A Big Crash Bang Boom

Welcome to Con Air, another pumped-up, amphetamine-paced action movie from the producer of ““The Rock,’’ Jerry Bruckheimer. In the production notes, Bruckheimer comments on screenwriter Scott Rosenberg’s project. ““It was certainly great writing, but I instantly surmised that the script needed more heart. It had to be more character driven, which is a common theme throughout all my films, no matter what the action content might be.'' Maybe I missed something (the thunderous noise level makes it hard to catch all the character-driven subtleties of the script), but it did seem to be the ““action content’’ that was grabbing the crowd....

December 17, 2022 · 2 min · 288 words · Rufus Peterson

A Blast From Christmases Past

Toy A in the battle for holiday-season supremacy is a wooden replica of a standard garden slug. You can pick it up, you can put it on a table. “This is not a hot-hot item,” says Jessica Waxman, a well-groomed woman who stands before the slugs with order pad poised. “It’s a steady item. There is a bookstore on Nantucket that purchases quite a few of these.” Toy B is the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes action figures from Mattel....

December 17, 2022 · 2 min · 416 words · David Calvert

A Case Against The Dsi

Then the DSi came out and I finally decided it was time to upgrade. Its camera was a nice touch, it had some weight to it, and my DS was finally starting to look a little worse for wear. Sure, the lack of advance support was a bummer, but I was intrigued by the possibilities of DSiWare. I was ready for the jump. But then Nintendo announced the DSi XL and I decided to hold out for that, since it had all the perks of the original DSi but in a biggie-sized package....

December 17, 2022 · 3 min · 434 words · Louis Snyder

A Case For Baker Mayfield S Nfl Contract Extension With Cleveland Browns.

In his rookie season, he had to sit on the bench behind Tyrod Taylor for the first couple of games, as the then head coach Hue Jackson wanted to start a veteran at the quarterback position. However, Taylor suffered a concussion in a Monday Night NFL game and Baker Mayfield was unleashed upon the NFL. In his rookie season, he managed to show his production and equaled the record set by Payton Manning for 26 touchdowns....

December 17, 2022 · 3 min · 465 words · Catherine Wills

A Complete Guide To Fifa 23

RELATED: The Best Selling FIFA Games, Ranked (& How Much They Sold) Given how much content there is crammed into the game, FIFA 23 should have no trouble keeping players engaged until next year’s installment, which will be the first to be sold under the new EA Sports FC label. There are several updates planned before then too, including a special World Cup game mode that will be given away as free DLC....

December 17, 2022 · 3 min · 620 words · Joseph Allen

A Contemporary Classic

Not fulfilled by playing on stuffy recital stages or delivering predictable interpretations of sonatas, the former child prodigy decided to take a different path. He wanted to play music with a message, and he wanted as many people as possible to hear it. So on Sept. 11, 2003, he launched a 50-state tour in support of his latest album, “Anthem,” not of concert halls or arenas, but of pizza parlors and punk rock bars....

December 17, 2022 · 6 min · 1256 words · Johnny Beasley

A Control Prequel About Zachariah Trench Could Contribute A Lot To The Franchise

A prequel to Control seems completely plausible, considering the wealth of personality and lore that the Federal Bureau of Control is built on. Remedy Entertainment could get a lot out of a Control prequel that focuses on Zachariah Trench, the Bureau Director who died shortly before Jesse’s arrival. That’s not just because it would be a good chance to get to know Trench. Such a prequel would also be an excellent opportunity to get to know Control’s Bureau better, as well as the characters that worked there before the Hiss struck and the other threats that the Bureau has faced over the years....

December 17, 2022 · 3 min · 617 words · John Wheeler

A Day After His 33Rd Birthday Roger Federer Continues To Amaze With His Magical Skills

Wrong! The Swiss Maestro is defying age and time by continuing to exhibit his mastery with the racquet, and continuing to befuddle both his opponents and spectators with moments of sheer tennis magic. In his semifinal victory over Feliciano Lopez at the Rogers Cup yesterday, Federer once again pulled out the perfectly timed tweener, which might just be the toughest shot to play in the sport. And while he didn’t win the point this time, he did end it with another shot that will remain in memory for a long time, albeit for the wrong reasons: a forehand that went flying into the stands, very much like a cricket six!...

December 17, 2022 · 2 min · 343 words · Anthony Mccullar

A Defector In The Drug War

McCaffrey–and the rest of the American anti-drug operation–is now regretting that early enthusiasm. In early February Mexican police discovered that GutiErrez’s sumptuous Mexico City apartment was provided to the general by an alleged lieutenant of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, Mexico’s most wanted drug lord. (Carrillo is known as the ““Lord of the Skies’’ for his pioneering use of 727s to transport cocaine.) On Feb. 16, soldiers in black ski masks descended on GutiErrez’s three other houses, turning up cash, a fleet of cars and encryption devices....

December 17, 2022 · 4 min · 793 words · Benjamin Scalf

A Football Rarity Is Getting Closer To Reality And It S Forming Like A Perfect Storm In 2019

The LSU Tigers and New Orleans Saints have a chance to pull off a feat never seen in the Super Bowl era. They have a chance to be the first college and pro teams from one state to win their titles in the same season. The Saints and Tigers not only have very good teams this season, they have history on their side. Oh, and both have phenomenal quarterbacks....

December 17, 2022 · 4 min · 845 words · Glenda Jimenez

A Global Cooling Plan

More than any other, the global environmental challenge needs bold forward-looking acts of statesmanship–and on a global scale. This winter, the British government is taking major steps to move the debate forward. Britain is proposing the creation of the first global carbon market–and leading the way with extending the European emissions-trading scheme. Britain is also proposing a multibillion-dollar international initiative through the World Bank–with the richest countries investing in energy efficiency and alternative energy in the poorest countries....

December 17, 2022 · 5 min · 948 words · Joseph Stoll

A Gop Balancing Act

What could Ingram change about Corker, the starchy former mayor of Chattanooga? Everything but his clothes, apparently. Speaking to a group of sheriffs last week, Corker was buttoned up in a charcoal pin-striped suit. (“We need to change that,” Ingram later grumbled in a Nashville bar.) Still, Ingram has helped turn the Corker campaign around with new ads and a new message–that Corker is a self-made businessman from Tennessee, while his opponent, Harold Ford Jr....

December 17, 2022 · 2 min · 366 words · Tricia Littlefield

A Great Ride

December 17, 2022 · 0 min · 0 words · Rick Stevens

A Guide To The Most Common Extended Car Warranty Terms And What They Mean

Of course, the same advice applies to any type of agreement you enter into. However, if you’re not 100% certain what a specific word or phrase means in relation to a car warranty, it could ultimately prove the difference between your warranty provider footing the bill if your car breaks down or you having to pay out for a hefty auto repair bill yourself. Besides understanding what all the various terms mean, it’s also important to appreciate that different warranty providers, and different types of plan, will offer varying degrees of protection - to get things clear in your head, our feature looking at what a car warranty usually covers (opens in new tab) will help explain more....

December 17, 2022 · 4 min · 780 words · Ernest Bell

A History Of Star Wars Video Game Lego Sets

While most Star Wars LEGO sets tend to be based on upcoming or previously released movies and TV shows, there have been a few one-off sets over the years that come from just outside the main Star Wars canon. Often branded as “Legends” sets, these models come from a variety of external Star Wars media, with quite a few of them hailing from some beloved Star Wars video games....

December 17, 2022 · 5 min · 1048 words · Michelle Little

A Last Of Us 2 Dlc With Abby And Lev Would Have To Answer One Big Question

Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann said last year that there are no plans for any sort of story DLC for The Last of Us 2. However, as these sorts of things are usually meant to be created in secret until their reveal, it’s still possible that DLC is on the way. If it is, it would make the most sense for it to focus on Abby and Lev’s journey following the emotional and brutal finale to The Last of Us 2....

December 17, 2022 · 5 min · 945 words · David Lance

A Lesser Child Of God

This “historical” Jesus performed no miracles, but he did have the healer’s touch, a gift for alleviating emotional ills through acceptance and love. He called for an utterly egalitarian Kingdom of God-not on some day of judgment, but in the here and now. He wanted people to experience God directly, unimpeded by hierarchy of temple or state. The authorities executed him, almost casually, after he caused a disturbance in Jerusalem during Passover....

December 17, 2022 · 5 min · 941 words · Jerry Laxson

A Life In Books Elmore Leonard

A Certified Important Book you haven’t read: “Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I’ve never gotten beyond page 50. A book you wanted to share with your kids: My five kids liked me to tell them stories instead of reading to them. And now they’re all good storytellers, and my son Peter will have his first book published next year.

December 17, 2022 · 1 min · 60 words · Daniel Crowley

A Little Sister Takes On A Big Challenge

Of all the people I could have anticipated caring for in my life–children, my parents, sick friends–I never imagined I’d have to tend to the needs of an older sibling who had always been successful, healthy and self-sufficient. As the youngest child and only girl in a family of four much older men, I was constantly told that I was overemotional, hypersensitive and selfish. Nothing I did growing up seemed to garner any attention or admiration from my brothers–not my academic achievements, my athletic abilities or my sparkling personality....

December 17, 2022 · 4 min · 652 words · Annette Pilkenton

A Little Space Music

For Satellite Digital Audio Receiver Services (SDARS) the trip has finally begun. After 10 years of hype XM will be available nationally next week. A competing service, Sirius, has delayed its start until early 2002, so for a while it’s XM’s game. The company has two of the most powerful communications satellites ever built hovering over the equator. Electronics retailers are selling XM radios, and later this month GM will start selling cars with optional XM radios in the dashboard....

December 17, 2022 · 5 min · 952 words · Freddy Lewis