New Nature Episode Good For Horse Lovers And Historians

Courtesy: PBS

PBS’ latest entry in its Nature series, Legendary White Stallions is an impressive addition to this highly respected series.  This entry in the series focuses on the famed dancing Lipizzaner horses.  It goes into depth describing the horses’ roots as tools of warfare to their current role as entertainers known and respected the world over.  There is a lot for fans of these horses to enjoy from this new documentary other than that piece of history.  Watching the respect with which the horses are treated throughout their training is incredible.  Those charged with preparing the horses for show treat them like royalty.  From brushing and feeding them, to simply training them, the utmost respect and gentility is used.  The horses are even kept together in large groups, so as to maintain a sense of confidence and security among the horses.  Whether one is a horse lover or just an animal lover in general, seeing such show of respect for these stunning animals will impress and move any viewer.

The program is anything but brief in its history of how the Lipizzaner came to be used for show instead of warfare.  It explains how the Berbers used the horses in their campaign to take over regions of Spain in their battles with the Europeans.  From there, audiences see how that horse would eventually become the Spanish horse and what is now the modern Lipizzaner.   The brief history on Spanish history is a bit of a digression here, but is necessary in understanding the full history of where this majestic horse came from.  It helps to comprehend the cultural influence of the horses, too.

The rich history of the Lipizzaner and the respect that its handlers and riders have for it make this episode of Nature just as enjoyable as the show’s other episodes.  There is one other factor that makes this episode so enjoyable, especially for those with Blu-ray players and HDTVs.  That factor is the cinematography of the program.  The camera work throughout the show is outstanding.  This is especially the case when watching the horses run wild through the massive acreage of the Spanish riding school.  Even in watching the horses undergo training, viewers get quite the experience thanks to expert camera work.  The angles and shutter speed used throughout the training segment make for quite the show.  On a side note, it should be noted that there is a scene in the program showing a horse impregnating a female horse as part of the breeding process.  So parents might want to consider whether or not they want their children seeing this scene in question.  Other than that, the camera work is one more impressive aspect of what is one more impressive documentary from one of PBS’ best programs.  The DVD and Blu-ray will be available June 4^th.  They can be ordered online via the PBS’ store at http://www.shoppbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=19729756&cp=&sr=1&kw=legendary+white+stallions&origkw=Legendary+White+Stallions&parentPage=search#Details.

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Secrets Of The Viking Sword Another Interesting Addition To PBS’ NOVA Series

Courtesy: PBS

Vikings seem to be rather popular right now thanks to History Channel’s series centered on the legendary figures.  Though there has always been quite an interest in the Vikings because of all the stories that have been passed down through popular media.  Now thanks to PBS, audiences get at least part of the legend surrounding the Vikings cleared up in Secrets of the Viking Sword. 

Secrets of the Viking Sword takes viewers into the rich history of the weapon of choice by the Vikings.  It notes that while many Vikings did in fact use axes in battle, it was only the best of the best that used the sword.  There are those that have criticized this NOVA feature for not going into more depth about how the Viking sword was created.  The complaints range from why there was no explanation as to how the desired heat was achieved to make the initial steel for the sword to why one sword needed multiple layers of metal whereas the Viking sword didn’t.  How the Vikings reached the ideal heat is in fact explained indirectly.  It is explained through a demonstration by a modern day sword smith who creates a sword out of carbon steel.  He creates a kiln of sorts based on a model of what the Vikings would have used.  It is explained that the kiln is closed off at the top and vented at the bottom.  Herein lies the explanation behind how the ideal temperature was reached for their swords to be crafted. 

The complaint regarding why a sword such a Katana needed multiple layers versus the Viking sword is answered in connection to the heat needed to craft the sword and the process used to create it.  Obviously the Vikings did something very right, as it’s shown how a good true carbon steel sword was able to bend without breaking in the heat of battle.  As the narrator notes here, most Viking swords were in fact not used for offensive combat, but for defensive combat.  They were generally not used sword against sword.  Rather, they were used more often than not, to hit shields and break said shields down.  This is perhaps why Viking swords needed fewer layers of steel than perhaps a Katana.  So that complaint regarding this feature is negated, too.

Having rebutted both of those complaints and explained at the same time parts of what made this feature so impressive viewers will also find interesting in watching Secrets of the Viking Sword just how important the sword was to the Vikings.  As one individual interviewed for the feature notes, it was so important that there were in fact counterfeits made, even back then.  And just as today’s counterfeits are of inferior quality to the originals, so were the swords.  The counterfeit swords were not made the way that the originals were made, thus leading to them breaking in battle.  That in itself is a rather interesting cultural note concerning these blades.  It shows the value that the blades had to the Vikings.  And it’s just one more of so much that viewers will learn by watching this roughly hour long feature. It is available now and can be ordered via the PBS online store at http://www.shoppbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=15301706&cp=&kw=viking+sword&origkw=Viking+Sword&sr=1. 

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Activision, Infinity Ward Debut New COD Trailer

Courtesy: Activision/Infinity Ward

Courtesy: Activision/Infinity Ward

Mark your calendars, gamers.  On November 5^th, 2013, the latest installment in the highly successful Call of Duty franchise will be released. In anticipation of the game, the very first trailer for Call of Duty: Ghosts has been released.  It made its debut this morning at Microsoft’s press event announcing what gamers can expect to come out this Fall.  The trailer shows that this proves to be the biggest game in the franchise yet.  Gamers get to go through big cities, jungle backdrops, and even more throughout the course of this upcoming game.  Its graphics live up to the expectations created by the series’ previous installments.

Courtesy: Activision/Infinity Ward

Here’s the gist of the storyline according to Mark Rubin, Executive Producer at Infinity Ward.  The game’s creators worked with Traffic and Syriana writer Stephen Gaghan on the story.  What players get in this new installment is a world n which the United States military has been devastated by a giant event.  The nation’s government is for all intents and purposes, in shambles.  Players get to play as one of the remaining U.S. military forces against those that caused all of this death and destruction.  The Ghosts are “ghost soldiers.”  They are the elite of the elite, the ultimate cream of the crop.  Fans who want even more info on the game, from its plot to everything on how the game came to life, they can check out a behind the scenes featurette on the game now at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B00xKmtyfaY.

Courtesy: Activision/Infinity Ward

The mix of the trailer’s music bed and voice-over declaring, “We are ghosts, fighting for something that can’t be killed” will send chills up anyone’s spines, gamer or not.  Fans can check it out for themselves now, online right here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxnx3W-HA18.  Also provided throughout this article is just a handful of shots from the game that is to come this holiday shopping season.  So check it out, and spread the word to the gamers of the world.  Call of Duty: Ghosts is coming!

Courtesy: Activision/Infinity Ward

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Airheads Blu-ray Re-Issue Hits All the Right Notes

Courtesy: Starz/Anchor Bay Entertainment

Airheads is one of the most underappreciated comedies of the 90s.  This spoof on the inner workings of the music industry is one that every movie and music lover should see at least once.  This is regardless of what genre of music one listens to.  And thanks to Starz and Anchor Bay Entertainment, everybody can enjoy this undervalued movie once again.  It will be re-issued next Tuesday, May 28^th on Blu-ray.

Everybody by now knows how difficult it is to break out in the music industry.  So when three hard working musicians are turned down too many times by record label reps who barely give their demo tape the slightest listen, the trio—Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi, and Adam Sandler—known as “The Lone Rangers” decide to take a drastic step and hold a radio station  hostage.  Ironically, the deejay on staff at the time (played by Joe Mantegna—The Simpsons, Criminal Minds, Joan of Arcadia) ends up actually helping the young musicians as he has become so jaded by the music that he is forced to play by the station manager.  Making things even worse is the revelation that the manager (played by fellow veteran actor Michael McKean) was going to sell the station and change its format, effectively laying off everyone on staff.  Thus ensues an absolutely hilarious poke at those in the highest positions of power within the music business.

Steve Buscemi, Adam Sandler and Brendan Fraser have all gone on to relatively stable success, playing both more comedic roles and some very dramatic roles since the original release of Airheads in 1994.  But there is no denying the chemistry that the trio had in playing their roles together.  Nor is there denying how much fun they must have had, too.  There is not one moment throughout the movie’s roughly hour and a half run time that doesn’t generate its share of laughs.  This includes the late Chris Farley’s scene in which his character Wilson rips the nipple ring off of a man who was making fun of Wilson.  The reaction both by Wilson and the man to this is absolutely hilarious.  That and other moments are more proof that Farley was just as good on the big screen as he was as a cast member of Saturday Night Live.  The same can be said of his cast mate, Adam Sandler.  On a side note, Saturday Night Live hasn’t been as good to this day as it was in the 90s.  When the last member of that cast left, that show went downhill.

The primary story of “The Lone Rangers” taking over the radio station will keep any comedy lover engaged throughout the story.  It’s obvious that no one either behind the cameras or in front of them, had any intention of taking themselves seriously.  That’s a big part of why this was such a fun story.  It is just as obvious how much fun the cast and crew had when Ian The Shark (Joe Mantegna) goes off on Milo when he finds out that Milo was going to sell the station.  It would have been funny to see a gag reel showing how many takes it had to have taken for that one scene, everything else aside.  What many people don’t realize about the music industry is just how much radio personalities hate the music that comes through their headphones.  Nearly twenty years after the movie’s debut, Ian’s statement that so much of the music sounds the same rings true.  Making things worse is station program directors who are scared to death of trying anything new and different, I.E. Milo.  It’s one of those timeless stories to which so many hopeful musicians can relate.  Every struggling musician has reached the point of desperation because of those in positions of power.  But none have ever gone to the lengths which “The Lone Rangers” went.  Keeping that in mind, Airheads becomes one of those matters of circumstantial comedy that for once is actually funny and will be for another near two decades and then some.  It will be available next Tuesday on DVD and Blu-ray and can be ordered direct via the Anchor Bay Entertainment website at http://www.anchorbayentertainment and sign up for the store.

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Indianapolis 500 Returns To ABC This Weekend For 49th Consecutive Year

Courtesy: Izod Indycar Series

Memorial Day and Memorial Day weekend will be a big one for fans of basketball.  The WNBA kicks up its 2013-2014 season in a big way across ABC and the ESPN family of networks.  Fans of auto racing get to celebrate the weekend with the annual celebration of the Indianapolis 500, live from Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS).  ABC will broadcast the annual race this Sunday, May 26^th live for the forty-ninth consecutive year.  The race will be preceded by a one-hour pre-race telecast at 11am ET presented by Go Daddy.  The green flag is expected to drop at 12:15pm ET.

The broadcast of the race will incorporate eighty-four different cameras including three each on board twelve of the thirty-three cars entered for the Izod Indy Car Series premier race.  Those drivers who will be carrying in car cameras will be: Defending race winner Dario Franchitti and defending IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay. Others will be Charlie Kimball, JR Hildebrand, James Hinchcliffe, Townsend Bell, Will Power, Helio Castroneves, Marco Andretti, Graham Rahal and Tristan Vautier.  Veteran racer Ed Carpenter will also carry one of the in-car cameras.

Audiences can also get a view of pit road and the front stretch thanks to the enhanced “Batcam” (skycam).  The “Batcam” runs on a wire overhead pit road and the front stretch at IMS.  The “Batcam” has been used by ESPN for many years.  But with its new enhancements, it can now fly over the track at speeds upwards of ninety-five miles per hour.  Four Ultra Hi Motion cameras placed around the track will give viewers an amazing view of the race.  The cameras, which will be used for the second consecutive year, will be placed in the short chutes at each end of the two and a half mile track.  There will also be a camera in the fourth turn exit, and one robotic camera placed at the entrance to turn one.  Along with the cameras, which can shoot at a rate of up to 1,200 frames per second, each turn will also have a Super Slo Motion camera.

Thanks to ESPN3, fans watching the race will get the option of streaming live video on a second screen.  The live streaming feeds will be available via ESPN’s WatchESPN and WatchESPN app.  ESPN3 is available online via http://www.WatchESPN.com.  Viewers watching online via ESPN3’s second screen can cwitch between in-car cameras.  For the first time this year, fans watching online can also check out the live scoring ticker.  ESPN3 will also carry a rebroadcast of the race after it ends on ABC.

Marty Reid will have the lap-by-lap call, while ESPN SportsCenter anchor Lindsay Czarniak will serve as race host.  Former driver Scott Goodyear and 1998 Indy 500 winner Eddie Cheever will be on hand for analysis.  Rick DeBruhl, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch, and Vince Welch will report from the pits.

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Roger Day’s New DVD Will Entertain Kids For Days

Courtesy: Savannah Music Festival/Roger Day/Sea Grant Georgia

Roger Day’s new DVD Marsh Mud Madness is a nice tool for teachers to use with their young students when teaching about biology and science classes.  The DVD is a live performance of Day and his band mates at the Savannah Music Festival at the Trustees Theater in Savanna, Georgia.  The live performance is mixed with footage of Day’s trip down to the University of Georgia’s Marine Institute on Sapelo Island.  While it is a live recording, young audiences can still learn from Day’s performance via the DVD.  Teachers are given additional resources thanks to links to study guides provided online at http://georgiaseagrant.uga.edu/article/RogerDay.

The study guides provided as additional tools are a useful addition for teachers, to this recording.  The recording itself is quite successful.  Those behind the DVD’s creation did an impressive job separating the songs through the footage of Day’s time out with the University of Georgia’s Marine Institute.  Separating the songs in this fashion makes the program easy to follow.  The extra footage serves a secondary purpose here, too.  That secondary purpose is to promote conservation of the country’s marine habitats.  The thing of it is that this is not done as blatantly as it might be done by certain other performers.  It’s not as preachy in that fashion.  Of course there is a little bit of a fun moment as Day sings about the infamous scourge of the seas that was Blackbeard A.K.A. Edward Teach.

Having noted one positive aspect of this live recording, one has only one other direction to go.  That direction is in noting the performance itself.  Younger audiences will enjoy watching it and even dancing around with the audience in attendance.  Parents and teachers alike will enjoy Day’s ‘YMCA’ style sing-along in the concert’s opener, ‘I Love to Study Mud.’  It’s not the only song that gets his audiences moving, either.  Whether in the classroom or in the living room, young audiences will love to sing and dance along with the kids in attendance.  And with any luck, watching this performance will even get those same young audiences interested in learning more about the animals in our country’s marine habitats and why it’s important to protect them.

Marsh Mud Madness will be available soon.  Audiences can get more information on it and all the latest news and tour dates from Roger Day on his official website, http://www.rogerday.com and on his official Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/RogerDayMusic.

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Pound Puppies Mission: Adoption Offers Audiences Five More Episodes Of Fun And Lessons

Courtesy: Shout! Factory/Hub

The latest release from the Hub network’s Pound Puppies series is just as fun as the previous pair of DVDs.  This new release offers audiences five more episodes filled with entertainment and important lessons for both kids and their parents.  Also included in this new collection of episodes is an adoption certificate that kids can print out and fill out for their very own.  Just as impressive as the set’s episodes is the continued original artwork used throughout the series.  Anyone that remembers Cartoon Network’s Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, will recognize the animation used for this series once again.  Altogether, these factors make Pound Puppies Mission: Adoption just as fun as the previous collections of episodes from this update of the classic 80s series.

This latest release is so much enjoyable first and foremost because of the mix of entertainment and life lessons in each of its five episodes.  Of course the inclusion of some well-known voice actors doesn’t hurt, either.  This time out, audiences learn that even the smallest dog…er…person can accomplish great feats.  This lesson is taught in the episode, “Snow Problem.”  When a young husky puppy named Tundra ends up with the Pound Puppies, he and the others take on a group of bigger, tougher dogs in a sled race that ends up with the young pup winning the heart of one of the racers and being adopted.  The spoof of the famed song, ‘Chariots of Fire’ is a nice addition to this episode.  Viewers also learn that superstitions are superstitions for a reason in “Taboo.”  When they meet the puppy named Taboo, the Pound Puppies discover why it is that he’s had such a hard time finding his person.  Viewers will have to find out the truth behind his adoption problems for themselves when they pick up this new release.  Viewers will especially enjoy the Wizard of Oz reference in this episode.  In the disc’s opener, “King of the Heap”, one of the Pound Puppies is adopted by Junkyard Jim, instead of the newest additions to the pound named Elvis (voiced by Clancy Brown—Mr. Krabs from Spongebob Squarepants).  This episode teaches viewers that it’s best to be themselves, rather than something that they’re not.  Being one’s own self is what people admire most.  The show’s writers are to be commended for these lessons, and the others included here along with its more fun moments.  On a side note, voice actor John DiMaggio is back again as the voice of Niblet.  Considering that Futurama is coming to an end yet again, hopefully Hub will keep this show around as he does quite the job as Niblet’s voice.

The collection of fun moments and lessons culled for the episodes in this latest set make it fun for the whole family.  Older audiences will appreciate this set for more than just those factors, though.  They will also enjoy the animation style used throughout the series.  It’s quite similar to Cartoon Network’s former cartoon, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.  What makes this animation style so impressive is that even if it was done via computer, its quality is such that it’s difficult to tell if it was done by hand, by computer, or a combination of both.  If it was done by both computer and by hand, then it proves that the two animation styles can exist side by side.  And that both styles can exist side by side, one can only hope that audiences will get much more of this style of animation and mix of fun and lessons in even more volumes of Pound Puppies episodes.  Pound Puppies Mission: Adoption is available now in stores and online.  It can be purchased online direct via the Shout! Factory store at http://www.shoutfactory.com/?q=node/216951.

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