Five More Movies You Think Would Be Better Than They Are
Copyright � 2006 Ed Bagley
Here are five more movies you think would be really better than they are, unfortunately for the films, the scripts, the direction, and the actors, they are not.
Imagine Me & You � 1 Star (Terrible) Imagine a bride walking down the aisle on her wedding day, getting ready to marry the man she has had an intimate relationship with for years, looking at another woman at the ceremony, and starting an awakening that would lead her to question her own feelings, eventually falling in love with the other woman, ultimately destroying her marriage, but living happily ever after with her new lesbian partner.
Now, maybe, you begin to understand why this premise does not work. It is sold in the film as perfectly natural and normal, with everyone making out fine in the end (no pun intended).
This film does not work because it is not psychologically sound. The offering is British made, of course, which accounts for the poor sound effects of the movie, and the annoying lack of proper diction and enunciation by the actors involved.
It would be hard for me to believe that Imagine Me & You advances the cause and understanding of lesbian issues.
Down With Love � 1 Star (Terrible)
This movie stars Renee Zellweger in a very light, fun romantic comedy placed in 1962. A fashion show for clothing styles of the 1960s. Excellent movie for clothes conscious women to watch (are there any women who are not clothes hounds?).
In Good Company � 1 Star (Terrible)
An ad salesman gets demoted after a corporate buyout, and his new boss, young enough to be his son, falls for his daughter on the rebound from his divorce. You want to like this movie, but the scriptwriter and director will not let you; this movie ends without an ending, and becomes worthless in the process. In Good Company is beyond disappointing, it is a pathetic waste of time.
It Runs in the Family � 1 Star (Terrible)
A Michael Douglas produced movie with Kirk Douglas, his dad, and Cameron Douglas, his son. If the title of this film is the key to its presentation, then what runs in this family is a lot of incredibly dysfunctional people who are led virtually nowhere.
There are not enough adjectives to describe how poor this presentation is so I am not even going to try. Sum it up in two thoughts:
1) Am I a better person for having seen this film? No. Absolutely not, and I felt like I should have been. It was not even entertaining as a supposed "comedy." This was so far from comedy it was very bad drama.
2) Michael Douglas had an opportunity to make a substantial film with meaning about what counts in life, and he failed miserably. When one examines the body of Michael Douglas' work as an actor, I am hard put to find a film of substance; usually the theme is sex, warped values and bordering on revulsion. What should I have expected?
Laws of Attraction � 1 Star (Terrible)
Light-hearted, fun romantic comedy about two divorce attorneys who fight in court over cases and then end up together in marriage. Both Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore make this an easy film to watch, despite its lack of substance. No depth here, but it is an easy film to watch as there is no nudity, no filthy language, no violence and no sex scenes (in other words, almost a miracle of moviemaking given it is not a Disney production).
I only bring these terrible movies to your attention so you do not get blindsided once you sit down to enjoy your movie rental of choice. My forewarning is useless, of course, should you invest in any of these films.

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Ed Bagley is the author of Ed Bagley's Blog, which he publishes daily with fresh, original articles on Internet Marketing, Jobs and Careers, Movie Reviews and Lessons in Life intended to delight, inform, educate and motivate readers. Visit Ed at . . .
http://www.edbagleyblog.com


A Basic Blackjack Strategy
Since the essential features of basic strategy were developed, a number of refinements have given us the current set of principles for standing, hitting, doubling, splitting, and surrendering. These, along with the other more sophisticated forms of play were worked out based on the computer analysis of billions of hands. The following description of basic strategy is based on the multi-deck blackjack game found in several Atlantic City and Las Vegas casinos.
"Soft" & "Hard" Hands:
A hard hand is a hand without an A where the payer's total is given by the face values of the cards, or a hand with an A that can only be counted as 1. A soft hand is a hand with an A which can be counted as either 1 or 11. For example, A, 4 is a soft hand because the A may be counted as a 1 or 11; but A, 4, 7 is not, since counting the A as 11 would be a bust.
Hit or Stand:
The guidelines for hitting are rather straightforward. If the dealer shows a 2 or 3, you continue to take a hit until you have a hard 13 or a soft 18. If the dealer shows 4, 5, or 6, you continue to take a hit until you reach a hard 12 or a soft 18. If the dealer shows 7 or 8, you continue to take a hit until you have a hard 17 or a soft 18. It the dealer shows anything higher than 8, you continue to take a hit until you have a hard 17 or a soft 19.
When to Split:
Always split A's. The totals of 2 or 12 are not nearly as good as hitting 11's.
Never split 10's. Two 10's is a great hand -- don't screw it up!
Never split 5's, but you may want to double down!
Splitting 4's is a close call. Don't do it in one or two deck games. Do it in multideck games when the dealer shows a 5 or 6.
Split 9's against a dealer card of 2 - 9 except 7. The reason for this exception is simple. You have 18. The dealer's most probable total is 17. Don't screw up a good thing.
Splitting 8's, like 4's, depends on casino blackjack rules. Always do it when the dealer shows 2 - 9. If the dealer shows 10 or A and you happen to be lucky enough to be playing in a game that allows early surrender, you should surrender. If surrender is not an option, split.
Splitting 6's and 7's is straightforward. If the dealer's card is higher than your card, don't split.
Always split 2's or 3's if the dealer's card is less than 8. You should also note that the "value" of splitting is increased if you are playing in a game that allows doubling down after a split.
When to Double Down:
The principle behind doubling down (and splitting) is that it increases the amount of your money in play when the conditions of the hand are in your favor. These are both very important parts of expert blackjack play and must be mastered. Once again, the best way to present the guidelines is in a table. Double Down on 11 if the dealer shows 2 - 10 . Double down on a 10 if the dealer shows 2 - 9. Double down on 9 when the blackjack dealer shows 3 - 6. Double down on A, 7 or A, 6 when the dealer shows 3 - 6. You should double down on A, 5 or A, 4 when the dealer shows 4 - 6. Double down on A, 3 or A, 2 when the dealers up card is a 5 or 6.
When to Surrender:
Late surrender is still permitted in some casinos. The guidelines are straightforward. If Dealer shows A,9, or 10 surrender If holding any 16 except 8 , 8. You should surrender if the dealer is holding a 10 and you're holding 15.
Early surrender provides a tremendous advantage for the player which is why you may never find a game that allows it. If you are lucky enough to find one, if dealer shows A, early surrender if holding all hard 5 - 7 and 12 - 17 . If the dealer is showing 10, early surrender if you are holding all hard 14 - 16. Finally, if the dealer is showing a 9, you should early surrender if holding 10, 6 or 9 , 7.
When to Take Insurance:
...Never! You should note that there are certain times when taking insurance could be advantageous to the player, but these circumstances can only be detected by the best card counters.
You have learned how to bring the odds to just about even in most casino blackjack games. If you Follow the rules of blackjack basic strategy presented here, it will essentially remove the casino's advantage over you while you play. This will allow the recreational blackjack player to play casino blackjack as much as he wants without fear of losing his life savings.

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Andrew Saari will show you how to easily win at any blackjack game. For the foolproof ultimate blackjack system, visit www.theultimateblackjacksystem.com


Golf Instruction
Golf Instruction
When we come to getting golf instruction we want to be sure we are getting the best golf instruction. We want to get golf instruction that will begin by ensuring we are assisting our body in getting the action right. Many of us golfers, when performing our golf swing (you can also read back swing here), let our left knee go down on the back swing. The outcome of this is that our shoulder will drop causing our hips to sway and overturn. Don’t allow the knee to move. Good golf instruction encourages us to maintain a steady stance. To have a good golf swing you need to maintain that stability, tension if you like, in both your legs. Some golf instruction suggests holding some kind of ball between your knees, I don’t think that is going to be very practical on the course. See how using your imagination for this works, you could be surprised how effective it is.
Golf instruction often points out common fault in beginners is that they carry out the swing to fast. A key to eliminating this problem with your golf swing is to relax. If you find that you are rushing things try and slow it down a bit. Contrary to what you may think rushing it does not make the down swing any faster and in fact may have the opposite effect. Maintain a steady action for best results. One key to good golf instruction is to get a steady action in your golf swing and this can be achieved by a pause for a brief moment at the top of your golf swing. This will allow you body to relax and compose itself for the coming down swing.
Your golf instruction is going to be great if it teaches that your golf is the sum of correctly performed parts. Golf instruction will look at stance, posture and action. Another key part in golf instruction, especially at the beginning, is your grip. Are you able to hold a club right now? Try this. When you have the club at waist height, grip the club with your left hand and your right hand in the “hitchhiker position (NB: the palm of your hand should neither be facing up no down), you should see you thumb point up. If you don’t get the grip together in the beginning you are not likely to improve you gold swing at all.
To conclude our short list of golf instruction tips today, I am going to end with an exercise you can do that will help establish some of the fundamentals we’ve talked about here. Good golf instruction will help you to improve your golf swing and to be consistently hitting the ball well you need a steady tempo and be able to keep good balance. These foundational elements are necessary to improve your golf swing. And golf instruction will reinforce these fundamentals through practice. Try this. With your feet close together, about 15cm, hit some shots. This is going to make you keep better rhythm, balance and speed and will result in improvement when you return to your normal golf swing stance.
The best thing you can do is to do some research into golf instruction. One of the best books I have come across on golf instruction is High Power Golf which you can get access to by clicking here. Golf Instruction
Getting the right golf instruction can really make playing golf that much more enjoyable, and that’s what it is all about end isn’t it!