General

When David Patrick Beston is out of the office, he invests in the sunshine.

The certified financial planner loves to explore the outdoors. Whether exercising in the park or riding his bike, David Patrick Beston creates time to escape the confines of his NYC high-rise. He’s worked for major firms on Wall Street and has held many different securities licenses. Yet travel is always at the top of his to-do list.

One of his favorite places to visit in Florida. After all, it’s called “The Sunshine State” for a reason. But David Patrick Beston also knows the state offers more than sandy beaches and crowded theme parks. Florida is overflowing with natural wonders, like springs, waterfalls, and coral reefs. These are genuinely must-see excursions.

With this in mind, David Patrick Beston shares six of the state’s most breathtaking natural beauties.

Devil’s Den

It sounds much more treacherous than it is. Yet Devil’s Den is both mysterious and mystifying. The awe-inspiring attraction is a geomorphic formation known as a karst window. It’s essentially a pre-historic underground river that collapsed. The result is an exposed spring. In addition to being a popular tourist destination, the privately-owned feature is used for scuba training.

Falling Waters State Park

Sitting in the Florida panhandle is the state’s most significant natural waterfall. The waterfall flows over 70 feet into a sinkhole. It’s impressive. Yet it’s also inconsistent. Depending on rainfall accumulation, there may be fluctuations. Dryer seasons reduce the gushing waterfall into a mere trickle. It’s important to plan to make the trip worthwhile.

Torreya State Park

Torreya State Park is an oasis. Named after the rare nutmeg trees that populate the area, the park doesn’t feel like Florida. Outside of the swampy riverbanks, the region is much more like a lush forest than you would anticipate. David Patrick Beston enjoys the high bluff and endless pinelands that litter the park. It’s a beautiful place to get off the beaten path for a hike.

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

This attraction is renowned as the first underwater park in the U.S. Nestled in the Florida Keys. It provides unobstructed views of the coral reef. For this reason, it’s ideal for scuba or snorkeling. But you won’t need to get wet to enjoy the area. The park runs tours using boats with glass bottoms. Guests can experience picturesque scenery and explore marine wildlife at the same time.

Blowing Rocks Preserve

Blowing Rocks Preserve an outlier. While Florida’s claim to fame is white, powdery beaches, this rocky coastline stands in stark opposition. These massive, unique structures were formed by limestone jutted out into the ocean. Water crashing into these rocks can create 50-foot waves. Despite being a reasonably common feature along Florida’s east coast, the preserve here on Juniper Island is one of the largest.

Everglades National Park

No list is completed without paying homage to the Everglades. The national park sprawls across more than one million acres. This solidifies it as the largest tropical wilderness in the U.S. Teeming with ecological diversity, David Patrick Beston especially loves the serenity. He encourages others to bask in the stillness granted to its visitors.…

Is the 21st of December 2012 Something to Worry About?

Many unrelated sources are all pointing to an event or events occurring on the 21st December 2012, the impact of which will result in a major catastrophe engulfing the Earth. Possibly one threatening human existence, an Extinction Level Event or E.L.E. – remember the movies Deep Impact, Armageddon, The Day After Tomorrow and, more recently, 2012. More later on the, possible, significance of these movies!!

Putting 2012 aside for a moment, there are those who believe we are already in ‘the end times’ and that every second brings us closer to ‘Gods’ promised times of change for the world!

If this is indeed the case then public awareness needs to be raised of what awaits, what the consequences might be and what, if anything, can be done.

There are those who would even claim that public opinion is being manipulated, subliminally, to prepare us for major changes in human affairs. An example of this is cited as the spate of movies and web sites that bring these possible upheavals into the public consciousness – movies of natural disasters, alien invasion or asteroid impacts. This was claimed to have happened back in the 1940’s and 50’s as well when there was a huge output of movies which featured monster encounters, alien visitations and worlds in collision together with the peaking of UFO sightings

Then there are the ‘extreme’ sects filling the net with prophecies and predictions of doom in 2012 – some of whom claim to give you guidance on how to survive any catastrophe, which may occur!

There are many resources on the internet which discuss the prophecies surrounding ‘the end days’ which you can research for yourself and come to your own conclusions. A starting point could be my blog which discusses the Mayan prophecy and points to its sister page The Prophets of Doom which has links to a number of which sites discuss the thoughts of many past prophets.…

Paranormal Activity – Movie Review

The tagline asks: What happens when you sleep?

The plot is simple: After moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.

The film, given its simplicity, a cast of just four and a single setting – the couple’s house – is a victory for director / writer Oren Peli. Obviously filmed on a fairly low budget, this movie was a box office smash, and we watched it “on demand”.

I love scary films, and I love being scared. I love the heart thumping, heart stopping moments that directors lure you into, just to release it all with a single JUMP as the unexpected (or sometimes expected) thing happens at just the right moment. And this film does that in droves! Excellent.

A little slow to get moving and filmed in a style similar to that of The Blair Witch, the film begins with the boyfriend setting up his recording equipment throughout the house, giving just a hint as he does it of what has been going on in the house at night. The film shows what happens as the couple sleep, and to start with it’s nothing quite tangible.

Through a series of days, the visitations get more frequent, and more scary, until about 45 minutes through, the director and excellent main characters have you jumping out of your seat. A psychic is called and is visibly scared to be there, but here we learn the history of the couple’s troubles and the ever sceptical boyfriend is left trying to figure the problems out scientifically.

Many impossible things happen along the way, that have your skin crawling with goose bumps, and you screaming at the couple to “GET THE HELL OUUUUUUT!!!!” All of this builds to a thrilling climax that has you wondering what you would do in the same situation. This movie had me truly spooked.

About an hour in, I paused the movie to go to the bathroom – my wife laughed as I left the room switching on all of the lights as I went up our dark stairs. Having had the experiences I’ve had with the paranormal, I wasn’t taking any chances!

Many people like Micah, the boyfriend in this movie, are sceptical of the existence of the paranormal. I am not, I believe completely, and this movie just fed my beliefs. This movie should not be watched in the dark or alone, but it should be watched, because it is horror at its best. Don’t miss it!!…

New Year, New You, New Path

Devotion to your ‘use’ is the best thing anyone can develop in this lifetime. Whether it be being a devoted mother to her children, being present when they need a helping hand, offering your own words of wisdom or reminding them how important and valued they are in this Universe, or being a chef and creating great food for others to enjoy, all of it is meaningful if you love what you do!

I have heard it said before that your ‘use’ is the main way you express yourself in this life. Why then are people stuck in jobs they hate? Why do some choose to go for the ‘safe’ career, something that may have a steady paycheck in it, but doesn’t make them happy, does not create joy or get them excited about what they have to offer those around them, vs. discovering their passion? It’s a valid question wouldn’t you say? Why do the masses flock to concerts or the movies if not to see people doing what they love and expressing their gifts with the world?!

When you think back to what you loved to do as a child you are on track for discovering what you are meant to do as an adult. For me, I loved teaching. I thought being a teacher in some capacity would be loads of fun! But I also wanted to be my own boss, I never liked the idea of being told what to do or having to cow-tow to the big man. I wanted to have more control in my life and direct where I wanted to go. I knew I didn’t want to be a ‘teacher’ per-say because that was too restricting. But how does one be their own boss and teach? By the time I was 26 years of age, about 4 years out of college, I remembered another thing I loved as a teenager…personal growth. You see, i was one of those people that didn’t have a very fulfilling or happy family life; so I turned to books for inspiration.

My first inspiration came when I was in English class in the 10th grade and we began our study with a period of time in the late 19th Century, known as the Transcendental Movement, IE: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Walt became my new mentors. Thus began my obsession with looking deeply into my own soul and being, for how to create a NEW LIFE for myself! I knew I didn’t have ANY desire to repeat the same pattern my parents showed me. Thus, I began looking at ways to improve my own self-worth and esteem.

Your ‘use’ is the way you express your love and wisdom to those around you. Your thoughts and feelings no longer need to be hidden from view, or tucked away into a secret hiding place for when the time is ‘right.’ The right time is right now! And how you express your love for your life is through your ‘use.’ It makes you think, “Who and what am I devoted to right now?”

Is it my job, money, sexual satisfaction, power, control, or is it happiness, imparting wisdom, the law, etc? Pure evil/selfishness is caring only about yourself even if that means hurting others. Now that the new year has arrived make a decision to discover your passion in life, your loves and how you express these loves in through your ‘use.’…

Red Riding Hood – Not So Good

Catherine Hardwicke, the woman behind the mega-successful Twilight series, turns one of the world’s most loved fairy tales into an unabashed daily soap adaptation. She could have waited for the Twilight prequel and happily revisited the werewolf-vampire-doe-eyed-gal territory rather than making Red Riding Hood look like the unofficial fourth installment of the werewolf-vampire-doe-eyed-gal series.

In a sleepy little village Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) loves Peter (Shiloh Fernandez) but her mother (Virginia Madsen) wants her to hook up with Henry (Max Irons), the richer one. The lovers decide to make a dash for it but the cursed werewolf that troubles their existence decides to kill a human, Lucie, Valerie’s sister. By breaking years of truce the village decides to kill the werewolf but in the bargain Henry’s father dies and Henry holds Peter responsible for his loss.

Enter the werewolf hunter Father Solomon (Gary Oldman on a roller-coaster) who tells them that the werewolf is actually a human who turns into the deadly killer at night. Later that night Valerie is attacked by werewolf who talks to her and spares her.

Suddenly Valerie starts looking at the people around her rather suspiciously and everyone right from her sinisterly motivated grandmother (Julie Christe) to her father (Billy Burke), Peter, Henry, even Father Solomon give her reasons to believe that they could be the werewolf.

Red Riding Hood tries to build a certain mood in order to impress upon you that it’s a horror film and you should be scared but this is far from anything that could scare you. Shot like a dream that has been dreamt far too many times in films like Twilight or any fantasy laden Hollywood film, Red Riding Hood takes itself a little too seriously. The characters look worried on cue, they run in fear when demanded; they indulge in merry making by drinking and dancing the night away and yet end up looking like cardboard cut-outs.

The acting also looks very school play like; Seyfried’s huge eyes do most of the talking as she just doesn’t care to emote; Shiloh Fernandez is a complete disaster thanks to his Robert Pattinson hangover and Max Irons’ Henry is the made from the same mould that created Prince Caspian from the Narnia series–nothing new there. Christie and Oldman just have one motive–to swagger as much as possible and then a little more.

The screenplay is a cesspool of stupidity in the name of substance–Valerie loves Peter who hates Henry who loves Valerie but was the object of Valerie’s sister’s desire but in reality Henry’s Lucie half-brother…after a little while you just don’t bother. Rather you look at the obviously stupid things in the film–all of Solomon’s henchmen are tough multi-racial men–Blacks, Asians, and what have you; Valerie drinks and dances with her best friend Prudence to make Peter feel jealous who to get over her is dancing with a girl he doesn’t even like.

A few moments later Peter gets in the mood and just can’t keep her paws off Valerie; whoever said it’s these days that boys got happy looking at some ‘girl-on-girl action’! Avoid.

Red Riding Hood Rating: 1/5

Red Riding Hood Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Billy Burke, Shiloh Fernandez, Max Irons, Virginia Madsen, Lukas Haas, Julie Christie

Red Riding Hood Written by: David Johnson

Red Riding Hood Directed by: Catherine Hardwicke…

Why Anime DVDs Are Better Than Anime Downloads

Anime which is short for Japanese Animation has captivated audiences across the globe. Many fans experience anime through manga books, movies, video games, and countless Anime Conventions held worldwide. This is evidence enough that this genre shows no signs of slowing down. Most fans make anime apart of their collection through purchasing anime DVDs however anime downloads are on the rise. Why would anyone resist downloading some of their beloved anime shows? It is faster, more efficient, free, and with the click of a button, people will be watching their favorite anime in no time right? Think again. There are several reasons why people should be skeptical when approaching sites that offer free anime downloads. The purpose of this article is to explore those reasons and show why owning an Anime DVD is a better choice than Anime Downloads.

The first and most serious problem when downloading anime from free websites is that it exposes the computer to viruses, adware, and spyware. All these programs do great harm if the computer becomes infected. As a result personal information is compromised. Adding further to the frustration, the irritation of multiple pop-up ads causes a significant reduction in the computer’s performance and speed. Perhaps the scariest thing of all is that once these malicious files are on the computer it may be difficult to impossible to remove them. Three other issues that can occur with free anime downloading are poor picture quality, incomplete downloads, and bad translations.

I am sure we are all in agreement that quality is everything when watching our favorite anime shows. No one wants to be stuck with a picture that is out of focus or a watermark image obscuring the view throughout the entire episode. Unfortunately most of these free sites offer just that. If poor image quality was not enough to endure, most of the time fans cannot even view the full episode because the download does not contain the complete version. Plus the translations and subtitles are more than likely inaccurate. What good is the anime if you cannot even understand what they are saying? All of these factors lead up to a complete waste of the consumer’s time. With paid sites, one may be able to avoid some of these problems but not all paid sites are genuine and must be approached with caution. With all of this in mind, why pay for a download site, when you can purchase an anime DVD and get all the awesome features associated with it?

One reason owning an anime DVD is better than downloading is that it is tangible making it the perfect addition to one’s anime collection. More importantly an anime DVD offers special features that go behind the scenes and explore the making of the anime. The commentary feature presents in depth knowledge from the director as well as voice actors giving the anime enthusiast the vision and concepts behind their favorite show. Last but not least the amazing gallery of art work that can be viewed is reason alone to own a DVD over downloading.

In Conclusion, purchasing a legitimate anime DVD gives the consumer a sense of satisfaction because they have invested in good quality. The consumer gains not only a collector’s item but a better choice compared to potentially harmful downloads that only take up storage space on the hard drive.

Make your favorite Anime DVDs a part of your collection today. Don’t miss the opportunity to take home the latest release or some of your favorite classics. Go to your nearest anime store today.…

Magicians in Movies Always Keep Us Interested

In the magic movie Excalibur, the king was mortally wounded because he lost his grip to the sword. The sword was what the knights wanted to take. Before he dies the king drives Excalibur into a stone. Try as they might the knights cannot extract the sword from the stone. Years later, the boy taken by Merlin the Magician, now a teenager, tries his hand and removing the sword. He does so and is proclaimed the chosen one, he who is destined to be king of Britain. Arthur grows up as King of Britain with Merlin the Magician by his side.

His kingdom reaches a pinnacle and then betrayal, jealousy, and doubt infiltrate and almost destroy Arthur and his rule. But end the end Merlin with his magic helps restore Arthur to a place of renown. There have been many who argue that King Arthur actually existed. There are many who say he was but a myth, a legend like Paul Bunyan.

But movies about magic are real in the sense that they entertain and help us leave our reality behind if only for a few hours at a time. I am not a proponent of magic. But when I can see it in a movie and it is part of the plot, then I can suspend my opinion for a few hours at least and allow myself to be carried away by the fantasy, by movies about magic. This is what drives us to live the world of surreal for about two hours and just enjoy the moment. Movies about magicians like Merlin are so intriguing as kids but then when you become an adult you look forward to them even more because the kid inside us all never dies.…

Learn How To Market Movies Online To Attract Viewers & Increase Film Sales

As an independent movie producer I have recently changed my entire belief system on how to market movies. It has been a radical shakeup from how I used to think. In the past I would hire a web designer to create a movie site that had a synopsis, movie poster, key cast and crew bios with photos, and trailer. Until recently I had no idea how to get traffic to the site to attract viewers and increase online movie sales. I had a site out there and was hoping visitors would stumble upon it. Not the best online marketing strategy to follow, but at that point in time I did not know any better.

There was no way an indie film marketing budget could afford to pay for a public relations firm to ignite a buzz, radio ads, or run a trailer on television spots. The studio method to marketing big budget movies does not work for independently produced movies. Friend Tim Beachum aka The SEO Bully has been online marketing for 10 years strong. He looked at what I was doing with my site and asked if I wanted to learn how to market movies online using search engine optimization, specifically SEO tactics and online tools to enhance a movie site.

The crash course I received from The SEO Bully on how to market movies online was awesome and changed how I thought as a producer. The most powerful thing I learned was that a website without aggressive SEO marketing will go undiscovered by online viewers. The biggest mistake I was making was focusing on only the visual design of a creating a site. No matter how great a site looks it still needs to be marketed online. Here are a few useful tips I learned during my crash course on learning how to market movies online:

• Keep your movie site domain name short, simple, and easy to type into a search engine browser.

• Do keyword research on what words or phrases people are typing into search engines to find certain types of movies like yours.

• Use meta tags, targeted keywords, and short descriptions for each page on your movie site to increase search engine visibility.

• Provide visitors with an opt-in list to build a movie fanbase.

• Build quality backlinks to your movie site to increase search engine ranking.

I will never market any future Slice Of Americana Films titles like I have in the past. I love the creative side of writing, producing, and directing movies, but now realize the only way to attract viewers across the globe is by using SEO methods. When SEO marketers talk about products and customers I mentally flip the switch to movies and viewers. The same Internet marketing strategies apply and work. This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing FADE OUT:…

“This is It” – Starring Michael Jackson

“This Is It” is an unforgettable documentary showing Michael Jackson in rehearsal for the show he was planning on taking on tour before his untimely death. Whether you are a fan of Michael’s or not, you will get to see the talent, genius, and dedication he had for his fans, his staff, and the talented young people who were chosen to appear with him on stage for a World tour of 50 shows entitled “This Is It”! Their devotion to him as well truly comes across in this film.

I was truly mesmerized by seeing Jackson on stage after a ten year “retirement”. He was absolutely amazing in this filming of the rehearsals leading up to his death. He looked great and based on what I saw, all that talk about him not being ready or prepared for this tour were completely untrue. The film was expertly edited and the sound and effects were very professional and of award winning quality given the circumstances of this event. The numbers were truly creative and if you were expecting his old stuff, you will be greatly surprised. He did some of his classic songs such as “Smooth Criminal” and “Billie Jean” and a fantastic new meant-to- be 3-D version of “Thriller”. I thought the highlight was his tribute to the environment which illustrated his message of love and humanity for this planet.

The movie is being shown for just two weeks in cities around the world. It opened last weekend which means it will only run for one more week. It is worth seeing. It has Academy Award written all over it and it will leave you feeling how much we lost in this very talented and loving individual who had problems with addictions which he was never able to overcome, but left this world too soon for his fans, family, and children. I can’t wait for the DVD.…

Online Movie Rental Reviews – How Does Blockbuster Compare to Netflix?

As Blockbuster tries to catch up with it’s main competition, Netflix. It is making it even easier to rent movies online.

In 2004, Blockbuster started offering customers its own service for online movie rentals. Before that, to rent movies online could only be done through Netflix who was doing much better than bricks and mortar type rental stores.

For example, Hollywood Video, which was once considered a leader in the industry, has seen it’s business go down since online movie rentals came along.

Lucky for Blockbuster, they were able to adapt to the changing landscape of the online movie rental business fast enough to stay in business.

What does Blockbuster offer that the others don’t? Today, it’s Netflix that has to do some catching up to Blockbuster. Blockbuster customers can rent on Blu-Ray at no extra cost. Netflix charges extra for this benefit.

The other major advantage Blockbuster has over Netflix is its brick-and-mortar stores. While traditional retail outlets seemed at first to be an old-fashioned handicap for people looking for movies to rent, today Blockbuster markets their stores as an added perk that Netflix doesn’t have.

And it’s true: with 7,000 stores in 21 countries, Blockbuster makes it easy to return movies locally.

So if a customer feels like renting a movie for the weekend but doesn’t want to venture out to the store, they can rent online from Blockbuster, then drop it by the store on their way to work on Monday morning.

Blockbuster also offers one more benefit over Netflix: game rentals. Netflix offers its customers only movies and television shows, and although it has a wide variety of these, it still doesn’t offer video games.

Blockbuster’s inventory has long included video games, so it was a natural choice to include game rentals when Blockbuster started offering online movie rentals.

To rent 1, 2 or 3 movies at one time costs the same. The fixed monthly charges are $8.99, $13.99 and $16.99.

Do these benefits make Blockbuster a better choice than Netflix? That depends upon your perspective. If you’re a Blu-ray owner, then yes, it’s better to rent movies online from Blockbuster.

If you’re a gamer, then yes, it’s better to rent movies online from Blockbuster.

If all you’re looking for a good selection of movies and don’t mind mailing DVDs back to Netflix, then the two services are basically equal.…