Jasele Oita's Blog A weblog about everything

The Disney and the Netflix announced that starting in 2016, Netflix will carry Disney’s first-run, live-action and animated feature films in the U.S. when they are available for sale and rental.  This is the first time that a major studio bypasses traditional cable TV carriers to stream films on the Web.  Disney currently maintains an agreement with Liberty Media’s cable channel Starz Entertainment to carry its film content which will expire at the end of 2015.  The deal with Netflix is a multi-year contract and includes films made by the Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Entertainment, and Disneynature.

In the past, Netflix acquired content from six different Hollywood studios through intermediaries.  Since 2011, Netflix was struggling to obtain content from movie studios and this agreement is a huge step for the company at a time it is battling with activist investors such as Carl Icahn.  The agreement also provides Netflix immediate access to older content including “Dumbo”, “Pocahontas”, and “Alice in Wonderland”.  Netflix still battle with competitors including HBO, Time Warner Cable and Verizon.  Viewers can now expect to see streaming movies from Disney for a bargain price of $8 a month on Netflix.

There’s no doubt that most women enjoy watching chick flicks for the emotion, drama and romance, you can be sure that this is one of the easiest ways to make money especially if you are a Hollywood producer.

Several movies in this genre have been produced over the years, and so here is a list of movies that are considered to be classics in terms of popularity, awards and audience response:

1. Pretty Woman

Being one of the most-watched movies by women everywhere, the plot is about the romance between a businessman (played by Richard Gere) and a prostitute (Julia Roberts). Of all the chick flicks that are considered to be top-notch, this one has universal appeal amongst women in the world.

1. When Harry met Sally

This movie revolves around the romance of Harry (played by Tom Hanks) and Sally (played by Meg Ryan), and much like the ‘Pretty Woman’ is considered to be one of the most popular chick flicks around.

1. Titanic

While the name James Cameron needs no introduction, this story is about the romance between Jack (Di Caprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) that develops on the Titanic, and is one of the biggest tragedies of our times.

1. 50 First Dates

This movie revolves around the romance of Lucy (Drew Barrymore) who has Alzheimer’s disease, and isn’t able to remember what happened 24 hours ago and a flirtatious veterinarian Henry, and is one of the most unique love stories ever written.

1. The Princess Diaries

This movie is about a young girl Mia (Anne Hathaway) who realizes that she is the princess of Genovia and has to learn how to behave like one.

There’s no doubt that music is not only a science but it is an art as well yet there are so many musicians who are so bogged down by music notation and the other complexities of professional musicianship that they forget the fact that music which is played from the soul is often the best kind. And this journey begins in imbibing one simple skill: playing by ear, whether one plays the guitar or even the piano.

So here is a list of tips that one can follow in order to learn how to play music by ear:

Tip #1: Tune your instrument at concert pitch

If you keep your instrument tuned at concert pitch especially in the case of a guitar, your mind begins to register the sounds associated with each string, and one can so easily retune his guitar by ear as ones moves forward.

Tip #2: Relearn songs with music notation

People with classical training need the help of music notation, and perhaps, one of the ways by which one can unlearn this habit is by relearning to play these songs by ear. Start with the simplest tunes you know.

Tip #3: Hum while practicing scales

Another way by which you can ‘tune’ your mind to play by ear is when you practice scales, and if one sings or hums the note while doing so, then it will only be a matter of time when you know what sound will be produced before you play a note.

Tip #4: Listen to what you are playing

While most people focus on getting the timing and the chord progression right, one must take the time to listen to what they are playing as this will really change the way they play from a robotic approach to one that allows one to improvise to a great extent.

Whether you are a surfing enthusiast or a beach bum who loves lying out on the sand and sometimes wading in the water, board shorts should be your ultimate beach wear. Board shorts were initially created for surfers, but they were so fashionable that variations of these shorts can now be worn on any summer day. Top quality board shorts may look similar to the ones sold in department stores for half the price, but there are a lot of differences to inspect. Good board shorts must pass a certain set of criteria. First, the material or the fabric must be quick-drying. The best materials are nylon, or polyester. Surfers like coming back to land without having to change, so the shorts must dry rapidly, whether they are on or off the wearer.

Next, they must not be too loose that they may come off during an intense wave, or too tight that rapid movements such as bending to catch a wave might cause them to rip. Go for board shorts with stiff waistbands that hug your posterior snugly but comfortably. Guys who surf must choose board shorts which have appropriate length because long shorts may cause difficulty in movement, and short ones may be awkward. The best length is at the knee, or a couple of inches above it. Ladies usually have shorter board shorts, which they wear over their bikinis. Great features should include strings instead of zippers or buttons for better movement, and little zipped pockets for holding in little things like keys.

If you’ve worked in an organization, during the time you’ve served, you would have come across corporate gifts as a part of an occasion that is in appreciation of the employees and what they’ve done for the organization. Now in terms of business relationships from client to customer, as a mark of goodwill for their business, clients can present customers with promotional products.

Now, ideas for these gifts can vary from the proverbial (but highly useful) pens, bags, tees and so on and so forth, but in order to come up with successful and unique gift ideas some of the tips mentioned below might come in handy.

Tip # 1: Gifts that people can use in their everyday life.
Tip # 2: If this is for an event, make sure you have designs and themes printed on the gift so that people remember it while not necessarily driving home the point that it is a promotional gift. Apart from this offer a single corporate gift item in various colors or prints.
Tip # 3: Try to minimize the display of brand messages and corporate logos, which will limit the use of these items, thanks to the aggressive promoting of the organization rather than focusing on the good work of the employee.
Tip # 4: Ensure that the gifts are balanced with originality and taste as it needs to appeal to a large audience. Also, if the gift is like all the others before, it wouldn’t have much appeal even though the thought behind it might be good.
Tip # 5: Ensure that your corporate gifts supplier designs and makes these products with the highest quality.

Toy Story characters in a Lego building set? How exciting is that? Yes, it is true. The year 2010, is the year that the Toy Story Lego building set becomes a reality.

In September last year, at the Venice Film Festival, the entrance to the red carpet was decorated with a five-and-a-half feet brick sculpture of Woody and a six-and-a-half feet brick sculpture of Buzz Lightyear, both built entirely using Lego building blocks. To add to the fun and excitement, Lego building areas were set up for everyone at the Film Festival, so they could be a part of the entire Lego fever. It took around 40,000 Lego building blocks, 250 hours and three builders to get Buzz together, while Woody used up 13,600 building blocks and around 150 hours.

Are you wondering why Buzz and Woody stood at the red carpet entrance? It was a public relations move to promote the release of Toy Story’s 3D movie version, which is scheduled for the summer of 2010, while also celebrating the launch of the Disney-Lego collaboration. The building sets of Toy Story are scheduled for January 2010.

Knowing what a hit Toy Story has been with the kids, you might put this Lego set down on your must-buy shopping list for your kids. The movie is not just for kids though, without a doubt young and old alike will enjoy the 3D movie version. To top it all off, everyone will be able spend hours putting together their favorite Toy Story characters together using Lego’s Toy Story set.

Running a bar is not as easy as it looks. Think of the number of varieties of glasses, tools, accessories that you need on the other side of the bar – and that should give you a good idea of how challenging it would be to run a bar.

Setting up a bar is not merely about glasses and table mats. The amount of bar equipment you would need to get is huge and is far too much to go into detail here. However, it also depends on the kind of bar you want to set up. Firstly, section off the area where you intend to place the bar and then list down the items you need to set it up.

The Bar

The bar itself should not be cluttered. It would be a good idea to invest in some good beer mats – otherwise you and your staff will be endlessly wiping up spills, etc. Buy a few bowls for snacks. Besides the mats and the snacks, keep the bar clear of any other clutter. A good place for storing glasses would be under the bar. Ensure that the bar trays you get are big enough so that they catch whatever spills could occur from the taps and pumps.

Back Bar

You will need another area at the back which is essential – because that it really where all the action happens. Here you will need all the accessories needed for making and mixing drinks. This includes stirrers, ice buckets, thimble measures, spirit measures, corkscrews and the list goes on. If cocktails are on the menu, then you would also need to have a fabulous selection of garnish for the glasses too.

Cellar Equipment & Back room

The backroom would need to be equipped well enough to hold beer barrels and other alcohol reserves that any good bar will have. You also need to invest in good equipment to wash glasses quickly enough otherwise you run the risk of running out of clean glasses.

Apple recently rejected a free, iPhone application that advocated a single player health system calling it “politically Charged” according to the apps developer, Red Daly. This 22 year old computer science grad student submitted his iSinglePlayer iPhone app for approval on 21st August. About a month later Apple rejected the application based on its content.
The application features a Canadian style healthcare system where that includes facts and figures supporting a scheme where the government insures citizens and reimburses healthcare institutions but does not employ the doctors. The app also uses GPS to determine a user’s political representatives and how much health companies have given them in campaign funds. It also provides a single button for users to call lawmakers.

Daly says that he made the application to express his opinion and to help other people express theirs. “I went to the app store because I felt like I didn’t have much of a voice in other spheres,” Daly said. “When the mainstream media talks about single payer, they emphasize the negatives and this was my foray into the debate. It seemed like this would be the most effective way to reach people, since it is a phone and people can call right from it.” Daly also states that he anticipated the rejection when Apple called to ask if he was working on his own or for a group or politician. Daly replied saying that he is working for his own small company. Daly is annoyed by Apple’s preference for the establishment. He went on to say “I feel like politicians already have a megaphone and Apple is making it worse instead of making it easier for a regular guy to get an application into the store.”

Canadian circus tycoon Guy Laliberte and two crew mates lifted off from Kazakh steppe lifted off in a spacecraft on schedule on 30th September and headed for the International Space Station. It was the Soyuz capsule that carried the Cirque du Soleil founder, US Astronaut Jeffrey Williams and Russian Cosmonaut Maxim Surayev towards their destination far out in space.

Friends and family gathered to watch the spacecraft burst in to space and were overwhelmed with joy when the announcement came that the crew of three were safely in orbit on their way to the International Space Station. Laliberte paid $35 million for his trip in to space and plans to use it to help publicize the world’s growing shortage of clean drinking water. The tycoon also made an attempt to make space travel fun by donning his bulbous red clown nose and blowing kisses to fans and supporters. Laliberte also brought several clown noses for his crew mates and stated that he will tickle them when they are asleep.

Singer Garrou said “I feel a lot more mesmerized than I ever thought I would be,” after the launch. “Having your friend rising up that fast and that impressively is beyond what I expected.” All three crew members brought little trinkets that would remind them of the folks back home. Laliberte is scheduled to return to earth in 12 days.