On the same day that the phrase “Yes We Can” became the United States’ official new governing philosophy, the premier progressive rock band of all time, Yes, kicked off their In The Present 40^th Anniversary tour…with at least one big but. Due to some respiratory health problems that have plagued long-time Yes singer and spiritual leader, Jon Anderson, the band has replaced him for this tour with Canadian Yes tribute band singer, Benoit David. And the smaller but is that keyboardist, Rick Wakeman, who has always been a little flighty anyway, has been replaced by his son, Oliver. The band is rounded out by Yes mainstays Steve Howe (guitar), Chris Squire (bass) and Alan White (drums). Replacing Anderson has been more than controversial to Yes die-hards (including this writer) and even to Anderson himself, but reports from early In The Present gigs are very positive and Benoit David really does nail Anderson’s vocals perfectly (perhaps too perfectly). Even so, many fans still won’t be rushing out to buy Yes concert tickets until Anderson is back in the band. And to bide time until that happens, those skeptics can turn to Yes – The New Director’s Cut from MVD Visual. Continue Reading

I will first say that I am a huge Indiana Jones fan. I am also a huge movie fan. I’ve seen a great deal of good and bad films to know the difference between the two. When Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was announced, I was one of the first ones to know about it. This movie has been in “development hell” for 15 years off and on. The basic drafts of the stories were there, however Lucas and Spielberg could not agree on a script until David Koepp finally wrote the one they wanted. Harrison Ford said for years that of all the characters he has played, he would love an opportunity to revisit this one, but he wouldn’t do it unless they all agreed on a script and they began production by 2008.

The reason that all this matters is because Hollywood goes through cycles and this was not part of that Hollywood bandwagon. The bandwagon is apparent with movies like Rocky Balboa, Rambo 4, and Die Hard 4. These movies were not “in the making” for 15 years, and it is obvious by watching them. There are a few things to take into consideration when watching this movie.

Many people grew up watching Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and the Last Crusade. These movies all came out in the 80’s; 1981, 1984, and 1989 respectively. These movies, like many others were not rated by you at the time watching them, because you grew up with them. When you were younger you looked at them the way they were supposed to be looked at: a good time and an escape from reality. These movies also changed/invented the adventure genre as we know it. I have heard many critics of the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull question the movie by calling it unrealistic and too far fetched.

My answer to that is as follows: Continue Reading

Vinyl records died decades ago and the CD is on it’s way out, leaving the music industry in shambles. However, a project by Aleks Kolkowski uses a vintage record cutter to carve grooves into CDs and DVDs, creating a playable record. At the 2008 Futuresonic Festival, Aleks invited visitors to bring digital tracks (mp3, etc) to have carved into these playable CD-Recycled 45s. Pretty neat. Now all I need is a vintage record cutter!

(via MAKE)