Moving Product Reviews to LilithPress.ca/Shopping.html

Hello Frequent Shopper!

If you are reading this it is because we have decided to move (copy) many of our most popular posts to the following website:

http://www.lilithpress.ca/Shopping.html

Going forward, all new Product Reviews will be posted on the Shopping section of Lilith Press Magazine. Or possibly both PRC and Lilith Press Shopping.

Also to avoid understanding that doesn't mean we are deleting this website. By moving, we really mean we are "focusing" on the new website and "copying" our most popular posts over to the new site.

 

We may also continue to do short snippet reviews on PRC and possibly some longer ones too.

 

So if you want to see more Canadian product reviews, written for Canadians, go visit Lilith Press and bookmark the website for future use.

Plus Lilith Press has separate sections for the following topics:

http://www.lilithpress.ca/Art.html

http://www.lilithpress.ca/Books.html

http://www.lilithpress.ca/Entertainment.html (Games, Movies, Television)

http://www.lilithpress.ca/Fashion.html

http://www.lilithpress.ca/Food.html

http://www.lilithpress.ca/Music.html

http://www.lilithpress.ca/Sports.html

http://www.lilithpress.ca/Tech.html (Cellphones, Computers, Tablets, etc)

http://www.lilithpress.ca/Transportation.html (Cars, Bikes, Trains and More)

http://www.lilithpress.ca/Travel.html

So technically not everything will be in the Shopping section. Quite a bit will be spread around in the Books, Food, and other sections. But we will cross-list anything that fits in multiple topics.

Now please note, we do have over 440 product reviews on here... so it will take some time to copy the old reviews to the new website. We have decided to prioritize the most popular reviews.

Also, if you could be a doll, please tweet, facebook and link about our new website. We could use the extra advertising.

Thanks for visiting and supporting Product Reviews Canada!

The Wit and Wisdom of Downton Abbey - A Book Review

By C. Moffat.

Yesterday I checked the mail and my copy of "The Wit and Wisdom of Downton Abbey" arrived. The book is a collection of quotes compiled by Jessica Fellowes from the TV show Downton Abbey.

My girlfriend introduced me to Downtown Abbey two years ago and I have been a fan ever since. Since then I believe I have probably seen every episode at least 3 times. Because they are worth re-watching.

When you consider that I normally favour more action-based TV shows like Arrow, Flash, Top Gear, CSI (Vegas), Daredevil, Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Archer, Hell on Wheels, etc then it comes as a bit of a surprise that I also like Downton Abbey.

I should also note that I also like Coronation Street, and am a fan of British television in general, so maybe it shouldn't be that unusual.

Anyway, the book is basically a quote book of lines from the TV show divided up into subjects like love, death, hope, family, parenting, and also more specific topics like:

"On the Upper Classes"

"Fight for your Rights"

"Lessons in Flirting"

"How to manage the Servants..."

"Huntin', Shootin', Fishin'"

The last one I wish there was something about archery, but hey I am obsessed. I would love it if there was a character on the show who practiced archery.

The book is an enjoyable read - especially any by Violet.

A lot of similar quotes that are found in the book can also be found online in memes, but they won't be so stylishly bound together in red hardcover and Times font. And such memes would be hopelessly lost in a horde of other memes and comments from people who have never heard of Downton Abbey saying things like "What is Downtown Abbey?"

The book retails in Canada for $18.50 CDN. Which to Downton Abbey fans is a price well worth paying. I predict people will enjoy reading this book in bed, on the subway, on the toilet - it doesn't matter. What is important is that book actually manages to dispense both sound advice to the reader, and a dose of good humour.

On a scale of 1 to Amazing, I give this book a score of "Waaaaaay better than reading the Bible". Take that!

Ivory Vikings, a Book Review

By C. Moffat.

As someone who has been into woodcarving since the age of 8, and even recently got into carving antler, I found this book to be fascinating. I also am into archaeology, Viking history, and Scottish history. So this book was good on all these topics.

I also as a kid played chess competitively, and can, in my opinion, hold my own. When I resumed playing chess in university I discovered I had only gotten better with age.

The book we are discussing here, "Ivory Vikings" by Nancy Marie Brown, is about a selection of Viking-era Chess pieces found on a beach in north-west Scotland. The majority of the pieces are carved from walrus ivory, and are believed to have been carved in Iceland roughly 600 - 700 years ago.

This is not a storybook. Rather I would classify it as a complete investigation into the mystery surrounding these marvelously carved chess pieces. The total number of chess pieces suggest they were once in a sack containing a total of 4 - 5 complete sets, but sadly many of the pieces are missing and if you mixed and matched the sets you would only get two complete sets.

Reading the book you will however learn lots about the carver(s) of the chess pieces. It is my personal suspicion that like all great artists, the artist who created the chess pieces had apprentices who would do the work on the lesser pieces. Reading the book you may come to a similar conclusion to mine. The author has her own theories so I won't spoil it and let the reader make up their own mind when they read the various theories on the topic.

Now you might be wondering - Wait, why is it a whole book about some mysterious ivory chess pieces? Well these particular chess pieces are the most famous and valuable pieces in the world, they are considered to be invaluable. The value of a single face piece is in the millions. The pawns less so.

While reading the book I even daydreamed of writing a movie script about stealing the chess pieces and a Sherlock Holmes-esque caper to get the pieces back. Perhaps the chess pieces could even be reunited with the full set in the film... With some villainous character having found the missing pieces and deciding they wanted the full set.

Anyway, I think I made my point. Ivory Vikings is an inspiring book to read. It tantalizes the imagination.

Replicas of the Ivory Vikings were used in one of the Harry Potter films.

Also while I am at it the TV series "Vikings" (an action drama produced by the History Channel) is fantastic. I definitely recommend watching it. Below is the trailer for Season One. Season Four will likely begin airing in February 2016.

Free Trial of Mega Flix

Watching movies online for free is just one of those things many people do these days. Especially if you are into downloading your films for free.

However having the convenience of watching movies sooner - and not having to wait for the film to download - is rather nice to have. This is why I have a subscription to Netflix.

But there are other companies which offer movie downloading - including free trials.

For example:

Mega Flix has a 5 Day Free Trial

Recently I have also been thinking of getting CraveTV ( see http://www.cravetv.ca/ ) just for the convenience of being able to watch as much TV shows as I want for only $4 per month. That is just ridiculously cheap and good value.

CraveTV has Game of Thrones, Dallas, Sopranos, Seinfeld, Big Bang Theory, Corner Gas, Monty Python (the TV show and all the films) and a whole lot more. It is very tempting. However there is just one flaw:

Most of the shows on there that I would want, I already own on DVD. Or have access to on Netflix.

So at this point I am undecided. That doesn't mean however that CraveTV might not be right for you. Maybe you don't have Netflix like I do. Or maybe you prefer to download everything for free (in which case, check out that free trial - it is basically 5 days worth of free movies).

Dukes of Hazard AutoTrader

I love a great car commercial - especially anything with the Dukes of Hazard. :)

Note - I have never used AutoTrader, I just really like this commercial. They should make a Dukes of Hazard movie (with the original actors starring, not that horrible film with the younger actors).



I was going to post a 2nd video on here, a documentary about the making of Dukes of Hazard (the show, not the ad above), but the video was disabled for embedding. Boooooo!

So instead here is a videos about many of the jumps made during Dukes of Hazard.

In case you are wondering the car is the 1969 Dodge Charger.

Starbucks Gift Card, Reloadable

Recently I received a reloadable Starbucks Gift Card.

How?

Well the neighbours next door tore down their house and are rebuilding a new house. So it is rather noisy. I am not sure who did it - either the neighours or the construction company - but they left a Starbucks Gift Card in our mailbox as an apology for all of the noise.

Which, frankly, I barely noticed the noise over all the noise I make playing with my woodworking tools. Or the movies I watch. Or the episodes of The Woodwright's Shop I have been watching lately.

But whatever, the Starbucks Gift Card was a nice gesture. And what is also nice is that it is reloadable so I can use it again and again - and I go to Indigo a lot, and there is a Starbucks in every Indigo, so this just works well for me.

In totally unrelated news I am addicted to watching The Woodwright's Shop. It is a TV show that has been on the air since 1981 (33 years!!!) and is dedicated to traditional woodworking.

Now I admit, I like my power tools - especially my band saw - but as TV shows go The Woodwright's Shop has the trifecta of everything you want in a woodworking TV show. It is funny. It teaches you new things about woodworking and woodworking tools. And there is a healthy dose of history for the people who like historical examples of woodworking.

Just watch the 20th Anniversary episode of The Woodwright's Shop to see what I am talking about.

Cable TV Packages Vs Downloading TV

Want to hear something funny?

The #1 reason why people download TV shows is because of the ridiculous cable company packages.

Give you an example.

You cannot get the HBO channel by itself. You have to buy a huge package just to get HBO.

On Bell Fibe TV you have to buy three specialty channel packages plus the regular basic cable just to get HBO. You cannot get basic cable plus just HBO.

Thus if you want to watch....

Game of Thrones
True Blood
Boardwalk Empire
The Newsroom
True Detective
Girls
Entourage
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Eastbound and Down
Veep
Real Time w/ Bill Maher
Looking
Silicon Valley
John Oliver: LWT
Doll and Em
The Leftovers
Hello Ladies
Hard Knocks
Family Tree
Treme
Getting On
Dark Tower
American Gods

Well then you are actually better off financially to just download your favourite shows rather than pay for three specialty channel packages just to get HBO. It is not legal strictly speaking, but lets face it, it is the movie industry that is more worried about copyright / downloading.

Now admittedly it is not HBOs fault (or is it?) that the cable companies are trying to ripoff customers with their ridiculous cable packages that require people to spend a fortune just so they can watch ONE show.

Which for many people will probably be Game of Thrones.

Or maybe it is their fault... HBO is a subsidiary of Time Warner, which owns Time Warner Cable... and presumably sells their programming to other cable companies at specific rates - perhaps even requiring in contract that those cable companies sell "packages" instead of individual channels so they can make more profit.

Except what about all the profit they end up losing from people who still have cable (and likely cable internet) and then decide to download their favourite TV shows instead?

I even started an informal poll on Facebook to see how many favourite TV shows people have - which could be used as an indicator as to how many shows people likely download regularly (unless they have the necessary cable packages for all of their faves).

For some people they might only like 1 TV show, which means they would only need to download the 1. Or they might like 5, 10, 15 or more shows and download them regularly.

If they have a Netflix account that gives them more options, but Netflix in Canada is very limited. It only gets a tiny portion of the TV shows that Americans get on Netflix.

As society changes towards downloading TV via Netflix and free downloads TV viewers are also becoming more discerning. They want high quality shows - and they're willing to pay for them - but they are not willing to get ripped off just because cable companies want to sell overpriced packages.

Cable companies are going to have to adapt if they want to survive. Offering the channels people want individually would be a smart first move.

Tom Jones - A Foundling, the BBC Mini Series

One of my favourite mini series of all time is a BBC production of "Tom Jones - A Foundling", which tells the story of an orphan boy adopted by a wealthy nobleman...

And the chaos that ensues as the rascally boy comes to age.

Written by Henry Fielding and first published in 1749 it has nothing to do with the singer "Tom Jones", who is himself named after the fictional "Tom Jones" from the book: "The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling".

The plot includes rowdiness, drunkiness, swordfights, lies, schemes, wanton females (and males) and a great deal of humour.

Which is to say it has lots of things going for it. Part comedy, part soap opera, part three-musketeers-style duels.

In other words it is really entertaining television. In its original book format it included an handful of moral and ethical dilemnas that forced Henry Fielding's contemporaries to think hard, ideas that by today's standards of marrying for love, honesty in a relationship, fidelity and so forth - doesn't seem so unorthodox these days, but instead just helps to make a great comedy / drama.

And you can watch all of it for free on YouTube. :)

Son of the Morning Star

If you think I am on a Western movies kick you would be correct.

Except the following is not a movie. It is a two part mini series made in 1991.

Son of the Morning Star is a retelling of Custer's Last Stand - wherein the Battle of Little Bighorn is retold from multiple perspectives, the widow of General Custer, the 7th Cavalry survivors of the massacre and also from the perspective of Kate Bighead, a young Cheyenne woman. It is also the tale of Crazy Horse, who fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn and later surrendered and was killed.

The mini series stars Gary Cole (General Custer), Dean Stockwell (General Philip Sheridan), Rosanna Arquette (Elizabeth Custer), Rodney A. Grant (Crazy Horse), Nick Ramus (Red Cloud), Buffy Sainte-Marie (voice of Kate Bighead), and Floyd Red Crow Westerman (Sitting Bull).

Deep Space Nine Review

I am currently in the final stages of watching ALL of the Deep Space Nine (Star Trek) episodes.

Now to be fair, I used to hate Deep Space Nine. The show to me was a bit of a dud. I thought it was too much like a soap opera, I didn't really like the characters (especially Quark who I found super annoying), and I didn't really give the show a fair chance.

But now, after watching 6 and a half seasons of it, and I will likely finish season 7 in the next 4 days, I must admit I really was treating the show unfairly. Again, I blame Quark.

However now that I have seen (almost) all of it Quark and many of the other characters have grown on me. The show I used to hate and make fun of (mostly due to my own refusal to watch it unless I had to) has now proven itself worthy.

Basically it all comes down to the fact that I realized about a month ago that I had never given the show a fair chance and decided to watch season 1 to see if I liked it. Turns out I did. Six and a half seasons later I am very happy I gave the show a chance.

It is a bit like trying a new food that looks a bit disgusting - like the Klingon dish "gagh" (pronunced "gack"), which is basically live squirming worms. Yes, you don't like it because it visually looks unappealing, slimy and disgusting - but for all I know it could be very tasty and amazing. No idea. It is after all a fictional food.

But now, after trying it, I must admit Deep Space Nine was far better than I was expecting - and well worthy of the Star Trek name.

I also thoroughly enjoy all of the original series of Star Trek, most of the Next Generation episodes, most of Voyager episodes and most of the Enterprise episodes.

Despite what some people think I also think Enterprise was a fine show and that it wasn't due to any lack of quality that the show's ratings suffered. The problem was that audiences had become a little too fed up on "too much Star Trek". The tv shows, the movies, Star Trek conventions, science fiction TV shows that are basically a rip off from Star Trek... shows like Babylon 5, Battlestar Gallactica, Farscape, Andromeda, Firefly, etc...

Now I realize that some fans out there will get upset that their favourite show is being accused of being a "rip off" of Star Trek, so let me explain. Star Trek was basically the first space trekking TV show about a spaceship. Everything that comes after that - regardless of plot, ship design, etc - is essentially a rip off, even if they are deliberately trying to avoid that connection.

Star Trek is essentially the alpha and omega when it comes to science fiction TV shows about spaceships. There are other sources of science fiction (mostly books) that came before that, but Star Trek is the "big man on campus".

And for those people out there who want to pipe up and mention Star Wars, I must remind you that Star Wars is not science fiction - it is a fantasy adventure story (and episodes I, II and III all rather suck). Star Wars has magic (the force), light sabres (swords) and floating castles in space (death stars) and swashbuckling rogues with names like Han Solo. Take away the space travel and replace it with sailing ships and it is more like Pirates of the Caribbean than anything else.

Yada yada yada, I think I have made my point. Deep Space Nine is good.

Various other science fiction TV shows are also good. Sometimes.

Episodes I, II and III of Star Wars all suck.

Oh! And Star Trek V - The Final Frontier, worst Star Trek movie ever. Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home are awesome! :)

Simon's Cat Review

"Simons' Cat" is a series of short (and relatively quiet) cartoons featuring a cat and his owner. The cat basically rules the house - just like a normal cat!

The beauty of this cartoon is that cat basically does everything a normal cat would do in similar circumstances. And then usually one thing more above the top to make it extra funny.

Five Stars! :)

The Flash - Still fun to watch 22 years later

Recently I decided to watch some nostalgia television.

Specifically "The Flash", the 1990-91 live action TV series featuring the character The Flash from DC Comics.

Here is a summary:

"The Flash is a live action series based on popular DC comic superhero. Police scientist Barry Allen accidentally was struck by lightning and bathed in chemicals he worked with. As a result, he now possesses the power of super-speed. Together with his friend Dr. Cristina McGee, he creates a costume, and he becomes the super-hero Flash. Despite its high popularity, the series ran only for one season, and most of the villains were modernized versions of Flash's classic villains like Captain Cold, Mirror Master, The Trickster..."


The entire series can be streamed via http://watchseries.eu/serie/the_flash

As old TV shows featuring comic book heroes go I have to say that "The Flash" is one of the best. Sure, there is The Incredible Hulk and the old Batman series, but "The Flash" manages to come across as being both a superhero TV show... and also something unexpected:

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Barry Allen (The Flash) is a crime scene investigator. At times it will feel like you are watching a CSI episode, but at the same time still managing to be a superhero show. That combo is so good it makes me wish that they would do one of three things:

1. Do a CSI episode which is about The Flash...

2. Bring back The Flash as a new TV show. Huzzah.

3. Make a film wherein Barry Allen's CSI skills and super speed abilities are both put to the test.

Oh well... Even if the powers that be don't do such things at least we have the old Flash TV series to watch. FIVE STARS.

The Simpsons: Blah, keep going downhill

ENTERTAINMENT - I have a strange feeling that the Simpsons is one of those TV shows that will never be canceled.

The Simpsons recently celebrated their 500th episode (130 less than the record-holder: Gunsmoke), but don't think for a second that its because the Simpsons is quality television or animation. It isn't.

On the scale of animation the Simpsons is as crude as it gets. And the plots keep rehashing the same ideas over and over again, each time with a different pop culture twist.

In the beginnings the Simpsons was meant as a show for adults only. There was an early episode where Homer and Marge run around naked for half the episode looking for places to have sex.

Also gone is the social commentary. Its rare these days that the Simpsons make any effort to talk about environmentalism, equal rights or the religious right-wing (the mockery of the Christian Flanders next door has been toned down dramatically).

In 22 seasons it really is no surprise that the Simpsons is now a watered down show filled with pop culture references. Just look at the list of celebrities that have been on the show...

Just to name a few: Tom Hanks, Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Liam Neeson, Reese Witherspoon, Michelle Pfeiffer, Glenn Close, Woody Harrelson, Susan Sarandon, Donald Sutherland, Kiefer Sutherland, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Richard Gere, Bette Midler, Elizabeth Taylor, Kirk Douglas, Paul Newman, Mickey Rooney, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Lemmon, Rod Steiger, Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Jerry Springer, Steve Allen, Dick Cavett, Dick Clark, Regis Philbin, Dan Rather, Charlie Rose, Bob Hope, Steve Martin, Jackie Mason, George Carlin, Cheech & Chong, the Smothers Brothers, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Michael Jackson, U2, Aerosmith, The Who, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the White Stripes, 50 Cent, Sting, Katy Perry, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Dixie Chicks, James Taylor, James Brown, Little Richard, Barry White, Robert Goulet, Britney Spears, David Byrne, Mel Brooks, Rob Reiner, Ron Howard, Penny Marshall, Garry Marshall, Albert Brooks, John Waters, Christopher Guest, Robert Evans, Jim Jarmusch, Stephen King, John Updike, Stephen Hawking, Stephen Sondheim, David Mamet, Gore Vidal...

In the beginning the Simpsons was raunchy and controversial. It upset the right-wing with its flagrant disregard and even mockery of social conventions. There was no celebrity guest voices either.

Today there is rarely a new episode that doesn't have a celebrity as a guest star or at least a pop culture reference to a celebrity. (Family Guy is also guilty of this.)

And since pop culture is POPULAR it pretty much guarantees that the Simpsons will be around forever simply as a staple of modern television... until something better comes along and people eventually get bored of the Simpsons.

Speaking for myself I only watch the Simpsons once per year. I download all the episodes of the new season, watch them all at once, and then delete them. I delete them because frankly they're not that good.

Its reached a point where I now procrastinate about downloading and watching them because I know I will just be disappointed.

Its all a very bad joke and the 500th episode is no less of a sad joke.

SPOILER ALERT!

During the 500th episode the Simpsons get kicked out of Springfield. Fed up with Homer's drunkenness and Bart's destructiveness the townsfolk kick the Simpsons into exile. By the end of the episode the entire population of Springfield misses them and runs off to join them. Throw in a cameo by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and you've got the 500th episode.

END OF SPOILER ALERT!

If you are disappointed by the episode you are not alone. For a 500th episode its pretty blah. It was an extremely typical episode. The only real difference was the family couch montage at the end of the episode...

Which has been done before, many times.

They also had a Chuck Lorre style card at the end reading: “Thanks for 500 shows. All we ask is that you go out and get some fresh air before logging onto the Internet and saying how much this sucked.”

And it did suck. And I did get fresh air.

The Simpsons is a bit like a pop culture time capsule. You pick a year, watch a few episodes from that year, and you get an idea of what was popular at the time. (Or not popular, depending on what they're making fun of.)

They will just keep making Simpsons episodes until the end of time (or until the ratings eventually drop low enough that they stop making the show, in which case they might try to change the plots and writers instead in a last ditch attempt to make the show more interesting).

And to all you people who don't like this review, don't have a cow man! Just leave a comment and say Doh!

Lexx - 4 Stars

Lexx was a sci-fi TV show which ran for 4 seasons. It was mostly filmed in Canada and a bit in Germany.

On a scale of weirdness Lexx was a 10 all the way. The show seemed to be deliberately designed to freak out people with a level of weird raunchiness hitherto not seen sci fi films.

Every low budget sci-fi show that has come after is nothing more than a rip off from Lexx (with bits from Star Trek, Star Wars, etc).

Plot wise I won't ruin it for you, but I will give you some history.

The show aired from April 18th 1997 to April 26th 2002.

The main character was "Zev" of planet B3K, a renegade love slave who changes bodies several times during the story line. (If Captain Kirk and Spock can do it, sure why not.)

Other primary characters are Stanley, security guard 4th class. He's the average Joe character who surprising is made captain of the ship (Ironically he wears a red shirt); and Kai, an undead and emotionless (and therefore logical) assassin.

And I don't forget the ship, which is alive and basically a giant space insect.

I give the series 4 stars for sheer weirdness, ingenuity, plot and enjoyability. The minus 1 star is for weirding me out too much. So in theory some of you might give the show 5 stars because you like that sort of thing.

After Lexx came out there came a slew of similar TV shows like FireFly, Farscape and similar shows. Frankly I don't have time for such shows any more. There's just too many of them.

Einstein and Eddington

ENTERTAINMENT - Einstein and Eddington is a short British film (made for TV) about the role Arthur Eddington played in proving Einstein's theories and making the scientist famous.

It stars David Tennant (Dr Who) as Eddington and Andy Serkis (Gollum from Lord of the Rings) as Einstein.

And I totally recommend this film for anyone who loves physics and/or historical dramas.

It was written by British playwright Peter Moffat.

Terminator Chronicles

Okay I know Terminator Chronicles (aka Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) has been cancelled for 2 years now. Still for anyone who loves the Terminator movie series, the TV show is an excellent addition to the mythology of the story.

Despite being cancelled the show has been picked up by, as of February 22nd 2011, the SyFy channel announced it had gained the rights to all 31 episodes of the series. They started showing them as of April 7th 2011.

So ta da! Its back, sort of.

As TV shows go I give Terminator Chronicles a solid 5 out of 5 stars. Fantastic plot, good actors, lots of action, and lots of unexpected and interesting goings ons.

IN OTHER NEWS

On April 27th 2011 it was announced that a 5th Terminator movie is on its way, starring former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger. Woot!

Arnold is also hoping to make one last Conan film apparently... something to do with King Conan and having to make difficult decisions as a leader. Of course this might just be a lead up to Arnold wanting to run for the White House. (Assuming he can overturn the law that says people born outside the USA cannot run for the presidency.)

The Walking Dead, Pillars and Thrones

I recommend watching the following TV shows:

The Walking Dead



Pillars of the Earth



Game of Thrones