New Links

I've started updating the page by adding some new links.

To start at the bottom, Ender's Game author and fellow Greensboro, NC native Orson Scott Card has an excellent site of essays that is unfortunately being updated rather sporadically lately. I highly recommend checking out his World Watch page at The Ornery American. I can't say that I necessarily agree with all his positions nor would I expect the same from him, but I will say that he's one of the few Democrats with whom I share a rather distinctive view on US foreign policy.

To move into more thematic territory, I recommend DVD Aficionado as a useful cataloging site -- though it's definitely tailored more towards collectors in the UK or US. I'm afraid that my site as listed is missing a considerable number of thoroughly legitimate titles that I've picked up online from different regions and does not as such present a complete view of my tastes. Unfortunately although the layout and convenience in a program like DVD Profiler is also extremely simple while remaining aesthetically pleasing, it still features a number of missing titles and/or images (though not always the same ones as DVDAF). As a collector and user of both programs though I highly recommend both -- though it is worth mentioning that while the free version of DVD Profiler is nice, I personally prefer the enhanced image quality of the premium version, especially because I've had to leave all my DVD cases in storage in the US while I'm overseas -- mainly for space reasons.

Jumping to the review sites, although DVD Savant is attached to DVD Talk's main section, I mention him specifically for his focus on older films - often with personal anecdotes of memorable viewings which are extremely interesting. His reviews are also worth reading for the veritable encyclopedia of filmmaking references and namedropping that show up on a regular basis. Very often I will find myself following links through 2, 3 or even more of his reviews at one time tracing back references to other films -- all the while making notes on my list of future films to check out when I have the chance.

The Gline is another site featuring reviews on a fairly wide variety of films. While not all the movies reviewed there are to my taste, I always enjoy reading Gline's detailed, well thought out posts.

Finally (for this edition) is Twitch. I still haven't checked out their forums, but I load the page on a daily basis to look for new announcements of films coming out, trailers to download, and reviews of films -- though most ones featured here are foreign, and more than a few will never even play in US theaters (and sadly never arrive on DVD in the US either).

I'd say that outside of films I've watched in the theaters and since ordered on DVD or older action films that I've seen before, the vast majority of my recent purchases in the past few years can be traced back to reviews, and in some cases just articles or news postings on these three sites. I highly recommend all of them for intelligent writing, broad interests and good technical knowledge. Although I don't have the knowledge or experience to start dropping names and references nearly as well as any of them, I do hope to put out some good reviews as well -- and hopefully get the drop on them for a few films ;p

Back from the dead

It took a while, but I finally got around to resurrecting this site. It does help that they've put in a new format, particularly for conducting personal redesigns - especially for those of us on tight schedules without the time to dig through our limited html repertoires.

Quick wrapup - I redeployed to Ft. Drum in July 06 and PCS'd to Seoul, South Korea Dec. 06. I'll probably be here for another year or so.

This site will continue to play host to some random ramblings, but I also hope to tailor it a little closer to my personal hobbies and interests (especially given that they're much more interesting to write about than anything I do at work).

Look for new links, reviews and other things in the near future.