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.

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 :)

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.

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.

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.

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.