Reviews by Friends of foxyfarmer

bkovacs says "Cars and comedy" about Top Gear

bkovacs — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:16:23 GMT

My oldest brother got me interested in a British car show called Top Gear and it's become a favorite in my home. Produced by the BBC in the UK, Top Gear is shown in the US on BBC America -- I've found that new shows are usually on at 8PM Monday nights.

Top Gear features three middle-aged but usually surprisingly childish men (Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May) talking about, driving, trashing and daydreaming about cars. Many episodes have an unusual challenge, which run the gamut from bizzare to spectacular. In the show I watched last night, the hosts had a race to see which could get to the magnetic north pole faster: a dog team or a Toyota Hilux pickup truck. (The Toyota won, but not by much.)

What makes Top Gear really distinctive is the humor on the show. It's funny to the point where I mostly consider Top Gear to be a comedy information show about cars. Jeremy Clarkson has a biting take-no-prisoners wit that is sometimes too sharp for my taste but is often right on the...

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bkovacs says "A sports movie about rebuilding a country" about "INVICTUS"

bkovacs — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:14:22 GMT

Invictus is not a great movie but it is a good movie. It starts as Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) takes over as the president of South Africa, in an orderly change that few scarcely dreamed would happen. Mandela immediately cuts off any talk of reprisals against the former white government and invites the remaining white staffers in the building to remain a part of his government. This includes assigning four white policemen to Mandela's security detail, which infuriates the the black captain who now runs the detail.

At the same time, the Springboks (South Africa's rugby team) are playing badly. The team is hated by black South Africans, who cheer for whichever team opposes the Springboks. The rugby World Cup is coming up in a couple of years and it will be hosted by Sough Africa, so Nelson Mandela has an idea: Can the Springboks be turned into an icon of a new inclusive South Aftrica? He reasons that whites and blacks cheering for the same team will be an important step to drawing...

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bkovacs says "Maybe, man" about Yes Man

bkovacs — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:36:08 GMT

The premise for Yes Man is excellent: What if you said "yes" to everything and where would that lead you? And there are a few good things in Yes Man about this uplifting concept, enough to make me think that we should all say "yes" a lot more often. However, Yes Man ultimately becomes just another chance for Jim Carrey to mug his way through a script that veers a little too silly for my taste.

Carl Allen (Jim Carrey) is a bored and boring bank loan officer when a friend drags him to a seminar on learning to say "yes." Skeptical, Carl decides to give it a try and quickly has some pleasant and rewarding adventures, not the least of which is going for a wild ride on the back of Allison's (Zooey Deschanel) motor scooter. He soon starts a tentative relationship with Allison and his fortunes at the bank change as well. Carl learns that it is hard but rewarding to say yes, and this is the film's strong point.

Of course, Yes Man is a Hollywood film headed by big star, so there must be some silly...

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bkovacs says "This only costs $6?" about Inland Pro USB 2.0 HDD Enclosure

bkovacs — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:17:02 GMT

I recently upgraded the hard drive in an older laptop and that left me with a perfectly good 60GB 2.5-inch laptop drive. This drive used the older PATA (also known as EIDE) interface, which is rapidly becoming obsolete. I wanted to get a case into which I could put the old 60GB drive so that I could use it for general storage needs, and the local computer store just happened to put such as case on sale. I bought an Inland Pro USB 2.0 Hard Drive Enclosure (stock #08411) for just $6.

What it is

The Inland Pro USB 2.0 Hard Drive Enclosure is an empty case that can house a standard 2.5-inch laptop hard drive. This Inland case has the electronics necessary to convert the drive's "parallel ATA" (PATA) interface into a standard USB port. The case came with all the parts necessary to house the hard drive, including the actual case, screws and a two-foot USB cable.

Assembly

The hard drive enclosure kit came with instructions but they weren't necessary. I had the 60GB hard drive mounted in the Inline...

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bkovacs says "Arrrr! Is anyone out there listening?" about Pirate Radio

bkovacs — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:37:06 GMT

There is a great story to be told about pirate radio stations off the coast of England in the 1960s... but Pirate Radio isn't it. Instead, Pirate Radio is a laid-back comedy about hijinks at an ocean-going pirate radio station, set in the 1960s. The ship and broadcasting equipment look believable enough and the script is fun, but you should never think of this as anything approaching the actual history of any particular pirate radio station.

In the mid-1960s, England's only broadcaster (the BBC) refused to play rock and roll. Pirate radio stations popped up in the waters off England, far enough away to be in international waters. However, they beamed their signals squarely at England and they were quite popular with young people. (Heck, the Beatles all listened to various pirate radio stations at one time or another.) Pirate Radio tries to capture some of the flavor of the time, particularly the absurdity of the BBC's refusal to play some of the all-time great British rock and roll acts,...

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Jolie says "buyuggsboot.net is a scam! Ugg Boots from China that are fake." about www.buyuggsboot.net

Jolie — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:22:46 GMT

Background on Buyuggsboot.net

A friend of mine at Viewpoints recently passed along a site called www.buyuggsboot.net. She found it online. www.buyuggsboot.net is a web site that sells all styles of Ugg Boots at discounted prices.

We werent certain if www.buyuggsboot.net were the real or not. But after a thorough review of the site, we thought it was legit. Buyuggsboot.net looks like a reasonable reseller of Ugg Boots. The page is designed well, the pictures look authentic and they make claim to having the real deal. They also consistently site throughout the web site having customer satisfaction commitments.

To add to the thought it was authentic, the pricing seemed good but not amazing. As you probably know a typical pair of Ugg Boots cost about $110. On Buyuggsboot.net the cost was $89.00- approximately a $20 savings. Seemed like a good deal, but they werent so cheap that I thought it could be scam. As an aside, last year Nordstrom had a similiar sale on Ugg boots so the pricing seemed...

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bkovacs says "Great location and efficient care" about Inova Woodburn Surgery Center -

bkovacs — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:23:29 GMT

My wife recently had foot surgery, and she had it at the Inova Woodburn Surgery Center. Located just 100 yards from the intersection of the Capital Beltway (I-495) and Gallows Road in Annandale, VA, the Inova Woodburn Surgery Center is close to my home. I do not know if it is associated with nearby Inova Fairfax Hospital, a huge and highly regarded hospital in this area.

Inova Woodburn Surgery Center supports a lot of different outpatient surgery, taking cases that free up the operating rooms at the hospital. I spoke to a woman at Inova Woodburn and she said that the center used to specialize in eye surgery, but that it now does a variety of surgeries. She said that she appreciated the variety.

As for my wife, she had foot surgery by a foot specialist that she's seen a few times. The physician is an orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in foot and ankle problems. My wife really likes the doctor but doesn't particularly like his office, which she finds chaotic and inefficient. However, she...

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bkovacs says "It works but it's messy" about Jig-A-Loo Graphite Extreme lubricant

bkovacs — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 21:23:35 GMT

The driver's door lock on my 1995 Subaru was getting hard to turn with the key, so I decided to get some lubricant for the lock to see if that would make a difference. I remember little spray cans of graphite lubricant at autoparts stores specifically for lubricating locks. However, the autoparts store I went to didn't have those little cans, so I asked an employee. He pointed me at Jig-A-Loo Graphite Extreme in an aerosol can, which cost $4 for 5.5 ounces.

What it is

Jig-A-Loo Graphite Extreme is a spray lubricant that uses graphite. Graphite is a crystaline form of carbon -- we're most familiar with its use in pencils. Graphite is actually the "lead" in pencils. Jig-A-Loo Graphite Extreme has graphite suspended in a solvent. When you spray the lubricant out, the solvent carries the graphite out of the can and the graphite stays behind as a solvent.

Using it

Jig-A-Loo Graphite Extreme has an agitator ball inside the can, so I shook it for 10 seconds or so. The can came with a long thin...

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bkovacs says "Comfortable, inexpensive orthotic inserts" about Profoot Triad Insoles 1 Pair For Women

bkovacs — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:35:37 GMT

My wife has problems with her feet, to the point where she has had surgery on both her feet. (In fact, she had surgery about 10 days ago on her left foot and is still recovering.) To make walking and standing more comfortable, she bought orthotics -- first as prescribed by a doctor, then over-the-counter in stores. Just a couple days ago, she bought a set of Profoot Triad orthotics at Walmart for about $4.65 for the pair. Amazingly, Profoot Triad orthotics are made in the USA, which was the main reason why she chose Profoot Triad orthotics over a similar made-in-China product sold under the Dr. Scholl's label.

What's an orthotic?

An orthotic is a supplimental arch support for the foot. It slips into a shoe (click on the thumbnails to the right to see) and helps the foot maintain the proper arch. When the arch of the foot is correct, the foot's bones can align properly. This will help avoid foot problems such as bunions, which occur when the foot's bones are shifted uncomfortably toward...

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bkovacs says "What coulda been..." about Valkyrie (Two-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy)

bkovacs — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:05:47 GMT

I finally had a chance to see Valkyrie, a World War II movie starring Tom Cruise, and it's a pretty good movie.

Valkyrie is based on a true story about a failed plot to kill Adolph Hitler and end the war in Europe early. I had heard of this plot many times but Valkyrie hangs considerable flesh on the slim bones I knew about the event. Cruise is Claus von Stauffenberg, a colonel in the German army who lost one eye, one hand and a couple fingers of the other hand in battle in Africa. After recovering in Germany, he gets appointed as the chief of staff to the commander of the reserve army protecting Berlin, the perfect position to plot against Hitler. Several other officers of higher rank are also conspirators in the plan and a few others know about the plan but do nothing to stop it. Eventually, von Stauffenberg gets into a conference with Hitler and plants a bomb in his briefcase. von Stauffenberg is convinced that Hitler must have died in the blast and starts Operation Valkyrie to take...

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bkovacs says "Expensive pads are no better than cheaper brands" about Hawk - High-Performance Street (HPS) brake pads

bkovacs — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:36:22 GMT

My brother raved about Hawk brake pads, so when my 1995 Subaru Legacy wagon needed pads a few years ago, I looked for a set of Hawk pads. I found them at The Tire Rack, one of my favorite online stores, at a cost of about $65. At the time (2005), a set of cheapie pads at any autoparts store cost around $30, so Hawk pads were at least twice as expensive. Still, I had dreams of high performance and low dust, so I paid the permium for Hawk HPS pads.

What they are

Hawk sells lots of different brake pads and the HPS is targeted at "spirited" street driving. Most of the rest of Hawk's line is meant for racing or combined street/racing applications. "HPS" stands for "High Performance Street," and the company promised strong braking and minimal dust. Since brake dust looks awful on my plastic wheel covers, I was in favor of low brake dust.

A set of Hawk HPS pads includes four pads -- enough for both front wheels on my car. The specific part number I bought was HB408F.665.

Using them

I installed...

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