I had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of The Fountain. And although I was disappointed when so many of the reviews were lukewarm, I was determined to see the movie anyway. And I’m glad I did. I loved every minute of it. But I will admit, this is not a movie for everyone. This is a movie for people who love movies and the art of moviemaking.

The Fountain can best be compared to a foreign art film. Its love story, at the root level, is simple (I will not say what it is; it’s best to discover it as you go along), but many of the concepts used for telling the story are not for everyone. I’m talking about time sequences that are non-linear, story within story, spiritual thoughts represented physically, and seemingly insignificant references to objects and events that eventually later on we find are part of the story. Most of the movie is shot with dark and muted colors with occasional bursts of light, which properly reflects the mood of the two main characters.

If you like being entertained for 100 minutes and not have to think about it further, skip this movie. If, on the other hand, you trust a terrific scriptwriter and director to lead you in many different directions over a confusing but creative pathway, sure that he will not lead you ashtray and will make all the pieces fit in the end, and turns every scene into a painting and every close up into a portrait, see this movie. The main cast players -- Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, and Ellen Burstyn -- are terrific and the sound track is simply remarkable.

Put simple: This is the best James Bond movie ever! Oh I know, some of you will think this heresy. That no one compares to almighty Sean Connery and some of the early movies. I don’t care. I’ve seen them all and I say without hesitation: this is the best Bond movie ever made.

The action sequences are fantastic, the poker scenes are great, the villains are excellent, the plot is nice and richer than most, the music sets the mood just right, the scenery is great, the cars stand out as usual, the women are fine, and Daniel Craig is excellent as James Bond.

After a long period of a watered down, sugary Bonds, we’re back to what these movies should be all about: we’re talking a double O, a spy with a license to kill. Killing humans is not fun; it’s gritty, it’s dark, and it’s serious. Also, Bond should never have been intimidated by the feminism movement, and in this version, Bond is back to being a user of people, including women, to complete his mission. He’s also a man, so he’s not above misjudgments. Even the one-liners in this movie are excellent, not corny.

All and all, this is not just the best James Bond movie ever; this is an all around excellent action/adventure film. If you like intense action, great stunts, measured humor, intrigue, fancy cars, sexy women, great scenery, luxurious settings, a great villain, a pounding sound track, and acting that’s sharp, all well stirred together, without the fruit, this is the movie to see!

CANBERRA, Australia -- Scientists announced Monday that they have developed a high-tech T-shirt that turns the strumming of an air guitar into music. The T-shirt has motion sensors built into its elbows that pick up the wearer's arm motions and relay them wirelessly to a computer which interprets them as guitar rifts... One arm is interpreted as picking chords while the other strums. The "wearable instrument shirt" is adaptable to both right and left-handed would-be rock stars... "It allows you to jump around and the sound generated is just like an original MP3." (Full story here)

What looks like an iPod, acts like an iPod, plays music, videos and photos like an iPod but isn't an iPod? If Microsoft has anything to say about it, the answer is Zune.

The 30-gigabyte Zune, a portable media player created to unseat the reigning king of digital media players, Apple's iPod, arrives in stores Nov. 14.

Priced at around $250 to compete with Apple's 30 gig iPod, Microsoft will launch a digital download store à la iTunes, where Zune owners can buy songs for about $1 each and albums at prices comparable to iTunes'. (Full story here)

Borat has arrived! And boy, does he bring the goodies. What a fabulous comedy. I can say it’s the first time ever I remember laughing so hard I was in tears. The wrestling scene is an instant classic and the funniest thing I can recall in movies. The mix between unscripted and scripted scenes works very well and keeps the pace of the movie going.

After a few scenes, I started anticipating what might happen in the next scene and started squirming and laughing even before the scene got going. When Borat walks to the center of the rodeo arena to sing the national anthem, even before he opened his mouth, I could hear people around me saying “oh no” and the nervous laughing started.

It does help if you’re not a super sensitive person and don’t mind some vulgarities. This is all that needs to be said. Go see it, hopefully with a full theater. You’ll like!

November is National Novel Writing Month, and for the community of the web site NaNoWriMo.org it's time to put your money where your mouth is, pen to paper, and verbally gush at least 150 pages of a novel. These brave (or insane) souls try to complete and entire novel within 30 days. For others, it's an exercise in insanity, finding the time to fold laundry, watch a movie you've been meaning to watch, clean the house madly, and stare at the blank computer screen, doing anything and everything they can to avoid writing their novel.

This is my second year attempting something that seems insurmountable to me. I love to write, but I've never completed a novel. I started my first novel, Ophelia, when I was 14 and in the 9th grade. I never finished. I'm up to around 30 chapters and I'm still not done. I don't think I ever figured out how to end it, plus the older I got, the more I matured as a writer and had to keep going back to rewrite and edit earlier incarnations. Last year I tried to write an homage to Jack Keruak's On The Road. Alas, I got nowhere fast. I had a great excuse though, I had a roommate kick me out. Homelessness has got to be a great excuse for not being able to complete a novel, right?

Anyways, this year I'm sitting at my laptop in a Panera cafe, and once again, instead of writing my novel, I'm blogging. Great. Wish blogging would equal a novel at some point. I digress, if you're in the mood to write a novel, think you've got Shakespears balls, check it out! You've got 24 days left!

Size really does count, just ask Australian underwear maker AussieBum which has just launched the "Wonderjock" for men who want to look bigger... Since the launch seven days ago, AussieBum says it has sold 50,000 pairs of "Wonderjock," mostly on its Web site www.aussiebum.com and a handful of stores around the world. "The design of the underwear, separates and lifts. The fabric cup protrudes everything out in front instead of down toward the ground". (Full story here)