT is there in a pinch and will proclaim to your friends and coworkers that yes, you love Adventure Time, and no, you will not let them down.

Also “Adventure Time” fans keep an eye out for the upcoming BMO BatteryBot that’s available for pre-order now, here. Who knows maybe this Summer we will be giving away one of these beauties as well, so stay tuned!

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2014 Olympics’ Road to Sochi hits Times Square in NYC

Nearly one hundred days ago, New York City hosted the Road to Sochi, an event celebrating the lead up to the 22nd Winter Olympics. The event, held in Times Square, boasted several activities that fans could take part in, including an autograph signing with some members of the US team, a small luge run, and numerous trivia and sport simulations. In an area best known for its throngs of tourists, Olympic fans could even watch live sport demonstrations, including hockey, curling, skiing, and snowboarding down a ramp placed right in the middle of the square.

Now, the world looks towards the beginning of the Winter Olympics- this year taking place in Sochi, Russia. The first events (Ladiesʼ Moguls Qualification in Freestyle Skiing, Team Pairs Short Program and Team Mensʼ Short Program in Figure Skating, and Mensʼ and Ladiesʼ Slopestyle Qualification in Snowboarding) will begin Thursday, February 6th. The Olympic Opening Ceremony will take place the following day, on Friday, in the brand new Fisht Stadium in Sochiʼs Olympic Park.

This Winter Olympics has seemed plagued with numerous concerns from environmental standards and potential terrorist threats to budgeting questions, lodging, and construction problems. These issues are all more than enough for one country to handle, and thatʼs not even taking into account the questions of human and animal rights violations, as well as Russiaʼs continued targeting and attacks on the LGBT community. President Obama will not be attending the Games, instead sending an Olympic delegation that is set to include three openly gay athletes. But in a lead up to the Olympics that has seen its share of controversies and concerns, the United States will place its hopes of success in its 230 athletes. 98 gold medals will be given out between February 6-23, which will include twelve new events, many previously seen in the X Games, in the hopes that their addition will add something new and fresh to the Games. Seven countries will be sending athletes to a Winter Olympics for the first time.

The United States is expected to fare well, being among the projected top countries along with Norway, Germany, and Canada. The 2014 Sochi Olympics will be shown on NBC.

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Filed Under: Commentary Tagged With: 2014, hits, nyc, olympics, road, sochi, ...

CD Review: A Sound of Thunder “Time’s Arrow”

A Sound of Thunder
“Time’s Arrow”
Mad Neptune Records
Release Date: June 4, 2013
Tracks: 11
Running Time: 65 minutes

Our Score: 5 out of 5 stars

Holy shit! Those are the first words that came through my head when listening to this album. “Time’s Arrow” is A Sound of Thunder’s third full-length album.  I was a huge fan of 2012’s “Out of the Darkness” and this year’s “Queen of Hell EP” but this one really raised the bar again! The band in the last two years have quickly become one of my favorite metal bands in the business. There music is heavy, original and very well-written.  Each song is unique and yet still fits perfectly as a whole into the album.  If you haven’t heard of the band, this would be an perfect way to get introduce and I guarantee you will become an instant fan for life!

Guitarist and composer Josh Schwartz is absolutely insane on this album and really gives his all into each track. Frontwoman Nina Osegueda has never sounded better.  Between you and me, I am usually not a fan of female lead metal bands, don’t hate me, but goddamn from the first time I heard her voice on “Out of the Darkness”, I couldn’t stop listening.  On this album, she is fierce and really just nails it with song after song. What I like about this band as a whole is that they have range.  They definitely know how to bring the metal, get those devil horns ready, but on this album they also explore other genres with the classic rock-inspired “End of the Road” or the space-rock tribute “Reign of the Hawklords”.  These tracks just show how diverse this band is and how they are going to become one of the top bands in the business.

I have to say it is rare when you find an album that you literally love every song but this is definitely one of those albums.  Let me focus on the title track for a minute, “Time’s Arrow”.  This song is nearly 10 minutes long and it is easily one of the most epic tracks that I have heard in the recent years! It is heavy and also well-paced.  When you are listening to a 10 minute you expect the song to feel like a 10 minute song. That doesn’t happen with this track, you go off on this journey and it literally just drags you along like a cartoon character being dragged through mid-air by the smell of food. Sorry I watch a lot of cartoons. METAL! Anyway, this track really shows that this band packs a lot talent, since a 10 minute track is not easy to pull off. I can’t wait to see this performed live, it should be extremely epic!

Another aspect of this this album that I love is that “Time’s Arrow” is released by Mad Neptune Records, which is the band’s own record label that was just started for this release. This just shows that the music comes first for this band and they would rather not sell out to some big label and have their sound molded into “what the label thinks we want to here”.  This takes balls and the band sure down how a lot of that, sorry Nina – you still rule! Trust me, take out the 65 minutes and listen to “Time’s Arrow”.  It is one of those albums that when you hear it you will be unable to speak until there is a break in the track.  Yes it is that epic!

Track Listing:
1. Power Play
2. Time’s Arrow
3. I Will Not Break
4. Broken Bridge
5. Queen of Hell
6. Let’s Start A Fire
7. I’ll Walk With You
8. My Disease (featuring Blaze Bayley)
9. Wastelands
10. End Of The Road
11. Reign Of The Hawklords

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Filed Under: CD Reviews Tagged With: arrow, cd, review, sound, thunder, times, ...

Changing Times on "Community"

Going into its fourth season, NBC’s Community abruptly changed much of its behind the scenes creatives, including, crucially, creator and show runner Dan Harmon. At the same time, the study group on the show, headed up by Joel McHale’s Jeff, faces their senior year at Greendale University. It’s therefore fitting that when two of its stars, Alison Brie (“Annie”) and Danny Pudi (“Abed”), got together to talk about the show this year, much of the focus was on change:

Pudi: That is in some ways what we set  up for season four, embracing change, and I think specifically with the world of Abed. You see that right away, in the premiere of season four, going into his happy place especially anytime anyone mentions that it’s our senior year which is scary. And I think with Abed we’ve explored change a few different times already. In the “My Dinner with Andre” episode you know, it ends with Abed saying  that changing really isn’t his jam, you know? He’s more of a fastened lip and stoic type. And I think the thing about senior year at Greendale is that whether or not we change much as individuals, our circumstances change and our environments change. So I think that is something we have to at least address so there is part of that. And I think honestly when I look at the world around me I think most of my friends and the people I know, they’re at their core, they’re essentially the same people. You know, you do grow but in many ways the things that grow is literally just the fact that you’re a little bit older now and you have to have a job and you have kids and a family and you’re no longer living at home. Your responsibility to the world around you changes. It’s your ability to adapt to that that I think is interesting. And so I think that’s what we explore season four.

Brie: Yea I think that Annie, like all the characters, has always been changing. You know because they started out as singular beings and now they’re sort of a unit and just in terms of gaining friends like that and growing up a little, like everyone I hope, grows in college because you’re learning so much about yourself through these interactions with these other people. And Annie she started out, I always think of Annie being kind of two steps forward and one step back like in all of her growth. She started out so studious and just seemed very driven and is still driven, but we’ve seen some detours. She gets hung up on guys, she gets hung up on the friends group and trying to keep the study group together because she’s never had friends like this before. And she’s never had guys interested in her before. So we’ve see those kind of detours with Annie and this year she’s sort of returning to her studious roots and she’s discovered a new major, forensics, that she’s now interested in and feeling really passionate about it again. So we sort of see her returning to being that figure for the group. To being kind of driven and just being kind of the voice of reason for the group and that’s how she changes.

When new writers came on fans were worried that it might be less ambitious than when Dan [Harmon] was on, was that a concern for you?

Brie: I think, you know, it’s a tough thing to learn that your show runner is not coming back to the show and Dan is such a big part of the show, so I think we were a little nervous and didn’t know what to expect but that’s not really a new feeling having worked on our show for four years now. So when we met the new guys they really stressed how much they loved the show and wanted to keep it the same and some of our writers were still the same… And we all were certainly very vocal this season to sort of speak to what our characters would and wouldn’t do and the way things might go on the show and so we were all sort of working together to keep the show intact.
Pudi:… I think for us the one thing that you know we wanted to do and to make sure it comes across this year is that our genuine love for the show comes across and I think you’ll see that with us this year. Still, there’s an extra level of responsibility we had as actors to really make sure that we’re still staying true to who these people are and the world around Greendale. But there was definitely—you can’t replace Dan Harmon. He created something that’s pretty amazing and I’m forever thankful for that.
Brie: Yea, me too.

This season has already seen Malcolm McDowell guest star as a history teacher, Matt Lucas as a deranged Inspector Spacetime fan and NBC’s just announced that in the spring we will see “Seinfeld” favorite Jason Alexander as a Friendly Mountain Man.

Who is your dream guest star on the show?
Brie: I’ve always thought Jason Bateman would be this like—because we love Arrested Development here—and I’ve always thought that he would be so great on the show. Pudi: Dream would be Zach Galifrianakis. I think that would be so much fun. I think it would be amazing to see him in our world. Bruce Willis would be unbelievable. We could do like a Looper. Oh, that would be amazing!

What’re you really excited for people to see for the rest of this season?
Brie: I am really excited for the Christmas episode, that’s the one that’s Hitchcock inspired. Also we have like a Freaky Friday episode that was written by Jim Rash—who of course plays Dean Pelton, and is an Academy Award Winner for Screenwriting [The Descendents]–so that is a really fun one. And also our season finale, I am like ‘Hang in there, fans…’ I think the finale is such a special treat and it’s written by Megan Ganz and it’s one of my favorite episodes this season and I think that it has a lot of elements in it that, it’s really just made for the fans.
Pudi: In some ways it is just a little bit more of a love note.–
Brie: Because it was sort of written as if it might be our last so a lot of heart in there from all of us. And I do think that the episodes get better and better throughout the season so keep tuning in, guys!

“Community” airs Thursdays at 8pm on NBC

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Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: Allsion Brie, changing, community, Danny Pudi, NBC, times, ...

Help support A Sound of Thunder’s new album “Time’s Arrow” on Kickstarter

Join the Legion of Thunder and help “A Sound of Thunder” complete our next epic full-length album TIME’S ARROW…11 new tracks of classic metal! Click here to see how you can help them out on Kickstarter!

The title of our new album is TIME’S ARROW.  We’ve already begun recording with the same band lineup, studio and producer as OUT OF THE DARKNESS, and a new batch of 11 songs that will blow you away! The centerpiece of the album is the epic 9-minute sci-fi/metal title track “Time’s Arrow”, based on a short-story by our drummer Chris Haren. The album as a whole touches on our roots in metal, prog, classic rock, and even classical, blues, and jazz, and takes us into new territory while maintaining the overall classic metal sound.

Drums, bass, and rhythm guitars for TIME’S ARROW have already been completely recorded.  With your help we will track lead vocals, lead guitars, and keyboards, then mix the final album all at Assembly Line Studios in Vienna, Virginia.  Studio time is already tentatively booked and with your support we’ll complete the album this fall!

You can order TIME’S ARROW in the following formats:

  • Digital Download
  • Autographed CD
  • Honored Heroes Pack (Your name in the album booklet)
  • Ultra-Limited Box Set (including TIME’S ARROW short story and much more…see rewards for details!)

(Larger rewards that include the Honored Heroes Pack can be upgraded to the Box Set…just add $30 to your pledge, or contact the band!)

In addition to the full-length album TIME’S ARROW, we are announcing another release, the QUEEN OF HELL EP, exclusively available to fans who help us fund TIME’S ARROW via Kickstarter!   That’s right, a unique release by the band ONLY AVAILABLE HERE! 

Click here to see how you can help them out on Kickstarter!

 

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Filed Under: Music Headlines Tagged With: album, arrow, kickstarter, sound, support, thunders, ...

CD Review: SafetySuit “These Times”

SafetySuit
“These Times”
Universal Republic
Produced by: Howard Benson, Ryan Tedder, Espionage and SafteySuit
Tracks: 11
ITunes Digital Download 12 tracks

Our Score: 3 out of 5 stars

“These Times” is the latest release from the pop/rock band SafetySuit. The album is being released via Universal Republic and is the follow up release to the bands 2008 album titled “Life Left to Go”.
“These Times” debuted January 3, 2012 on ITunes where it spent two days as the number one most downloaded album.

Right of the bat I found the 11 songs contained on “These Times” to all have the potential of becoming hits. Despite the number of various producers on this album all the tracks had a very good flow and each track seemed to complement the next. The album featured a variety of tones and textures providing something new each time you listen to it. The band also does a great job blending a multitude of music genres which only seems to add to the appeal of this album. Tracks such as “Never Stop” and the upbeat song “Crash” were strong personal favorites of mine. After listening to “These Times” several times over it was really no surprise as to why the album spent two days at the top of the ITunes chart. Fans of music in general will want to check out this album.

Track Listing:
1.) Believe
2.) Get Around This
3.) Let Go
4.) Staring At It
5.) These Times
6.) Never Stop
7.) One Time
8.) Crash
9.) Stranger
10.) Things To Say
11.) Life In the Pain
12.) You Don’t See Me (ITunes Bonus Track)

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Filed Under: CD Reviews Tagged With: cd, review, safetysuit, times

Blu-ray Review “Page One: Inside the New York Times”

Directors: Andrew Rossi
Starring: David Carr, Carl Bernstein, Richard Perez-Pena, Tim Arango, Bill Keller, Brian Stelter
Studio: Magnolia Home Entertainment
MPAA Rating: R
Run Time: 92 minutes

Overall Score: 2.5 out of 5 stars

I guess this film interested me because I definitely am a believer that print newspaper is dead or if not dead dying. Don’t get me wrong The New York Times itself is not dead especially with social medias like Facebook, Twitter and now digital subscriptions. I was hoping for a real inside look into the New York Times and the end of the newspaper debate but what this film was about was more the David Carr story. David is a drug addict turned newspaper journalist. He is interesting at first being knowledgeable and such but grows old fast.

“Page One” gives an inside access to The New York Times newsroom and it’s Media Desk. Some of the issues that are presented are the growing internet, which is surpassing print as the public’s main news source. We get to see some debates and discussion about that issue but not enough. Basically we get an inside look at people complaining about what to print and how they are concerned for their jobs. I guess every documentary needs a star and a focus so for this one they chose David Carr. He is very well spoken but not an interesting choice for this documentary.

The extras on the are ok but not great. They include over twenty minutes of additional scenes, with some that are entertaining and worth a watch. There are also some extended interviews which work better edited in the film. The next feature “Journalists React to Page One,” is the impressions from media moguls as they leave a screening…nothing special. There is brief 15 minute edit of Q&A with the Cast and Filmmakers” from various festivals and screenings. There is a feature called “Tim Arango with Joao Silva in Iraq”, which goes into more detail from the film about Arango. I thought the storyline in the film didn’t fit well and seemed too short. This feature is decent. Of course a Magnolia Pictures release would be the same without a bunch of sneak peaks.

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Filed Under: DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews Tagged With: bluray, page, review, times, york

Go Behind the Scenes of America’s Most Trusted News Source “Page One: Inside The New York Times”

GO BEHIND THE SCENES OF AMERICA’S MOST TRUSTED NEWS SOURCE

PAGE ONE: THE INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Revealing Documentary Arrives On Blu-ray Disc And DVD On October 18 From
Magnolia Home Entertainment Under The Magnet Label

“A potent and provocative documentary…Page One is a vital, indispensable hell-raiser.”
Rolling Stone

“Page One offers a respectful, most flattering glimpse inside the Times newsroom…”
–Variety

“Slick, fun, and surprisingly sexy”
–Vanity Fair

“An important document of the paper of record at a crucial, make-or-break juncture in its long, glorious history, and a love letter to the dying art form that is the great American newspaper.”
– The Onion’s AV Club

“Something akin to The Social Network for the news business” (Reuters), Page One: The Inside The New York Times hits stands on Blu-ray and DVD on October 18 from Magnolia Home Entertainment under the Magnet Label. The “riveting film,” (Slate) gives viewers an inside look at one of the country’s most well-known newspapers in a time where print media is dying and the Internet news business is booming. Through interviews with notable journalists such as Brian Stelter, Tim Arango, Bill Keller, Bruce Headlam and David Carr, the film “effectively brings us all around the campfire” (Los Angeles Times) to reveal the inner-workings of The New York Times newsroom.

From Andrew Rossi, the director of HBO’s Le Cirque: A Table In Heaven, Page One:The Inside The New York Times follows the reporters for The New York Times Media Desk as they work through a tumultuous time in journalism and face new players and platforms such as WikiLeaks, Twitter, tablet computers and more. Editor David Carr “steals the show” (The Village Voice), while offering unprecedented access to the inner workings of the newspaper as well as his personal life. New-media wunderkind Brian Stelter plays the “stolid Sancho Panza to Carr’s Don Quixote” (Slate) and shows the importance of having the ability to straddle the worlds of both old and new media, while colleagues Bruce Headlam, Bill Keller and Tim Arango fight to hold onto the solid reputation of The New York Times.

Page One: The Inside The New York Times Blu-ray Disc and DVD offers even more insightful commentary and extended interviews and will be available for the suggested retail price of $29.98 and $26.98, respectively.

Synopsis
Page One: The Inside The New York Times deftly gains unprecedented access to The New York Times newsroom and the inner workings of the Media Desk. With the Internet surpassing print as our main news source and newspapers all over the country going bankrupt, Page One: The Inside The New York Times chronicles the transformation of the media industry at its time of greatest turmoil. Writers such as Brian Stelter, Tim Arango and, and the salty but brilliant David Carr track print journalism’s metamorphosis even as their own paper struggles to stay vital and solvent. Meanwhile, their editors and publishers grapple with existential challenges from players like WikiLeaks, new platforms ranging from Twitter to tablet computers, and readers’ expectations that news online should be free.

Bonus Features

Extended Interviews

Commentary

 

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Filed Under: Film Headlines Tagged With: americas, news, page, scenes, source, times, ...
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