CSI Continues The Difficult Seventh Season

Well, it's that time of year again. For the seventh year running, this fall season we'll see a new season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation hit our screens.

Since its debut in the fall season of 2000, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has been a major draw for the CBS Network. It became the most watched program on television in the 2002-2003 season, and has since remained in the top 3 most popular shows ever since. As of the sixth season each episode attracted an average of 30 million viewers, and 90 million people have seen the show in the past year.

The sixth season closed with a spectacular two-parter in which Detective Jim Brass was left fighting for life after a hostage negotiation went wrong. When murderer Willie Cutler took a woman hostage in a Vegas hotel room, Brass volunteered to negotiate. However, when things went awry Cutler fired three shots at Brass - and one of the shots breached his bulletproof vest, a bullet lodging in his heart.

After Brass was rushed to hospital in critical condition, CSI Gil Grissom was informed that Brass had nominated him as his medical proxy, which meant that Grissom had to decide whether to allow doctors to perform risky surgery to remove the bullet or - equally dangerous - leave the bullet where it was and risk a stroke. Grissom, believing that Brass would have wanted it, ordered the surgery.

Meanwhile, Brass' estranged daughter Ellie arrived, more interested in how much she'd get from her father's pension scheme than in his well being. Grissom tried to make Ellie understand how much Brass cares for her, but Ellie seemed unwilling to listen. By the time Brass regained consciousness she had left, but Brass' CSI family were still by his side.

The season closed on a surprising note with Grissom finally getting together with Sara Sidle - a story arc that has been several years in the making.

So what does the next season have in store for CSI fans? Well, while the show will no doubt continue with the format that has seen it become one of the most successful shows on TV the main story in the coming season must revolve around the CSIs relationships. With a new romance blooming between Grissom and Sidle it will be interesting to see how these two loners will adapt to the new situation.

On that count, at least, even the stars of the show don't know how it will turn out. Jorja Fox, the actor who plays Sidle, didn't know that she and Grissom were getting together until just a few days before filming, but she believes that this one is for keeps: These two people, they have a lot in common. They're both really not great with people in many respects, and they're emotionally detached in many respects. If two people like that can kind of find each other, there's something really beautiful in that.

But it won't just be the relationship between Grissom and Sidle hogging the limelight. As we saw in the penultimate episode of season s ix Warwick Brown's marriage is on the rocks. After spotting his wife Tina with another man in the Lucky Dragon Casino Warwick confronted her, not realizing that she was planning a surprise party for Warwick's birthday. If Tina walks out on him, will Catherine offer Warwick a shoulder to cry on?

We'll have to wait and see... the story will unfold during the seventh season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation on CBS this fall.

James Shenton is a New York-based entertainment writer. For more articles about CSI and other crime drama shows, visit http://www.EliteTvDownloads.com, the Internet's hottest TV show downloads site.

Author:: James Shenton
Keywords:: CSI,Crime Scene Investigation,CBS,Jim Brass,Gil Grissom,Sara Sidle,Jorja Fox,Warwick Brown
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Rob Zombie Strikes Deal to Direct Produce and Write "Halloween" Remake!

Well color me totally wrong for my theory in yesterday's Halloween story, where I mentioned that I didn't think Rob Zombie directing a new Halloween film meant we'd be seeing a remake. Rob Zombie recently confirmed on his official My Space blog, that the new Halloween film which he will be writing, producing, and directing will indeed be a remake.

From Rob Zombie's Official MySpace...

Okay here's the real deal for those of you who are confused. As I said yesterday - I am not making Halloween 9. That series is done, complete, over.

But what I am doing is starting totally from from scratch. This the new HALLOWEEN. Call it a remake, an update, a reimaging or whatever, but one thing that for sure is this is a whole new start... a new beginning with no connection to the other series. That is exactly why the project appeals to me. I can take it and run with it.

I talked to John Carpenter about this the other day and he said, Go for it, Rob. Make it your o wn. And that's exactly what I intend to do.

So that's that, it looks like we have a Halloween remake on the way next year. I don't know who I'm more disappointed in for doing this, but I think it's Rob Zombie. I know Dimension will do anything to make a buck (The non-stop Hellraiser sequels are proof of that) but for a guy who's a fan of horror, how can you possibly agree to remaking a classic like Halloween? Especially since it's what a majority of horror fans would call a damn near flawless horror film? I don't know about you guys, but I for one am not happy about this news at all.

Nikki Jones at Horror Movies & stuff Horror Movies &stuff

Author:: Nikki Jones
Keywords:: Horror Movies, Halloween, Rob Zombie,Halloween 9, Horror, Halloween Remake
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Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 4) DVD Review

Nominated for 58 Emmys, including one for Outstanding Drama Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation fulfilled all the potential and promise anticipated of a long-awaited successor to the original 1960s series: Star Trek. Created by a former L.A. police officer, Gene Roddenberry, the Star Trek TV series morphed into a franchise famous for the unprecedented fanatical devotion of its audience. Lasting only three seasons during its original network run, Star Trek struck gold with its syndicated reruns, launching a number of motion pictures featuring the original cast as well as novels, comic books, collectibles, and reams of Star Trek-related memorabilia. Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) became the first TV series to follow on the heels of the original, and its success would spark the creation of three additional series - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), Star Trek: Voyager (1995), and Star Trek: Enterprise (2001). But The Next Generation remained the most popular spin-of f. Despite new characters and new episodes, the mission remained the same as before - to boldly go where no man has gone before And to continue the rich tradition of the Star Trek name - a mission Star Trek: The Next Generation accomplishes with relative ease

Star Trek: The Next Generation takes place in the 24th Century, almost one-hundred years after Captain Kirk's crew set out to explore strange new worlds. Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart - I Claudius) commands the USS Enterprise-D and its diverse crew of humans, cyborgs, and varying life forms. Accompanying him on his voyage is an entirely new cast of passengers and crew including Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes - North & South), Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), Lt. Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby), Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn), Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), and her son Ensign Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) Together, they struggle against numerous obstacl es to carry out the mission of the USS Enterprise: To explore strange new worlds To seek out new life; new civilizations To boldly go where no one has gone before! This pioneering attitude, coupled with imaginative and brilliantly-produced alien worlds, provides Star Trek with its unique allure and special place within American pop culture - especially those episodes from the original series, widely regarded as the most popular of the Star Trek franchise

The Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 4) DVD features a number of exciting episodes including the season premiere The Best of Both Worlds in which Commander Riker and the crew of the Enterprise must save the Earth from a massive Borg invasion led by Capt. Picard himself (now know as the Borg leader, Locutus) Other notable episodes from Season 4 include Reunion in which Capt. Picard becomes embroiled in Klingon politics when he's asked to choose between two candidates for Chancellor of the Klingon High Council, and Identity Crisis in which Geordi starts morphing into a series of strange creatures when he returns to a planet he visited on a mission several years earlier

Below is a list of episodes included on the Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 4) DVD:

Episode 75 (The Best of Both Worlds) Air Date: 09-24-1990
Episode 76 (Family) Air Date: 10-01-1990
Episode 77 (Brothers) Air Date: 10-08-1990
Episode 78 (Suddenly Human) Air Date: 10-15-1990
Episode 79 (Remember Me) Air Date: 10-22-1990
Episode 80 (Legacy) Air Date: 10-29-1990
Episode 81 (Reunion) Air Date: 11-05-1990
Episode 82 (Future Imperfect) Air Date: 11-12-1990
Episode 83 (Final Mission) Air Date: 11-19-1990
Episode 84 (The Loss) Air Date: 12-01-1990
Episode 85 (Data's Day) Air Date: 01-07-1991
Episode 86 (The Wounded) Air Date: 01-28-1991
Episode 87 (Devil's Due) Air Date: 02-04-1991
Episode 88 (Clues) Air Date: 02-11-1991
Episode 89 (First Contact) Air Da te: 02-18-1991
Episode 90 (Galaxy's Child) Air Date: 03-11-1991
Episode 91 (Night Terrors) Air Date: 02-18-1991
Episode 92 (Identity Crisis) Air Date: 03-25-1991
Episode 93 (Nth Degree) Air Date: 04-01-1991
Episode 94 (Qpid) Air Date: 04-22-1991
Episode 95 (The Drumhead) Air Date: 04-29-1991
Episode 96 (Half a Life) Air Date: 05-06-1991
Episode 97 (The Host) Air Date: 05-13-1991
Episode 98 (The Mind's Eye) Air Date: 05-27-1991
Episode 99 (In Theory) Air Date: 06-03-1991
Episode 100 (Redemption) Air Date: 06-17-1991

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 4) DVD.

Author:: Britt Gillette
Keywords:: star trek: the next generation season 4 dvd review
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Reality and Show: Exhibitionism and Voyeurism

Once upon a time television was a great escape from Reality just like radio and movies. Nowadays the media is filled with various Reality Shows that simply transfer our everyday life to the TV screen.

But the public do seem to find this appealing as millions of Britons continue to watch this mind numbing television programme. These people never stop to ask themselves why they care about who is going to get evicted on Saturday night or why they bother watching things they see every. Thus if you look at Big Brother intellectually you see that there is in fact nothing interesting about the Show.

In regular life, watching the intimate details of a strangers life is called spying, or Voyeurism, and is frowned upon to the extent of being illegal with a penalty of up to five years imprisonment. But Big Brother indulges and seems to project a glorified version of Voyeurism. Views can avoid all semblance of having a life and spend their time watching someone else do it for them.

I may be missing the point but surely the whole idea of watching the television is to escape Reality not to relive it nightly after having lived and worked throughout the day. Personally I don't watch television because I want to watch real people doing real things. If I were interested in that, I would just spend more time living my life.

Moving on to the participants in Big Brother. Here are people becoming famous for being asleep, for flashing their breasts, for quarrelling, for complaining, for being unpopular and (this is too interesting to happen often), for kissing! Here, in short are people becom ing famous and winning thousands of pounds for doing nothing much at all, but simply doing it where everyone can see them.

Even outside the world of television there is no escape from the Big Brother boredom. Wherever you go people are discussing whether this person is going to get it on with this member of the house or whether another person is secretly gay. The public get great pleasure from knowing the life history of the contestants from the tabloids without seeming to realise that their stories will be of similar interest to that of everybody elses. At work people sit with half an eye on their computers and the other on the live feed back from Big Brother and wait with baited breath for one of them to even speak. The Reality of the Show is that the real Big Brother is very dull as the inmates really do not do a lot. Thus as the former Big Brother contestant Melanie Hill was quoting saying that, the Show has to be edited or it would be really boring. Therefore i n order to inject a small amount of interest into the programme the editors hide twenty-three hours of the action from us.

However, some analysts have praised it to the skies as a brilliant scientific experiment that gives us new insights into human nature. But the inmates situation is so artificial and complex that it tells us very little about the way the contestants would behave in private under normal circumstances. Every action they made in the Big Brother house had three agendas. First it had a personal element. They expressed themselves honestly as individuals, for themselves. Second it had a group element. They expressed themselves dishonestly in such a way that they would not encourage the others to vote them out. Third it had a viewer element. They expressed themselves dishonestly to curry favour with the viewers, who would decide the final winner of the competition.

Add the contestants Exhibitionism to the viewers Voyeurism and you get a picture of a society sickly in thrall to the glamour of Reality television. Such is the glamour of these dull but brilliantly spot lit events that anything resembling a real value such as modesty, decency, intelligence, humour, and many others is rendered redundant.

Why do people continue to sit at home and watch these half-attractive half-persons. Why do they watch the unashamed self-display of the talent less when there is so much real talent on offer if they were to change channel of pick up a book. Maybe they could read Orwells Big Brother and see how one of the most relevant warning in literature has been packaged, marketed and fed to the hordes in perhaps the most vulgar and tedious way imaginable.

The article was produced by Research Papers expert writer. Mar Anne Winslow has a vast experience i n Dissertation writing counselling and term paper writing services for several years.

Author:: Mary Anne Winslow
Keywords:: Show, Reality, Exhibitionism, Voyeurism
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5 Christmas Movies for the Whole Family to Enjoy!

Christmas is coming! And, Christmas time is all about family and togetherness. Weve put together some recommendations for movies to have on hand for the Christmas season that the whole family will enjoy. These are all movies to buy and watch year after year!

A Christmas Story (1983)

All Ralphie wants in the entire world is a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. This 1940s family is hilarious. Youll love Ralphies irritable father, his whiny brother, and his all-American mother.

Elf (2003)

What could be more fun for a kid to watch than a six foot tall elf? Between Will Farrells great performance and the wacky concept of an Elf on the loose in New York City, this is destined to become a Christmas classic.

Its a Wonderful Life (1946)

No list of Must See Holiday Movies would be complete without this James Stewart and Donna Reed classic. Share this timeless story with your children.

The Santa Clause (1994)

Every kids dream is to go to t he North Pole, but how many kids can say that Santa is their Dad? Watch an unwilling Tim Allen become Santa.

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Great Gonzo as Charles Dickens? How can you go wrong? This lighthearted, humorous version is a perfect introduction to the classic Charles Dickens tale.

Now, go get some eggnog or wassail or your favorite Christmas drink, and enjoy your movies.

Nicole Dean invites you to visit http://www.ShowKidsTheFun.com -a fun site to inspire parents to keep the lines of communication open with their children, making memories that last a lifetime.

Author:: Nicole Dean
Keywords:: article submission, Articles, Writers, Writing, Publishing, Ezine, Email marketing, Email newsletter, Email
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Katie Couric and the Perky Problem

Why is there so much concern about Katie Couric moving to the evening news? The problem is that shes considered too Perky.

Perky Women have problems being taken seriously because their quick and friendly approach makes them seem less thoughtful than their quieter colleagues. Perky people can be very serious, but they feel that its important to keep the atmosphere light and friendly.

That's what causes a problem for Katie Couric. Her friendly approach seems perfectly suited for a morning show. The evening news is a different story. Many viewers don't want friendly people presenting the evening news. They want serious newscasters.

So how can someone like Katie Couric appear serious enough to do the job?

This is the same issue that many other Women in business face. If youre a Perky person, you may be concerned that people you work with are not taking you seriously. Fortunately, there are some slight adjustments you can make to help other peopl e see you in a different way.

Facts vs Feelings Perky people tend to focus more on Feelings. They may share their feelings more quickly and be concerned about other how other people are feeling. Their faces and body language show their emotions.

In order to look more serious, Perky people may want to control their facial expressions and smile less. They may also want to limit the personal information they share with other people.

Thinking vs Action Perky people tend to be more Action-oriented. They talk and act quickly. This may give the impression that they dont take time to thoroughly think through what they do. In fact, they just may think very fast.

If you want to look more serious, take more time before you answer a question or take action. Add more pauses to your conversation and let people know that you need some time to think the information over.

You can get a full list of suggestions in the book, Why Cant You Communicate Like Me? How Smart Women Get Results At Work. You dont need to change who you are, however, you may want to make small changes in how you communicate so people will take you seriously and pay attention to what you have to say.

So if you are Perky and friendly like Katie Couric, don't be afraid to show your more serious side. It may make doing your job much easier.

Laura Browne is the Perky author of a practical & easy-to-use book for Women, Why Cant You Communicate Like Me? How Smart Women Get Results At Work. To register for Lauras Free Teleconferences, go to http://www.getheardatwork.com (This book is available at the website and at Barnes & Noble online.)

When Laura isnt writing, she helps Women be more successful through WOMEN Unlimited, a nationally recognized resource for cultivating leadership excellence, http://www.Women-unlimited.com

Author:: Laura Browne
Keywords:: Katie Couric, Perky, Women, Communication
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Audio and Video File Formats: An Introduction

FILE FORMATS

There are several audio file formats in common use. There are fewer video file formats, but audio video file extensions can be confusing. This is just a brief description of what the more commonly used audio and video file formats and systems are.

AAC:Advanced Audio Coding This is the audio file format used by Apple for the iTunes Music Store, and it may appear with the M4A filename extension. It is better than MP3 for sound quality. It was developed as part of the MPEG4 group owned by Dolby (see below).

AU: This audio file format is the standard used by Java, Sun and Unix.

MPEG: Moving Pictures Expert Group There are a number of MPEG types now, described below.

MPEG-1: This is used in digital cameras and camcorders for small video clips. VHS quality playback can be expected from MPEG-1.

MPEG-2: Used for digital satellite TV, professional movie recording and recording of home DVD recordings. Provides provision for multi-chan nel surround sound recordings.

MPEG-3: MPEG-3 was propose as an entity, but eventually merged into MPEG-2.

MPEG-4: This is the newest MPEG system and is used for streaming internet content. It is also used in portable video recorders and for internet downloads. Required for DivX. It improves digital broadcasting and interactive graphics and multimedia.

MP3: Digital audio files, most commonly used to store and playback music. It compresses the files to about 10% of a normal audio file, and a normal music track will be about 5 -6 MB in size. MP3 stands for MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, not MPEG-3 as many people think. A typical MP3 audio file is near CD quality.

OGG: An audio file format supporting a variety of Codecs, the most popular of which is the audio codec Vorbis. However, MP3 files are much more broadly supported than Vorbis.

RA: Real Audio This format is designed for streaming audio over the Internet. It is a self-contained file format with all the audio information stored within the file itself.

WAV: The simplest of the audio file formats, developed by Microsoft and IBM, and built into Windows 95. It is an uncompressed audio file format with large file sizes (10 x MP3), and does not need further processing to play. The WAV file consists of three blocks of information: The RIFF block which identifies the file as a WAV file, The FORMAT block which identifies parameters such as sample rate and the DATA block which contains the actual data, or music sample.

WMA: Windows Media Audio A digital system invented by Microsoft, and is used in portable digital audio players. Using WMA, a file can be programmed so that it cannot be copied, and can be used to protect copyright.

WMF: Windows Media Format These are audio-video files comprising W MA and video Codecs. They provide high quality and media security for streaming and download and play applications on computers.

WMV: Windows Media Video Used in the Windows media Player, this is used to stream and download and play audio and video content.

When dealing with audio and video file formats, you will sometimes notice the term 'codec'. A codec is simply short for encoder-decoder (or compressor - decompressor). A main function of a codec is to compress audio or video data streams so that transmission of digital audio samples and video frames can be speeded up and storage space reduced.

The objective of all Codecs is to reduce the file size to a minimum while maintaining audio and video quality. A quick indication of the codec's place in the path of transmission and reception is:

Video device (e.g. camcorder) - video capture card - video digitized - codec (compresses digital info) - result (MPEG2, AVI, WMV etc) - codec (decompress) - video frames - display device.

Between the two Codecs the compressed result is transferred to the display device transmitted, stored on file, etc). So to condense the flow even further, we could basically describe it as:

raw data - codec - transmit - codec - play

This is simplistic, but it shows where the Codecs are used. Therefore, in order to play a movie, video or piece of music of a certain format, you need a codec in your computer to allow you to decompress the file and play it.

Here is some free software which checks what codec a video system uses, and what codec your system needs to play it:

Codec Tool.

The different video file formats are required to meet the requirements of various video devices. Similarly, audio file formats are designed to meet the needs of the specific delivery methods and storage and playback devices introduced by large corporations such as Microsoft, Sony and Apple. Thus, Sony invented the UMD (Universal Media Disk) for the PSP (Playstation Portable), and Apple introduced AAC (M4A) for its iPod.

Peter Nisbet is the author of many articles on audio and video file systems, their transmission, playback and conversion. More information is available on his websites http://www.legalandfree.com and http://www.online -free-movies.com

Author:: Peter Nisbet
Keywords:: audio file formats, video file formats, audio video files, Ogg, Codecs, mp3 formats, wav format
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