Mothers Day - We Called It

Entertainment Archives

Around the world in 80 days - Michael Palin
July 30, 2007 | | TrackBacks

Monty Python's Michael Palin gets asked to do a repeat of explorer Phileas Fog's adventure of travelling around the world in 80 days. At first I was thinking this was going to be a no-biggie in terms of meeting and in fact being able to easily beat the 80 day restriction.. but its absolutely amazing to see how certain parts of the world are still operating like time hasnt changed since the first attempt.

Luckily Michael's up-beat humor always keeps the viewer entertained and hopefully optimistic that though he's close to 2 weeks behind schedule and stuck drifting 6 days in the indian ocean on a dhow , ancient wooden boat with no modern day facilities, with a crew of individuals whom dont speak English. It was also interesting to see quirky observerations - such as how in China you could buy a calculator but the checkout person would stll use an abacus to figure out how much change to give you back.


I did see that apparently he has been since asked to go on additional adventures (Pole to Pole and Sahara). This is a great series to watch, shows the true reality of the countries he visits and gives you a very well informed view of what to expect if you were to set foot in any of those locations.

Nintendo Wii
July 9, 2007 | | TrackBacks

I happened to hang out with a friend who just purchased a Nintendo Wii and hooked it up for me to take a look at... now how cool is this game console! It's got the sleek action look down but it is very white.. so it will stand out if you've got the standard black entertainment center.. (Im sure there are skins you can purchase to change its look) and I did notice that the games the console came with never really showed off any of its graphical processing power.. so digging up its specifications I did find that it is way behind its competitors (PS3, XBOX) when it comes to its polygon-pushing power.. this means that the games have to be dead on addictive and innovative to have me spend $399 for this device.


Apparently his Wii came with a Wii Sports gme which simply was a choice between Bowling, Boxing, Golf and one other game we didnt bother playing with.. it was a great way to get newbies brought upto speed on how to use their innovative Wiimotes which are the primary controllers. A sensor bar is required to be placed, typically above the television, for it correctly sense your every wii-action. I was very skeptical when the wiimote was safety strapped to my wrist (apparently these things have flown out of peoples hands in the excitement of gameplay) and I started off with the boxing game..


I was breathing hard by the 4th round! This console is actually making my physically interact with it to play! I ended up getting knocked out but thats alright cause we quickly decided to check out the bowling game next... apparently even in Wiiland I still have spin action that foils my game.. how interesting that it was able to actuallly pick up speed and spin.. during the final golf game ,which I ended up liking the most, I actually thoroughly enjoyed standing infront of the television and driving away for a 300 yard stroke! Even though i did terrible with all the games, the interactivity the Wii requires is like no other console out there. I found it particularly amusing how between games there were 'safety' instructions and 'take a rest between gaming sessions'.. can't fault them on trying to keep their users alive.


The console does have internet enablement, comes with the Opera browser and the ability to message wiifriends.. I would not be surprised to see them at some point in the future try and link up all their devices (DS, DSLite, Wii) to allow for interaction between them.. Nintendo have managed to capture addiction and innovation in a box ... it's called the Wii!

Rolling Stone - The Biggest Bang
July 2, 2007 | | TrackBacks

Your HD TV, surround sound can give you the granduer experience that the self-proclaimed 'Greatest Rock Band on Earth' can deliver to you in person... but this 4 disc DVD - Rolling Stones The Biggest Bang' set is pretty close and it gives you the chance to watch them perform across a multitude of countries of their same tour which I always love to watch.


It's just truly amazing to see a sea of people at their concerts.. watching this band is something that goes down on your personal checklist of things to do while they are still around because no other band will be the same. I do think that Mick' voice is amazing.. its infact the opposite of Steven Tylers (Aerosmith).. Steve's got older and raspier.. Mick's sounds like its getting younger! He does his dances and struts around like he's married to a 20 year old.. oh wait.. he is..


Disc 3 they're in Argentina, China (first time visit!) and Disc 4 has interviews of the band.. and this is amazing.. the drummer speaks!!! Charlie Watts actually speaks! Its great to see them interviewed and how they naturally act.. Big fans of the band will not be disappointed! I did like the fact that the concerts were in full-length and not the complete taping because Im very fluent with fast-forwarding past boring segments and I rarely had to for these CDs.. except the few songs that I personally didnt care for... I also did get a chance to get re-educated on some of their songs and hearing how they performed them live. I always tend to prefer how live songs are performed as opposed to the taped album version.. they tend to be more liberal and I like free-flowing on the spur type of 'hey' 'yah' and 'ahhhhhh babyyy' thrown in during the chorus..


This set is only available at BestBuy, so hit your local store or rolling">online.. you wont be disappointed.. its a must-have in your music DVD library and its something that everyone will appreciate knowing that you've got a staple in your collection that everyone would love to own

Chop Shop
June 22, 2007 | | TrackBacks

Ok, normally the only music reviews we post are of released albums that everyone can buy. I mean, that's kind of the point of the website. But I came across this band last Friday at one of my normal hangouts in Charlotte that was incredible and I just had to recommend. If you happen to be in the Charlotte area and want to hear some live music, you need to check out Chop Shop. These guys were amazing, full of energy, and kept the place going until closing time. They play songs you don't normally hear a cover band play, such as "To Be With You", "Eye of the Tiger", "Land of Confusion", and "Signs". And they pulled everyone one of them off and gave each their on little flare. Jason and Rich provided the vocals and bass guitar while Sam was a show by himself on lead guitar and Sean kept everybody on track with the drums. I'm telling you, there were several times when they had everyone out of their seat, when's the last time you've seen that from a cover band? Now their website needs a little help, but apparently they haven't been playing very long so I'll give them a pass and their myspace page is pretty good (seriously guys, get rid of the left to right scroll bars. I have a 42" monitor, I shouldn't have to scroll!!) I'll be out to see them again, when you visit, tell them we sent ya.

Hookaholic - Hookah
June 15, 2007 | | TrackBacks

Im not much of a smoker, actually let me rephrase that, I don't smoke at all. However, at certain parties that I used to attend back in the day, I was introduced to the hookah. Basically you smoke flavored tobacco (which smells oh so good) through a water vase/reservoir. Its something that has been around certain parts of western Middle East for centuries. It looks absolutely awesome (well, the one that I got sure does) and can be used as a center piece or on a coffee table, and when the right company is around, I light it up and have my guests smoke what they have come to love. It gets compliments from everyone, from current and past smokers via appreciation for its fine design and from people who have no idea what it is, simply because it looks exotic. I got mine from Hookaholic, and after I was done telling the owner how happy I was with my hookah, you can now use my name 'rambo' as a promotion code, and get yourself an additional 10% off :)

Blood Diamond
March 23, 2007 | | TrackBacks

Ive got to mention this movie.. I thought Blood Diamond was amazing.. Im not saying this out of any biases, for I do not recognize any of the cast except for Leonardo DiCaprio (Danny Archer) and he's not in my top 5 actors to watch list. First off.. no sex/kissing/intimate scenes! How amazing is that? I didnt think it was possible to make a movie without at least a inferring to intimate activites... this one did it! The plot was amazing, and brought a clear image of the in-humane experiences that diamond workers are put through and how its all ultimately caused due to the worlds fascination with buying sparkling materialistic rocks. I was wondering what the new slogan 'conflict free diamonds' were all about and now it makes clear sense after watching this movie. It's a great movie to watch and realize that Djimon Hounsou's (Solomon Vandy) role was a great example of how a seemingly insignificant person can be the whole reason for change. It's sad to know that things happen on this planet at the hands of villains and go unreported. It's even worse to realize that the product supplied by the villainous enterprises are sold at high prices to the world market which in turn continues to fund such mistreatment.

House, M.D. - Season One
March 2, 2007 | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks

I never liked Grey's Anatomy, it was too 'soap-ish' for me and hardly any medical or technical issues to entice my curiosity. House M.D. on the other hand does just that. It glorifies the profession some what, however it zeros in on the diagnostics of the disease while playing some of the characters into that scenario. Its great for those of us who don't want to be patronized by medical shows just because we see scrubs on the actors, this show is just what the doctor recommends for those of us who actually know medicine or even those curious individuals who are open to learning more about the science and practice of diagnosing. Its not extremely technical, and so the average viewer can enjoy the series just as much as those medically trained individuals, however it does seem to go the extra mile for those who watch medical series for precisely that, medical issues. Its one of my favorite shows, and now that Ive finished watching season one, I'm on to season two which is also out! Needless to say, this would make an awesome gift for some.

Tivo Remote Wireless G USB Network Adapter
February 27, 2007 | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks

Apparently Tivo provides for a way to connent to the mothership to download the TV guide for the owners respective cable access provider.. I didnt have a phone jack anywhere near the Tivo box, so I ended up stringing a phone line (luckily Tivo provides a long one) across the living room and all the way into the kitchen to get Tivo phone access... the wife wasn't too happy about that configuration. I guess it does go against some aesthetic law to have a phone cord strung up in the middle of the house like a washing line. (I apologize if any of the readers still utilize that method). It did take a little bit of fiddling with, most errors were on my part (I forgot my WEP password) and BAM! My Tivo is now net-enabled! I can now even download Tivo'ed shows off of the Tivo box and onto my laptop (have to download a free Tivo desktop client) and better yet, I can share the shows with perhaps futue Tivo boxes in other parts of the house *hint*. Note: I did attempt to buy a generic usb wireless ethernet card but Tivo didnt recognize it, so just go down to Radioshack and buy it for $10 cheaper than off of the TIVO.com site!

Lord of the Rings: Trilogy Platinum Series Extended Edition
February 22, 2007 | | Comments (2) | TrackBacks

I've managed to somehow completely miss out on the LOTR movies.. till now.. I got the platinum extended edition which is supposedly more in line with the director Peter Jackson's vision of how the movie should be watched... since I havent watched the original versions.. I cant tell you what the differences were.. but it is good to see a movie which got better as the movies went on. I think its a great movie to own if you've got a HD [beautiful scenery] setup, and at least a dedicated weekend to watch them all back-to-back.

Now there were parts of the movie where I got disappointed... fact that the wizard came back was a downer... seemed too obvious that there would be a scene where a wizard supposedly dies and then comes back alive later.. and things seemed to fall too expectedly in sequence.. I almost could tell what was going to happen next, and I hate it when I can do that.

Lenswork Magazine
January 30, 2007 | | TrackBacks

Amazing how such a little periodical can have such a great punch to it. It's probably 2/3 the size of a regular magazine, and the same thickness, but purely in black/white and sepia. It comes out six times a year, and focuses on 3 portfolios consisting of approx 12-24 images. Since I am an amateur I always try and look to see what kind of camera/lens the pictures were taken with, and this publication doesnt bother with any of that type of information.. it makes you realize that its not the lens/equipment but the look and feel.. and to make an intelligent decision of how to capture that picture if you have the opportunity. It's funny but Im realizing that Im now recognizing attributes of what makes certain pictures more attractive than others.. the core rules (s-curves, rule of thirds, etc) all come into play and dictate the outcome. There's no doubt that there are a million beautiful scenes out there, its a matter of how do you capture it to convey it in a photograph. This magazine does a great job in proving that it is possible to capture that essence and more.

Paws & Claws Pet Vet by ValuSoft
January 29, 2007 | | Comments (53) | TrackBacks

We were initially planning on purchasing the Sims 2 for our 9 year old daughter, but when I saw how there were teenagers making out on the cover of that game.. I dropped that request. (update: apparently there's another kid-friendly version of the Sims which doesnt have any kissing going on) She received this game from her Nana, and initially I figured it'd be just a regular '2 hour and done with' kinda game . I was wrong! This thing actually teaches business-sense to kids! Pet Vet does a great job of making the player very aware of their state of finances and how a business' reputation can effect their popularity, and ultimately their income. I know of some real companies whom would benefit by having their employees play this game and realize that point. Back to the game.. it's simple, straight to the point, allows for a wealthy number of opportunities and options which I can see keeping my lil girl busy for at least a couple of months. Software requirements: Direct X, Windows XP/2000 and a decent amount of RAM and disk space and you'll be just fine.

iPod nano
January 26, 2007 | | TrackBacks

I love my iPod nano! I could just quit there and recommend everyone should have one (and yes, I am probably the last one to have one) but I can say a few more things. I sort of wish I had the video iPod. However I find that for one, I like the smaller size of the nano and two, I am usually doing something else while listening to the iPod which would not allow me to actually watch the video even if I had the ability. And even though I only have the 1GB, I find I have plenty of room for the music I currently want to listen to as well as several podcasts and then some leftover. I'm also happy with the fact that this does play podcasts as well as store pictures. Loading the podcasts and music from iTunes is about as easy as plugging in a USB cord and you can find just about any accessory you want seeing how popular they are.

Tivo Series 2
January 24, 2007 | | Comments (2) | TrackBacks

Cons: I dont like how you've got to rig up a co-axial splitter to route another feed to your Tivo so that while Tivo is recording a show on one channnel, you can then surf and watch other channels and not be stuck to watching the one show you are recording.. makes sense.. but thats just lousy. Pros: It is amazing to pause TV, rewind to make sure you heard what that actor stuttered and continue on and not have to lose track by trying to ask others or figure it out yourself. Im ok with the $15/month subscription, only because they allow you to integrate it with your home network and upload/download movies and share them with othere devices. It allows you to download vlogs/podcosts off the internet on to your tivo to watch on yer telly! Rocketboom! yay!. I also find it cool to log onto Tivo Online from anywhere (i.e work) and schedule your Tivo to record something you forgot. Oh, and now I've got 5 remotes.. I need to get a decent Universal Remote.. suggestions anyone?

Chappelle show - Season DVD 1 / 2
December 6, 2006 | | TrackBacks

Ok, Im apparently late to the game when it comes to watchin the chapelle shows in their full entirety on dvd.. Rad Chad and Bobbie Joe let us borrow the two seasons over Thanksgivin.. and I dug into it.. I dont bother with watchin it when its on TV due to the milion commercials they run during it you only feel like you've watched 10 minutes worth of material! I figure thats a Comedy Central issue and not Dave but regardless.. show sucks to watch on tv.. on DVD though.. IT IS HILLARIOUS!!! you actually get to watch all the skits you've missed cause of takin breaks durin them damn commercials. I think the best part is watchin others imitate Chapelle's characters.. especially when wifey does her Rick James impersonation.. 'Im Rick James B%#$h!'

Second Life
November 30, 2006 | | TrackBacks

I'd preface this by saying 'geeks only read on' but its become so popular it's becoming mainstream! All should check out 'Second Life'.. an online 3-d virtual world made up of people playing, conducting business and communicating.. seriously. One can buy virtual land, and setup storefronts and practically live out their life in a virtual environment.. talk about Snow Crash comin true!. I've been a member for a cpl months now, doin the freebie thing but its time to upgrade! There are membership levels in a tiered format.. and its funny.. i just heard that due to Second Life not having an enforcement/policing features.. people have joined and started doing online crimes! There's a townhall meeting Im late for where we're discussing how we plan to eradicate it.. see me on SL! Note: Certain stores are setting up stores in this world.. Reebok, Wells Fargo, Dell.. yah.. legit corporations are in on it too. Infact they held the X-Men premiere party on Second Life.. where have you been?! One more thing.. a second life realtor just closed a deal for $1million due to a virtual housing boom that took place over this summer.

NFL Sunday Ticket Super Fan
November 7, 2006 | | TrackBacks

Attention to all die hard football fans—If you love football at the highest level, you MUST have NFL Sunday Ticket Super Fan.  Almost every game in High Definition (Would be every game but CBS won’t pony up the cash for every market), a Red Zone channel that switches between games, stat channel, and the game mix channels that allows me to watch 8 games at one time.  If you have cable, drop it and get DirectTV before next season.  This is a must have for pure football fans.  $299 for the Sunday Ticket and an additional $99 for the Super Fan (Payable in four monthly installments), Direct TV provides complete football satisfaction for less than $25 dollars a week.

Big Love
October 19, 2006 | | TrackBacks

3 wives.. first one (Jeanne Tripplehorn) is dominant/motherly, second (Chloë Sevigny) has an ego-centric attitude and the third (Ginnifer Goodwin) has regrets about everything.. all married to one husband (Bill Paxton) a polygnist protagonist. Imagine the stories/plots they could create with this chemistry! Now add in the seven kids and the fact that their faith is 'United Effort Brotherhoood' (a fundamentalist splinter group of LDS). They all suck in keeping secrets which makes it sometimes funny. Really entertaining series, a lot of well developed characters and Roman Grant is the root of all evil (he's the prophet of their church). Big Love has announced that they're doing a second season so catch up on how to kill someone by lacing their iced-tea with anti-freeze coolant by buying the 1st season on dvd

Digital Camera Magazine
September 8, 2006 | | TrackBacks

Sometimes, you need something to look forward to on a constant basis. Digital Camera Magazine ($15.99) is my addiction. The magazine consists of the following sections: Technique, Photo Ideas, In-depth/Features, Essentials and Kit Reviews (I prob missed one or two but you get the gist of it). The 'Technique' section for me is always something I focus on... it's great how they constantly provide new perspectives and/or techniques on the entire workflow (ideas-scope-snap-process) of a picture. The magazine is biased towards D-SLR's but then again the best pictures require that calibre of a camera. Everything is top-notch about the magazine, even how it sits on the Barnes & Nobles shelf waiting to be picked up. So pick it up!.

Il Divo - Ancora
August 19, 2006 | | TrackBacks

Il Divo If you’re into opera music, with a mild pop twist then you will love this CD. The CD is slow in nature along with a song featuring Celine Dion, which is great for relaxing. Most of the songs will sound familiar to many, since they are common hits yet with a Spanish redo. The artists are very diverse and offer a great mix of baritone opera mixed with a mild pop combination, that I have come to enjoy very much. The group was introduced to me via a girl that I met one night, and so, to be fair, here’s a Thank You to Marisa who did more for me in one night than most girls have, through many dates. The CD can be sampled and had for $13.99 at Best Buy

About Us

Providing insight to products everyone will probably face a decision on as to whether to buy it or not. Let us help, follow our select panel of reviewers on their own take of a product and how they felt about it.
Home
The Staff
Rating Scale
Screeners - DVD Competition
Contact Us
Subscribe to this site

About Entertainment

This page contains an archive of all entries posted to We Called It! in the Entertainment category. They are listed from oldest to newest.

Computer is the previous category.

Events is the next category.

Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

Categories