The reverse 180 is the classic car stunt.

It is also one of the most fun slides to do. Stunt performers have always learned how to do this 'car stunt' for the sole reason that it has and probably always will look and feel really cool. It is a stunt that has been popular since the first car chases and one that has never lost its appeal.

My dad and I used to sit and watch the Rockford Files on television together. I loved watching it. Not only could James Gardner eat a taco without spilling a drop, (the only person I've ever seen do that, and on camera as well!) he was also an incredible driver and did some of his own stunt driving for the show. That is why, for me, the reverse 180 will always be 'The Rockford.'

This slide was also popular in the days of prohibition when it was known as the Moonshiners Turn. If the southern moonshiners came upon a police roadblock they would sometimes execute this slide for a quick getaway.

This slide is also taught in anti-terrorist driving courses. It's used when confronted by a roadblock or something you need to stop quickly for. The advantage of using this slide instead of a forward 180 to get turned around is that you get maximum braking all the way to a stop (meaning the shortest distance possible.) All your braking is done in a straight line. Also, while backing up you don't have any bright lights in your eyes - that people who set up roadblocks like to blind you with - and of course you don't need to waste any time turning around.

With the reverse 180, you will be doing many tasks in a very short period of time and the consequences of a wrong move are bigger with this one than most of the others. Timing is everything. You've got to turn the steering wheel in the right direction, (or run the risk of going off the road in reverse!), shift gears at the right time or possibly blow a transmission, and have the front wheels pointing straight ahead coming out of it. Other than that, it's a piece of cake.

When you are first learning the reverse 180 you will want a BIG piece of pavement so that the only thing to worry about is getting the car out of reverse before you start the slide. But still, practice doing everything correctly and in sequence. Even if the car doesn't spin all the way around to 180 degrees. As long as you turn the steering wheel the right amount at the right time and you shift gears at the right time, the slide will come after a few tries.

"Go and see if you can find a car with a good ebrake, you're going to need it." It was 7:00 pm on a Friday night and I had just shown up for work.

As the stunt coordinator said those words, two thoughts went through my mind. The first was YEAH! It's going to be a fun night. The second was, SHIT, I hope I can find a car with a good ebrake.

I grabbed my driving bag and headed for a row of picture vehicles parked in the back of the location we were using. There was a bunch of different cars parked back there to be used in the chase scene we'd be filming but my eyes went to the 4 Crown Victorias that were rigged with police lights.

I was going to be one of the 'good guys' tonight.

I got into each one and pumped the ebrake pedal to see which one 'felt' the best. Two were soft and squishy, and two felt OK. Not great, they didn't go down and stop firmly, but they didn't go to the floor either. I got into the car with the best ebrake, started it up and backed out of the stall.

I asked a friend to watch the passenger side rear tire and accelerated up to 30 kmh, stuck my head out the drivers door to watch the other rear tire and hit the ebrake. Both tires locked. The ebrake felt pretty good. YEAH! First hurdle over with.

I parked the car and checked the tire pressures. Too low, so I got out my portable air compressor, stuck one end in the lighter socket, the other in the tire and started to pump them up.

While that was going on I took a piece of garden hose out of my bag, along with some duct tape and pulled the ebrake release handle out and made it so it wouldn't go back in again. Good, now the ebrake pedal wouldn't lock on when I stepped on it.

I adjusted my seat and grabbed the bits and pieces of garbage that were lying on the floor and threw it away so nothing would roll under my feet when I started sliding.

This shoot was going to be about precise slower speed stuff, 90's and 180's, so I opted for 38 lbs of pressure in the rears to make it as easy on the ebrake as I could, and 32 in the fronts so the front end would stick well and go where I pointed it.

After that I did the same thing to the next best car I had found just in case the first ones ebrake stopped working. It was just getting dark when I finished, so I went in to have some 'breakfast.'
A typical night on set was about to begin.

BOTTOM LINE:
It's been six years since the sci-fi phenomenon "The X-Files" left television and all Chris Carter could come up with in this second feature film based on his show is another television episode. It's not bad, but if you're an X-Files fan you'll be hugely disappointed that Mulder and Scully were not given the rousing cinematic adventure they deserved in this flatly-directed, small-scale, un-scary film.

THE GOOD:
"The X-Files" set a new benchmark in science fiction for television with its two intrepid FBI agents, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigating unexplained phenomena in weekly episodes. The series was cinematic in ideas, themes, characters and even visually. The first film, "Fight The Future", carried on that legacy but shot itself in the foot by continuing a trend of frustrating the viewers by not revealing any details of the intricate government conspiracy/alien mythology storyline. In this new film, director Chris Carter wisely chooses to keep things simple, returning to the standalone monster-of-the-week episode the series made famous. "I Want To Believe" chooses to focus almost entirely on Mulder, Scully and the investigation they get dragged in to. With the exception of Mitch Pileggi who has an extended cameo as Walter Skinner, no other series regulars return for this instalment. This works in the film's favour as the series became so bogged down with intricate character and plot developments that being released from that gives the film a better focus.

In this case, the film is about the question of faith. What do you believe in? Why do you believe in it? Who do you believe in? These solid, ethical questions pour over the motivations of the characters, most obviously with Mulder and Scully who find their relationship tested in new and complicated ways over the case they are investigating, but also in the nasty subplot involving Father Joe (an effective and creepy Billy Connolly) and his connection to the altar boys he defiled and the unspeakable acts they are performing now because of Father Joe's actions. In keeping things simple, director Chris Carter re-creates the feel of the early standalone episodes of the series; there's an intelligent, investigative quality to the whole endeavour which is quite refreshing given the complications the series found itself in story-wise towards the end of its run. The film certainly captures the spirit and essence of the series, and seeing Mulder and Scully on the big screen once again is always a thrill.

THE BAD:
After six years of waiting for a cinematic version of The X-Files, the film delivered by Chris Carter is nothing more than another television episode. Even the first film managed a certain cinematic scope despite its frustrating story aspects. To say this is disappointing would be an understatement. "The X-Files" has always provided fertile ground for potential big screen work with their iconic characters and fantastical plot lines but this film doesn't even come close to getting there. On top of that, the film isn't even scary. This film was meant to be a monster-of-the-week scare-fest and it doesn't even deliver on that, despite the fact that the Frankenstein-style plot involving Russian doctors is freaky. Go and watch the first season episode "Tooms" and you'll be more scared. Perhaps the most disturbing thing of all is that this is coming from Chris Carter himself; the almighty creator.

What the hell happened? We know he can do good but maybe he's been involved in this creation for too long that he couldn't expand its scope beyond the confines of television? The Star Trek movies have suffered from the same problem. Maybe new talent needs to be brought in to freshen things up. All I can say after watching this film is that they should stop right now. If future films come out with the same level of production quality as this film, they will only tarnish the reputation of The X-Files and I'd rather see it rest than to have more episodes that don't do cinematic justice to the material.

The Mummy series has never been very impressive to me, The First in 1999 and the first sequel, the Mummy returns in 2001, did not leave any good impressions in my head. All I know is they were not as good as expected. The second sequel in 2008, The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor can be very entertaining, not to mention the involvement of the legendary action star Jet Li, the graphic is definitely better than the previous two.

The Mummy is always the combination of comedy, action, and science fiction as well as mystical story. However, I never think the comedy is necessary as it is not funny at all. In the The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, only Jet Li did a good job and Frasier comes second because his effort to play funny does not yield any results.

The story is classic. Rick O'Connell explores again and this time to China, into the frigid Himalayas, to fight the Emperor Han. Accompanied by his wife Evelyn, her wife's brother Jonathan, and Son Alex played by Maria Bello, John Hannah, and Luke Ford respectively, he must stop a 2,000 years old cursed Mummy awaken who will turns the world into his merciless and unending service. Wait! Where is Rachel Weisz?
According to rumor, she was not happy with the script and screenplay, she won't play her role anymore if there is no significant change, which means there is really no significant change.

If you have watched both of the Mummies, you should watch the third. The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is absolutely far better than both of its previous version. This blending of Hollywood stars and Asian stars are expected to gain more attention in Asian, which could be a turning point in the earning compared to the previous two.

You might want to shift your expectation to see a funny action movie to a serious action movie played by Jet Li, with this shift you might enjoy the movie better. Seriously, what is funny about the Mummy 3? Well, nothing is funny but action is very good.

This is however a good movie for the weekend, paying the money for ticket is fine but not paying your money to buy the DVD for your collection, I suppose. You would want to spend your money on the Dark Knight DVD, that you can watch over and over again but still impressed by the Joker, Mr. Heath Ledger.

Blockbuster

BLOCKBUSTER Total Access gives the convenience of renting movies online and the choice of how you return them. You can return by mail or bring them to a participating BLOCKBUSTER store, where you can exchange them for new movies on the spot (up to monthly plan limits on exchanges*).

For only $19.99 a month (plus taxes) you can receive up to 3 DVDs at a time with up to 5 in-store exchanges for free movie rentals. When you are finished watching a DVD, just send it back in the provided postage paid envelope or return it to a participating store. That would come to around $240.00 a year, not counting additional taxes.

Note: * - Separate, complimentary in-store membership required for in-store rentals. In-store movie rentals are subject to store rentals terms and conditions, including due dates and charges which may apply to rentals not returned by the due date.

Netflix

With Netflix you can rent as many DVDs as you want and watch movies instantly on your PC for one low price. There are no late fees and no due dates, and DVD shipping is free both ways. Plans start from only $4.99 plus applicable tax. With their most popular plan, you can rent as many DVDs as you want (3 DVDs at-a-time) and watch Unlimited hours of movies instantly on your PC all for just $16.99 a month plus applicable tax.

You select your DVDs after sign-up and they should arrive in your mailbox in about 1 business day via U.S. mail. When you finish watching a movie, simply put it in its prepaid envelope and mail it back. After receiving your returned DVD, they will send the next available DVD from your list. For $16.99 a month (plus taxes) your total amount for the year would be around $204.00, not counting additional taxes.

Downloading Movies for Free via the Internet

Taking the chance of downloading movies for free over the internet, and possibly facing hefty fines is not an option that you want to consider. It would be cheaper to pay the movie theater prices!

Affordable Movie Alternatives

There are a number of downloadable movie sites available, which are legal and are offered at a reasonable price. Just like BLOCKBUSTER and Netflix, you would have a membership fee, but at a price that is more affordable, and without the restrictions. They provide Unlimited DVD Quality downloadable movies 24/7. No time limits, no bandwidth limits, no content limits. Download anything you want, any time you want.

They provide you with free movie download software, DVD copy software, movie players, and technical support. These are #1 rated movie sites that have been seen on CNN, NBC, C/Net and AOL. You can also transfer movies to your iPod. Movies that are available in HD, with DVD quality video and audio.

For around $35.00, you get Lifetime Unlimited Access. Some movie sites have an additional $14.95 movie upgrade package for Unlimited DVD movies.

Several weeks ago, someone related by blood urged upon myself a DVD box set of episodes of a defunct TV sitcom called Seinfeld. I had never seen the show and knew nothing about it.

But the author is nothing if not open-minded, so I loaded up my DVD player and sat back in my recliner. A couple of weeks later, I had gotten through the four DVDs that contained the seventh season of Seinfeld. It seems that these were originally aired around 1996.

Midway through the fourth disc, I finally stopped asking myself why I was still watching. The answer was that this show, despite its shortcomings, owes a lot to P. G. Wodehouse.

Now a typical Wodehouse plot goes like this: One of Bertie Wooster's aunts, a domineering type, summons Bertie, a passive and obliging character, and sends him on a simple errand, like picking up an antique brooch from a jewelry repair shop. But Bertie bungles everything and lets the brooch come into the possession of someone who will not give it back. The situation becomes hopeless, but at the last minute, through an ingenious plot twist, Bertie's man Jeeves sets everything aright.

Then take the plot of "The Bottle Deposit," the 21st episode of the seventh Seinfeld season. Elaine's boss, a domineering type, gives her a simple errand: she is to go an auction and bid up to $10,000 on a set of golf clubs once used by President Kennedy.

But she bungles the job, first by rashly bidding twice as much as authorized (just the sort of thing Bertie Wooster would have done!), then by entrusting the vintage clubs to Jerry, who leaves them in the back seat of his car, which is then stolen by a crazed auto mechanic. The clubs end up mangled and bent. But in a hilarious, last-minute plot twist, Elaine's boss jumps to the conclusion that the clubs were bent by the late President himself in moments of golfing temper, and Elaine comes up smelling like a rose.

Then there's the gag that runs from the first to the last episodes of the seventh season: George Costanza has rashly become engaged, and, like Bertie Wooster in nearly every Jeeves and Wooster novel, he is desperate to get out of it. This is classic Wodehouse. As Bertie Wooster said after one of his dangerously close brushes with matrimony: "I was in rare fettle and the heart had touched a new high. I don't know anything that braces one up like finding you haven't got to get married after all."

Wodehouse might have written "The Bottle Deposit" himself, and I would be very surprised to learn that Larry David, the principal writer for Seinfeld, did not know his Wodehouse. In fact, Jerry's friends Kramer and Newman are stock Wodehouse characters, amoral ne'er-do-wells and moochers who, like Wodehouse's Ukridge, spend all their time dreaming up easy money schemes. (I find that blogger Mark Grueter has also noted the relationship between Larry David and P. G. Wodehouse.)

So the writing in Seinfeld, grounded on the Wodehousian formula, isn't bad. But the eight hours or so I spent on these episodes served as a bracing reminder of why I don't watch network television shows.

Let's start with the laugh track. In the old days, when TV shows were filmed live, audience laughter was natural enough. But canned applause annoys me more than I can say. And this show isn't always funny. I was surprised, for example, at how little I found to laugh at in Jerry Seinfeld's opening monologues.

Then there's the debased popular culture portrayed in Seinfeld. Emsworth is no prude, but Seinfeld and his friends have the sexual morals of characters in a soft-core porn movie - not for comic purposes, but just because that's the way they live. The essentially sluttish Elaine, for example, is ready to bed someone she has just met, but hesitates because she has only a limited number of discontinued contraceptive devices. Should she waste one on him? Elaine's schtick over whether he was "sponge-worthy" was cringe-making.

Television technology marched forward aggressively in 2004 as high-definition television (HDTV) and various services for time-shifting programs made a push toward the mainstream. "Consumers will have more flexibility over what they watch and when they watch it," said Phillip Swann, president of TVPredictions.com. Swann pegged growing usage of HDTV, digital video recorders (DVRs) such as TiVo, and on-demand video service as the year's most important TV trends.

Although HDTV remained a prohibitively expensive proposition for most consumers, prices for the necessary equipment began to decline significantly in 2004, and the number of high-definition programs that were being offered grew. The telecasting of sports was a key factor in driving the growth, experts said. For example, Cox Cable in San Diego, Calif., saw its "take rate" for high-definition services jump 40% after San Diego Padres baseball games began to be offered in the new, more vivid format.

The use of DVRs, long predicted as the wave of TV's future, finally began to climb in 2004, largely because cable-TV operators began to offer them packaged inside their cable boxes. This arrangement was simpler than TiVo's, which typically required users to purchase and install a separate audio-video appliance. Independent industry analysts predicted that the number of DVR-equipped homes would explode from 7 million at the end of 2004 to some 30 million, or close to one-third of American households, within four years. Also popular were new video-on-demand cable-TV services, which allowed a user to call up an episode of HBO's The Sopranos, for example, from an on-screen menu and watch it immediately rather than wait for the show to appear on the regular HBO schedule. The two technologies together were forcing networks and advertising agencies to rethink the traditional 30-second TV advertisement.

On the basis of its tracking of DVR usage by its 800,000 customers, TiVo revealed that the most-watched Olympic moment was gymnast Paul Hamm's high-bar performance. The most-replayed Super Bowl moment was Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction." In October Nielsen Media Research, the company that provided the Nielsen ratings, began culling data on DVR use from 5,000-10,000 TiVo households that had agreed to participate. TiVo faced off against operators that provided cable and satellite services with DVR functions. Hollywood studios and the U.S. National Football League blocked TiVo from allowing its subscribers to transfer recorded shows to other devices, but TiVo and Netflix agreed to develop a service for customers to rent videos by downloading them through TiVo.

Microsoft Corp. unveiled MSN TV2, made by Thomson for RCA, which offered a subscription package that included MSN, NBC, Discovery Channel, and Fox Sports. At the same time, Microsoft introduced the new Windows XP Media Center software, which made it possible for a PC to function as a photo album, jukebox, DVD player, TV receiver, and DVR.

In August Toshiba introduced Qosmio, the first laptop integrated with audio and video features, DVD drive, TV tuner with a no-waiting TV mode, enhanced speakers, and near-TV-quality display. The Samsung MM-A700 cellphone used MobiTV technology to function as a TV. It could show news updates, sports clips, weather forecasts, music videos, and cartoons from 14 cable stations of streaming video provided by the Sprint network. Samsung also launched HDTV with a picture-enhancing feature called DNIe (digital natural image engine). Ahead of the holidays personal computer giant Dell released its first plasma-screen TV. It had released its first LCD (liquid-crystal display) TV in December 2003. Sharp, Japan's top maker of LCD panels, announced its latest product, a 114-cm (45-in) LCD TV, to keep up with demands for 102-cm (40-in) or larger flat TVs. Earlier, it had introduced the world's first wireless flat-panel TV, the Aquos LC-15L1U-S, with a 38-cm (15-in) display screen and built-in battery.

Patients in 32 British hospitals complained about TV sets in their rooms having no "off" switch. Even when they refused to subscribe, the TVs blared ads for the service and messages from hospital authorities. Television service, installed by private firm Patientline, cost patients $5.75 per day.

Dora the Explorer is an outdoor girl who continually loves exploring the outdoors. Dora appears on the Nickelodeon cable television network that commenced in 1999. Dora loves her family, Boots the monkey and she enjoys playing sport. As in the title of the children's television series Dora loves going exploring and always wants her viewing audience to help her explore. She has an exceptionally good nature and sees good in everything around her. Dora has an extremely good and positive effect on children throughout her exploration adventures.

Dora does not spend very much time indoors as she is an outdoor person, but when she is indoors she is very much a family person. Dora speaks Spanish fluently and she also teaches Spanish to the children watching.

Dora's has many friends; amongst them are some of the following:

- Boots is a monkey who she found in the forest and Dora loves Boots. Boots is so called because of his red boots and goes with Dora on nearly all of her adventures and helps Dora find her way around.

- Swiper is a fox with a blue mask and gloves. He is so called because he swipes (steals) all things which help Dora on her adventures making her task more difficult. Swiper is as cunning as a fox but he is not too cunning for Dora in her adventures.

- Map gives expert guidance to Dora on her adventures.

- Backpack is purple and provides magical items to help Dora achieve her exploration goals.

- Isa is an Iguana and has an occupation as a gardener and grows flowers.

Dora the Explorer is an extremely popular children's television series with a turnover in excess of $1 billion US per year and has resulted in many spin off products such as toys, books, sticker books and DVD's for young fans of the adventurous Dora.

Over the years the Looney Tunes was one of the most popular series of cartoons. The animated cartoon series commenced production in 1930 by Warner Bros and over the period 1930 to 1969 the cartoon characters have appeared in many movie theatres. The Merrie Melodies series of cartoons also produced by Warner Bros. aired in parallel with the Looney Tunes and both merged together by 1944.

There have been over one hundred Looney Tunes characters over the years with some of the most popular characters include:

- Bug Bunny is the fast moving animated rabbit, the over confident and crazy trickster.

- Daffy Duck is one of the original characters ranged from a zany bouncing around character to a ruthless duck seeking the limelight.

- Porky Pig was the mild mannered fat little pig who balanced out some of the crazier characters.

- Elmer Fudd is the dim witted hunter who does not have the courage to move in for the kill, he is taunted by all and does not realize it.

- Sylvester is the cat who forever pursues the ever elusive Tweety Bird.

- Tweety Bird is the little yellow canary that the world fell in love with. Tweety always remains unruffled even when facing danger from Sylvester the cat.

- Wile E Coyote the speedy coyote, even with the elaborate and scheming plans he can not catch the roadrunner. He only comes to harm with his own ineptitude.

- Road Runner continually eludes the plans of the coyote and is always oblivious to the dangers.

- Pepe Le Pew loves the ladies, but his natural skunk stench has a nasty habit of sadly turning them away.

- Marvin the Martian proves that Martians do exist and they cause no end of trouble to earthlings.

- Taz is the hungry Tasmanian Devil based on the Australian marsupial who devours all the food he can find.

These characters will forever endure Looney Tunes, as one of the craziest and enduring cartoon series to ever be presented on the screens.

Sometime people comment on beauty of your child and even try to compare them with the already famous TV or Film artists. Did you take the comments seriously and desirous of making your child famous by pursuing an acting career in the TV/ Film commercials or mainstream acting. Acting and modeling for TV commercials and print ads is a great way to start, your child can gain experience and even get noticed for television and film roles. The main question before you is how to proceed further in this direction. Don't get disheartened there are number of options available before you for your benefit we would like to describe some of them for you.

In the recent times internet is the best bet for finding out legitimate licensed talent agents, auditions, modeling agents and plethora of relevant information like that. After visiting many of the sites I was able to shortlist some of the websites, that may be helpful for you. You can visit them for various information you require to shape your child's acting career.

You may send your child to the baby beauty pageants, baby contests or talent contests to be seen by legitimate licensed kids' talent agents. Yes, you can do that, but, this process is quite time consuming and most of the time many people come back with broken heart and not satisfied with final results. If you try a different approach altogether, like proceeding through the websites. Now the question arises why these sites would like to help you at all? The answer is quite simple, because they want to sell you something, and in your case, it is the local database of the relevant legitimate agents. These lists are not much expensive and the average price of such a lists are around $20. Beside the lists these sites also sell many utility CDs and books helpful for guiding your child for a successful acting or modeling career.

However, if you decide to deal with any of the websites you should follow certain norms like checking the genuineness of the website and the people behind it and the various certifications it has . When you are satisfied with these matters then you may check their credibility by inquiring other people who already dealt with the site earlier. Finally you should their response and the response time they take. When you are satisfied on all counts you may proceed to deal with the website.

Last but one of the most important thing never pay your agent in advance, because it may lead to cheating that you would not appreciate.

The Screen Actors Guild is a labor union that represents actresses and actors in America. The name is often abbreviated as SAG. SAG's membership is made up of more than 120,000 movie actors and actresses, as well as television performers. SAG also has members in many countries internationally.

SAG works daily to ensure that the proper working conditions are met for its members. This includes making sure that performers are receiving benefits and fair pay and that all royalties for their work are received. As with all unions, SAG works hard to make sure that its members are able to find work.

The SAG associates itself with the AAAA (the Associated Actors and Artistes of America and the AFL-CIO). Film productions, or motion pictures, fall under the sole jurisdiction of SAG. TV drama, film drama, internet, radio, and all other media are shared with another union called AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists). SAG has many offices across the United States and around the world. Its main office is appropriately located in Hollywood, CA.

Abuses of movie actors and actresses, along with other actors, were a common activity in Hollywood prior to the creation of the Screen Actors Guild. Many performers would find themselves working long hours with no opportunities to take a break.

Contracts, drafted by the studio's attorneys, took advantage of the performers as well, as they gave Hollywood unfair control of both their personal and professional lives. Unknown to the performer, contracts were often renewed discreetly by the studio, and the performer would then find themselves unable to opt out of the contract because they were unaware of certain clauses that the studios had added.

The Screen Actors Guild was started in 1925 under the name of the Masquers Club. The Masquers Club was created because of a need, by a group of about eight of them, to put a stop to the abuses that the studios were forcing onto its performers.

Film actors who had no contract found themselves facing even worse conditions than did those with a contract, and some actors and actresses had had enough. The Masquers Club officially became the Screen Actors Guild in 1933. In 1937, the passage of the National Labor Relations Act prompted Hollywood producers to agree to negotiate and work with the SAG labor union.

Marvin the Martian is an extraterrestrial character that stars in the Looney Tunes animated cartoon series created by Warner Bros. The Marvin character was created by Chuck Jones and first appeared in the cartoon 'Haredevil Hare' in 1948. Marvin was originally called Commander X-2 and voiced by Mel Blanc and has been voiced over the years by Joe Alaskey, Bob Bergen and Eric Goldberg.

Marvin comes from the planet of Mars and has a space dog companion that is called Commander K-9. He wears a red and green Roman solider's uniform and carries a small pistol throughout his never ending battle for space territory within the universe. Marvin the Martian has planned and attempted to blow up and destroy the Earth on many occasions with his Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator chiefly because it blocks out his view of Venus, however he is constantly outwitted by Daffy Duck or Bugs Bunny.

Marvin is well known for his frequently used quotes 'Greetings Earthlings' and 'Where is the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!'. The extraterrestrial character has made appearances in many Looney Tunes cartoon television series and movies including 'The Hasty Hare', 'Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century', 'Hare-Way to the Stars', 'Mad as a Mars Hare', 'Spaced Out Bunny', 'The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show', 'Marvin the Martian in the Third Dimension', 'Space Jam', 'Looney Tunes: Back in Action' and 'Bah Humduck!: A Looney Tunes Christmas'.

Marvin the Martian has been a popular character in the Looney Tunes cartoon series and movies and continues to entertain and amuse audiences today.

Characters 'n' Toons is an online character and toy store and is a leading authority on children's character toys and entertainment. Characters 'n' Toons has a large selection of character toys, gifts, collectibles, party supplies, products, merchandise and games that include Marvin the Martian collectibles and toys and many more Looney Tunes toys and character products.

The Matrix is an eye and ear candy experience that challenges you to think about stuff you normally wouldn't see in action flicks. It's basically Epistemology 101 disguised as an action movie, or vice versa.

The Matrix is about endless possibilities within a limited environment, speculating that if our environment was limited by accurate programming, little glitches in the program could give some unexpected results. The Matrix is a highly developed computer game, which is played by almost every living human being, and they don't know they are playing a game. Only a selected few have been able to escape the IP connection. They live in the last city of earth, Zion, which we learn is close to the Earth's core, but the humans travel around in airships in their desperate search for hope.

The humans who have escaped are able to enter the computer game by a connection they need to establish themselves and secure. Before entering the game world, they can download unlimited skills and weapons, and there is this prophecy going around, that one human being is able to play in God mode.

Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), captain of the airship Nebuchadnezzar believes he has found the one who can play in God mode. He approaches the one with his crew, which include Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), Cypher (Joe Pantoliano), and a few more colorful characters.

It's probably around the year 2100, human beings have lost in a war against the machines, led by artificial intelligence. Most of the population has been reduced to function as batteries to run the systems for the AI. Human beings would perish without a soul, so the machines have designed this huge world for the humans to dream in, making them believe their dream selves were the real selves.

The humans need to find a conscious soul within The Matrix, and convince them to join the rebellion in the real world, in order to establish a connection with their real corporal self. If they can find the body of the soul, they can wake that person up from the sleep. When that happens, the machines disconnect the humans and processes them to become food for the next generation of dormant human beings. The human crews know the process and are usually able to pick up the bodies before they drown.

The A.I. has devised programs that have the singular mission of tracking down the humans that connect to The Matrix and eliminate them. One such program, Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), has become tired of playing the game, and wants to find a way to destroy the city of Zion, eliminate all the rebels, so that he doesn't have to function in The Matrix any more.

That's the setup.

Morpheus believes he has found the one in a guy who works at a software company by day, but hacks from home by night. His day name is Thomas Anderson, but his hacker identity is Neo. Since Neo is an anagram for One, and with a special niche with hacking computer systems, Morpheus contacts him. But a traitor among the crew gives Neo's location to the agents, so he is captured before managing to escape according to Morpheus' guidelines.

Neo has no idea what he's got himself into, but is released by the agents who simply want to use him in order to get to Morpheus. Morpheus and the crew are able to contact Neo again, explain to him that something isn't right with the world, and convince him to wake up. He does.

What follows is an extensive training process where Neo learns to enhance his skills faster than anyone has ever done before.

By what you have read, you might start to believe that The Matrix is a complex sci-fi universe with rich characters, and lots of action. You would be right, but there is more.

The action scenes are beyond awesome. They are expertly executed and fit the tone, character and importance in the story exactly as they should. Those signs are simply fantastic. One scene has Trinity running away from agents and the police, jumping between rooftops and finally through a window, before finding a telephone booth in order to establish a connection to her real body. Another scene, that could be named 'Morpheus' rescue' is simply brilliant, well built and long. It included Neo and Trinity loading up with weapons, entering a secure building where they have to blow away dozens of security guards, get to the rooftop, steel a helicopter and use a rattling gun to free Morpheus, and in the process the helicopter blows up in a fantastic way, and Neo learns not only to dodge bullets, but to take some control over the environment around him.

The Matrix excels also in the more quiet moments, in one scene, Neo goes to visit the Oracle to find out if he's really the one. Before he enters into the room with her he has a little talk with a boy who's bending a spoon with his mind, and teaches him the trick by informing him that "there is no spoon."

What would you do if you learned that the world that surrounds you isn't exactly what you believed it to be? Would you start fighting for what you believe to be true, or would you be able to continue your life, pretending to be ignorant?

Well, we all have this choice. The world isn't what appears in TV, it's not even the massive collection of what appears on TV. The world is so huge and difficult to grasp, that nobody actually knows this world we are living in, we only have theories about it, and the lazy ones have theories that fit a perfect and infallible system, - which is actually not a very clever thing to do when you have realized that we are all fallible beings.

What gives The Matrix even a richer flavor is the fact that the dialogue of many characters are based on specific philosophical ideas.

Agent Smith reminds me on Thomas Moore, where he discusses the attempt to create a perfect world for the humans, a place where they would all be happy, but he realizes that the human condition seems to require discontent and suffering in order to keep the belief system intact.

Morpheus discusses in great depth about the difference between dreams and reality, giving life to Rene Descartes' Meditations, as he explains to Neo that not all is what seems, that there is more to this world than meets the eye. The ironic thing is that he's absolutely right. This is true, and very few people seem to believe this.

The Oracle appears to be some kind of Spinoza, discussing determinism. Cypher is an skeptic, while Trinity seems to represent feminism. Neo himself is both Alice in wonderland and the prisoner who escaped Plato's cave.

The richness of ideas is astounding. Too bad that the sequels only aimed for action, forgetting the true meat behind the original. Ironically, societies and educational establishment do the same mistake, neglecting philosophy and the treasures it gives a thinking soul.

I seem to recall an old episode in The Twilight Zone (1959), where a person woke up from her life as a human being dreaming about the earth that used to be. Total Recall (1990) deals with a similar issue, where people can buy installments of dreams so real that you can't tell if you are dreaming or not. The Terminator (1984) movies deal with the concept of the machines taking over the world. And movies such as Dark City (1998) and 13th Floor (1999) share similar tales.

Trivia:

Sets from Dark City (1998) were used in The Matrix.

Quote:

Morpheus: Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?

Questions:

1. If you were living in a dream world, within the real world, and you wouldn't know, how could you ever find out the truth?

2. Have you ever had a dream you were convinced was real until the moment you woke up?

3. Is it possible that such a dream could be more real than your waking life?

4. Do you know yourself better when you are awake or while you are dreaming?

5. Some people say they don't believe in out of body experiences. What if I told you I didn't believe in out of mind experiences?

6. Is the mind and the soul the same thing?

7. Is the mind separate entity from the body?

8. Are the soul and the body two different thing or a single whole?

9. Who are you?

Dancing with the Stars is a reality television show that got its start in the summer season of 2005. It is a show that has been faithfully watched by many millions of viewers each season. Why? What is the difference between Dancing with the Stars and some of the other less popular shows?

To begin with, Dancing with the Stars, lets us, the general public, view their favorite celebrities being human. What do I mean by that? The show allows us to see the struggles the celebrities have to go through to learn each of the dances that they are trying to master. The show us week after week glimpses of the stars and their professional dancer instructors practicing. We actually get to watch the celebrities become better dancers, in most cases. First eliminations, we do not get to watch much improvement but there is still some from their first practice to the show.

There is another reason of why we, the general public, like the show, Dancing with the Stars. Whether we think of it or not, dancing is one activity that many of us can do. We may not be good at it, but many of us can do it just the same. This is one way that we get to feel like we are just as good as some celebrities. Seeing that the famous actors, actresses, singers, and athletes need to have lessons to dance well, and some that is a way over statement, makes us feel more human in a weird sort of way.

Dancing with the Stars is a show that takes faithful following to all new heights. The same fans watch the show season after season. There is not an exact reason that people give for liking the show. It is as though some of these fans are not even sure what about the show they like, they just know they like it.

There are still other people that like it for much less pure reasons. There are those that like the fact during any given season, the general public get to watch many different celebrities fail , if you will. Considering that all of the contestants on Dancing with the Stars, are trying to be named the best, it lets us see the celebrities get voted off. This in a crude sort of way helps those viewers feel more equal to the celebrity greats.

No matter if it is watching the competition to learn dance moves, follow the celebrity you love to watch, to watch celebrities fail, or for some other reason not listed, the fact remains, the world loves Dancing with the Stars. Many people are awaiting what is sure to be the next great season. They are already wondering who will win even not knowing who will contend.