Author: Bobby Nguyen.

When it comes to weekend getaways, you just can’t beat flopping around on the deck of a junk in Halong bay, says Duc Hanh

At 11.30 am, the sun is high in the sky and burning bright. At the pier countless wooden junks, sailboats, speedboats and tiny bamboo boats bob around. While tour guides try to organise how to get their groups on board, we sit with our bags in hand, ready to test out our sea legs.

“Which one is ours?” says a fellow traveler on my tour a tad impatiently.
After a four-hour-stint in the van from Hanoi, everybody is understandably itching to kick back and feel the sea breeze on board.

Just then a speedboat arrives with a flourish and we pile on board before zooming off to the Indochina Sail, a large, handsome junk that the captain proudly announces is 40 metres long and 8.5 meters wide – and indeed it seems a fine, seaworthy vessel to me.

In my time I’ve been on board a few of the bay’s shabbier junks. It is one point worth making: when it comes to visiting Halong Bay it’s worth treating yourself. Thankfully there’s more than a few classy junks to choose from these days.

Walking around on board the Indochina Sail, I discover a restaurant, the Indochina Sail Bar, a gift shop and even a library. Guests can also avail of binoculars, snorkeling equipment or top-of-the-line Canadian made kayaks.

With a grand view ahead, I tentatively start with the binoculars. Most of my fellow travellers are content to flop around the deck, sipping drinks, surveying the scene or catching a bit of sun. A trip to Halong is first and foremost about relaxing!

Sun-shy, I stretch out on a lie-low on the more shaded lower deck and listen to the buffeting breeze and the sound of the boat chopping through the waves. Time passes and I happily doze a little in the salty air.

However, a call for lunch stirs me right out of my light slumber. A five-course lunch is devoured by the hungry guests. We hadn’t even worked up an appetite.

Afterwards, I fight the urge to have a siesta and head out onto the deck as the boat floats into Bai Tu Long Bay. We drop anchor at Soi Sim island, famed for its rose myrtle brush.

The island sits in clear, blue waters and is also home to white sandy beaches. A member of the crew asks if anyone wants to swim but we’re already in our trunks and bathing suits ready to dive in. Afterwards, we head ashore and climb to the summit of the island which offers yet another idyllic setting. Although Halong is a large area with over 1,900 limestone islets and a 120-km coastline, when you get in amongst the islets it seems more intimate than grand.

The random scattering of islets meant the bay had its defensive advantages in the past. On three occasions in the labyrinth of channels near the islands the Vietnamese army stopped the Chinese from landing. Also in 1288 General Tran Hung Dao stopped Mongol ships from sailing up the nearby Bach Dang River by placing steel-tipped wooden stakes at high tide, sinking the Mongol Kublai Khan’s fleet. Of course, the legend is that a slew of dragons spat out jewels and jade into the sea. These jewels turned into the islands and islets that are dotted around the bay, which could be linked together to form barriers against would-be invaders.

It’s easy to see why residents of Halong would have conjured up such legends to explain the supreme scenery.
Understandably, after our mini-hike a thirst is upon the travelling party! We clamber back on board for a few sundowners with beers and cocktails all round. The sun drops behind the surrounding islands as we sit in the dwindling twilight.

Heading back to my cabin to shower and change for dinner, I’m fairly surprised to discover a royal costume laid out for me. A card reads: “For tonight’s Royal banquet.”

Slightly tipsy, I happily oblige. It’s only when I arrive up on deck for the BBQ dinner I realise that the costume is a rather baggy and my hat fairly cumbersome, still I manage to move around and fill my plate. A Japanese tourist, Megumi Katsu is more taken by her new look – “This is the most fun I have had on my holidays yet!”
At night in the bay is magical. A canopy of glittering stars above us, a refreshing coolness in the air – it is pure bliss just to sit around with the other travelers, your friends or partner. Conversation is optional.

Chris Wedlake and his wife, both looking positively regal, are on their honeymoon. “It’s an earthly paradise for a couple of newly weds!” So smitten with Halong, he and his wife says they’d come back for their anniversary every year if they could.

Traditional Vietnamese melodies hang in the air. The boat gently rocks. A few of the staff invite guests to fish for cuttlefish. But my eyes are heavy and I slip away to my cabin promising myself I’ll rise with the dawn – someone mentions morning tai chi exercises on the top deck and I nod in enthusiastic agreement.

But when I wake the sun is already up. I hear the voices of vendors who have rowed up to our junk to sell snacks, seafood, souvenirs and cigarettes. I stumble upstairs and discover guests still there from the night before – each one chose to sleep on deck in the open air rather than spending the night in their cabin.

A smell of fresh coffee is in the air as the boat pulls away; the crew informs us of our itinerary for the morning, but all of the passengers just reply with sleepy smiles. We are already under Halong Bay’s spell. No one really minds where we go next, anyway, you can’t take a wrong turn while cruising in Halong Bay.

Recommended vessels for Halong cruises
The Indochina Sails – 4A Cao Ba Quat Hanoi, 04 2434671, info@indochinasails.com, http://www.indochinasails.com/
The Dragon Pearl - Handspan Adventure Travel, 80 Ma May, Hanoi, 04 926 0581
More cruises on Halong Bay - Active Travel Shop, 303, Building 30 Nguyen Du, Hanoi, 04 944 6230
Adventure tours on Vietnam - Active Travel Vietnam

About the Author:
I have worked as a tour guide and an online sales executive for Tour Operator in Vietnam. I have graduated in Tourism from Hanoi National University in 2001 and in English at Hanoi Foreign Languages University in 2003. I have spent a long trip to Indochina include Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia as a traveller because I want to impart to customers my true experience about this exotic destination.

Author: Rachel Johnson.

Do you have a favorite thinking game? As a child growing up, I used to love to play games that were puzzles, something to challenge me not physically but challenge my mind. We used to do simple things like create objects out of clouds or find out what would happen when too much water was added to the mud pie. Nevertheless, it seems that many children in our society today are rather uninterested in those types of games. They now just do what the Game Boy tells them to.

Recently, playing a Game Boy game, I found it to be amazing that the game was so simplistic in that it often told me what to do when I was lost or maybe unsure of what to do next. Now, I am not a regular player nor do I know if this is common, but what happened to the fun of trying to figure the puzzle out? How do you get through the door or find the missing item? You keep trying until you do, right?

The good news is that you don’t have to allow your children’s brains to go whoosh! You can offer them computer games that are more mind challenging rather than time fillers. Games like Mah Jong encourage people (children included) to develop a plan for solving the problem at hand. This plan is one that will keep you focused on the goal ahead and keep your brain trying to figure out the next move. There are hundreds of others that use all sorts of skill including solving problems.

So, just what does all this mean for you? Should you give your child these mind challenging games and rip away the games they currently play? Unless you are out for them to hate you, we don’t recommend that. But, allow them to have the ability to access these games and you may find that they are often drawn to them. Children’s minds are like sponges, soaking up whatever is thrown at them. So, they don’t find their own puzzles to play with anymore. That doesn’t me they don’t need those problem solving skills.

Have you ever been in an environment where a child just can not do anything for themselves? They need mom or dad to tie their shoes. They need mom or dad to fix their problem with friends. They can not solve their own problem. This is a large problem and one that parents need to take notice of. Can playing computer games that encourage problem solving skills really help? They are not the whole answer but they can be part of the solution.

What you can do is provide games like puzzles, word, math and even card games that children can play on the web or download them to your computer. These will help to strengthen their skills in problem solving, in dealing with reactions, and in preparing for the unknown. Guess what? It’s also a really fun thing to do with your kids too! Make it mean something even more by playing along with them!

About the Author:
Rachel Johnsons loves to play game. You can find out more about free games at http://www.grandmatrix.com

Author: Geoff Morris.

Beware - this is one of the most addictive, and long playing games yet from uVme. As soon as a I saw it, I knew I would become addicted.

Play it once , and you will see what I mean, Then, try and get a good score as soon as you can - its not as easy as it looks.

Brick Jam is an energetic game to play when you want to destroy everything on your screen. This game is reminiscent of many early computer games and is a blast to play against others when you visit the uVme game site. In order to increase your points and get to the next level before time runs out, you must be diligent in destroying all the bricks, uncovering the power up icons and treasures, and landing one of the balls in the vortex.

While many of the power up icons offered during play can be used to your advantage, some have actually been created to slow you down.

Avoiding certain icons can actually increase your score and allow you to complete levels in less time. Weapons such as the small paddle, drag ball, which causes play to go into slow motion and little ball, which transforms larger balls into smaller ones for a period of time.

The magnet icon may slow you down as well as it forces the ball to remain on the paddle.

Power up icons such as big ball, large paddle, multi-ball, and missile and laser gun can help increase your overall score and save time.

Quick ball, which increases the speed of the ball, may or may not help depending on your skill level. As these power ups fall, it is up to you to determine which ones will help or hinder your game playing.

One of the best strategies to use while playing Brick Jam is angling your ball so you can target specific brick clusters.

Learning how to bounce your ball off the paddle, walls and bricks at certain angles can decrease the amount of time spent smashing through tough sections. By playing this game often, you will be able to tell which angles are best when trying to destroy certain sections of brick.

Brick Jam is a great way to unleash some of your daily stress. Playing against others is what makes it even more enjoyable.

Even if Brick Jam is not to be your favorite game featured on the uVme site, you should play it a few times to discover your own strategies and unique ways to win.

As always, a word of warning. Although you will be able to challenge your opponents for free shortly, please make sure you don’t put any wagers down until you have mastered this game.

Believe me, skilled Brick Jam players are waiting out there, ready to tear newbie’s to pieces and rapidly rip off their stake money.

About the Author:
Want to escape from the daily stress and into the challenging world of on line skill games? Play for free or for a small wager, or even take part in high price ticket tournaments, on line skill games are the answer. For a lifetime of free games, check this out. http://www.clickheretoplayforfree.com

Author: Al Terry.

In the 2007-2008 season Cavaliers tickets are going to be one of the most sought after tickets in the NBA. This is mainly because they have Lebron James on their side and fans love watching this young man play. Lebron is nicknamed as “King James”. This is due to fact that he is so amazing on court, has an unbeatable offensive attack and has superior athleticism.

About The Cavaliers

Cleveland Cavaliers is part of the Eastern Conference of the Central Division. Wine, Gold, Navy Blue, and White are the team’s colors. In the initial years, the Cavaliers played their home games at the Cleveland Arena. In 1994, they shifted to their new home, Quicken Loans Arena, which was formerly known as the Gund Arena.

The Cavs, as they are popularly called, entered the NBA league in 1970. They did not really have a great start that the fans were hoping for. After just making to one Conference Finals in their initial period, they failed to make it to the playoffs or even last the first round. This went on for around a decade.

Under the direction of Head Coach, Lenny Wilkens, in the 90s, the Cavaliers had eight playoff seasons and fifty plus wins in three seasons. The team was backed by All-Stars Brad Daugherty, Mark Price, and Larry Nance. They made it to the Eastern Conference Finals in 1992. However, the period between 1993 and 2003 saw little success for the Cavs. Cavaliers tickets were not always in great demand then.

The Coming Of Lebron James

The biggest season in the history of Cleveland Cavaliers was year 2003. That was the year when the Cavaliers acquired Lebron James. He became an overnight sports icon. And he has lived upto the hype. He won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award the same season. Cavaliers tickets soon became much in demand because everyone wanted to see “King James” live in action.

In 2003, James had Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Carlos Boozer, and Ricky Davis as his team mates. In 2005, the team got a new coach, Mike Brown, and a new general manager, Danny Ferry. This had the desired effect. The team made it to the playoffs that year.

In the last season, that is 2006-2007, Cleveland Cavaliers made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to San Antonio Spurs. But they are not looking back, as the team is geared towards a great future. Cavaliers tickets will let you catch the action live as the team takes on Miami Heat, Washington Wizards, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Clippers, Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, and other teams in the new season.

Fans will surely be out there cheering their favorite team as it aims for the NBA championship. If you are a fan looking for Cavaliers tickets, you can get them online. There are many authorized ticket brokers online and if you look around a little bit you will be able to get tickets at very competitive prices.

Most of the authorized online ticket brokers deliver the Cavaliers tickets through FedEx. The good thing about getting tickets online is that you can get them even after they are all sold out elsewhere. Furthermore, you can shop for the tickets any time of the day. However, you must make sure that you are dealing with an authorized online ticket broker only.

About the Author:
For more great sports information and Cavaliers Tickets resources visit the author’s website which is loaded with team and venue history , as well as more Cavaliers tickets articles.

Author: Vikram kuamr.

How do you make aprons into funny aprons? Well, first of all, you need to know who likes aprons in the first place. Some might think that aprons are only used by women but actually there are plenty of men who use aprons too. Remember, most of the first-class hotels and restaurants have male chefs so these are the types of people who need to use aprons as part of their trade. But, funny aprons are quite innovative isn’t it?

The problem with trying to market funny aprons as really funny stuffs is that what makes it funny to one person does not have to count as funny to another. So you need to be extra careful about humor, in case someone gets offended by your little joke. But how do you go about marketing your funny aprons as really funny stuff the safer way? More so, stick to jokes that chefs or cooks really would find funny?

For one, you could have a picture in the front of your funny apron showing a cook licking the ladle of a near-empty pot. Add some good stuffs or messages emblazoned under that picture saying “Chef’s Privilege.” Most people who cook on a regular basis could probably identify with such funny aprons as really funny stuff. Or, a picture of two chefs looking puzzled as to what some herb bottles are saying, then another picture under that showing one chef dumping the contents into a huge pot and saying to the other chef “Take a chance – life is short!”? Wouldn’t that be really funny without being offensive? How about this one: a picture of a chef in a Superman outfit, busy cooking? Again, add some message then under it saying “Even Superman has to eat sometime.”

You see, some funny aprons express our frustration at how hard it is to cook some dishes. Take this one: a chef scratching his head and frowning as he reads a cookbook. This could be accompanied by a message saying “Sometimes, learning to cook is like learning to read a foreign language” then followed by another picture showing the same chef consulting a dictionary. Here’s another one: a chef lugs around a big basket full of golf balls and another chef asks him “What are those for?” The first chef then answers “It takes a lot of balls to cook the way I do.”

For animal advocates on the other hand, it would probably haul you to court for breaking animal cruelty laws with this. But a really funny joke would show a chef holding a squawling cat by the tail over a boiling pot, then telling his junior cook “it’s a chef thing, you wouldn’t understand.”

Consider the chefs’ darker side teasers, and some funny aprons can express this portrayal using a funny apron showing a chef hiding a huge butcher knife behind his back and telling the world “Just agree with everything I say, okay?” As you can see, the really funny stuff has to be creative without being crude. To be funny or create funny aprons, you need wit and a working knowledge of the travails that all cooks and chefs go through – that will help you think up really funny stuff to place on your funny aprons.

About the Author:
Most people who cook on a regular basis could probably identify with such funny aprons as really funny stuff .

Author: Vikram kuamr.

Have you ever noticed that some really good chefs seem to just keep getting better at what they do over time? But how do you know if your favorite chef should be thinking of retirement? Well, taste the stuff that they start to create when they hit the retirement years and you will find that they do create really funny stuff as they grow older.

Like, there was this one cook on a show who chose to use cornmeal in her pineapple upside-down cake – so instead of having a spongy tasty cake for the judges to taste, they got this brick-like concoction that literally fell flat. Not surprisingly that cook was eliminated from the cooking show contest. (Cooks like that need funny aprons to feel better, probably.)

One thing that a chef nearing his retirement might say (and which you should never believe, upon pain of death) is the cliché “how do you know you don’t like it when you haven’t tried it yet?” If you know a chef who likes to say this and is nearing his retirement, try to ease your way to a side door and beat a quick retreat. It helps if there are a lot of you willing victims in the group – no one will notice you when you escape to a kitchen with a younger chef manning the place. But that cliché does sound good when placed on funny aprons, though, doesn’t it? Not exactly really funny stuff, until you taste the chef’s concoctions. At times like that, you need to have baking soda stashed somewhere nearby for quick relief.

How do you tell a chef you like but is nearing retirement that it may be time to hang up his chef’s hat and choose a hobby instead? That’s pretty hard, and no funny aprons can relieve the chef of the pain of being told he is no longer needed or wanted as a chef. Maybe you ought to wait until he nearly chops off his hand with his own butcher knife one day to bring up the subject. Or maybe he could chop off his own hand one day while you’re busy doing something else and he brings up the subject himself. Either way, at some point, someone has to tell the chef that he is really getting old and so are the jokes on his funny aprons. That’s the bitter pill all chefs have to face at some point.

If your chef doesn’t feel like retiring his funny aprons or getting out of the kitchen, you could always head off his creating any really funny stuff as food and just get him to assist you with the minor stuffs. You know, like having him sort out ingredients and slice this and that. No major chopping chores or he’ll chop off his own hand (or maybe just a finger or two) which would be disastrous even though there’s material for a funny apron there. Good chefs never really retire actually - apparently, they just go into business thinking up really funny stuff to put on funny aprons. And some of them do quite well at that – even if they did manage to chop off a hand back when they were still chefs.

About the Author:
Not exactly really funny stuff , until you taste the chef’s concoctions. Brow online resource for funny aprons.

Author: Vikram kuamr.

Have you ever noticed that the really funny stuffs that you can see on the really funny aprons out there are usually one-liners? The reason is that one-liners are the best types of jokes. They hit your funny bone with one or two punchlines and you remember them the best. Sometimes, you might remember the one-liners on funny aprons more than the recipes you should be memorizing and that means you won’t make it as a chef but you will make it as a stand-up joker.

That’s the problem with being a chef too nowadays – people don’t just want to be taught how to cook, they want their chefs to be comedians as well. And that’s a tough job requirement to impose on a chef who already has to work under a pressure cooker environment coming up with four dishes to cook at one time that all have to look great, taste great and are completely original. You can already hear the chefs out there whining “and you want me to be a comedian on top of all that? Come on!”

Yes, it’s true that being a chef is a hard job. And we shouldn’t blame them if they find it hard to be comedians at the same time. Sometimes, the best jokes are those that are unexpected, like when a chef forgets a dish is on the stove and accidentally burns it. At that point, your favorite chef might turn to his audience and say “maybe you should pretend you didn’t see that.” A great one-liner that all chefs should keep in stock, in case they ever burn a dish and ruin their reputations with one swift TV show episode.

Sometimes, one-liners can also bring down the spirits of even the most inspired chef. Like, imagine a judge tasting a new pizza made by a chef then telling the chef “you can’t seem to make up your mind whether you want to make a pizza or a sandwich.” Oh my word, how many chefs have been slain to the core by such one-liners. One-liners like that can really make a chef want to become a golf caddy instead – or at least find kinder judges to taste their work when necessary.

That’s where funny aprons come into the picture – the really funny stuffs placed on funny aprons (if they happen to be really funny stuff, that is) help the chef to feel better and lighten up the tense atmosphere created by too much steam from their cooking responsibilities and too much hype about the chef’s expertise. A chef who takes his crafts so seriously, that he would live or die by how his/her audience perceives his/her cooking, will either die of hypertension at an early age, or shame when he/she received disapproval on his/her cooking. For this reason, chefs have junior chefs on hand all the time, actually – they keep the chef from committing suicide when his dish fails to produce accolades. Did that sound like a one-liner to you?

Author: Vikram kuamr.

Having to think up really funny stuff for funny aprons is harder than how it works. You might be asking yourself “how hard could that be? You just need to be funny!” But you can’t be funny on command, especially if you have to be in the right mood, talking to the right people and waiting for really funny stuff to pop into your head. And even when really funny stuff does pop into your head, you need to scramble around for pen and paper so you can capture that thought before it disappears oh, drat it.

Sometimes, you get the best ideas for really funny stuff for funny aprons when you’re not cooking, or not even thinking about your kitchen or food at all. For instance, one idea that cropped up just now is this: a chef holds his junior chef by the lapels and growls “Never share spoons! How would you like it if I shared toothbrushes with you? Never share spoons!” As Einstein once complained in frustration, “Why is it that some of my best ideas crop up when I’m in the shower?”

Having to think up really funny stuffs for funny aprons on impulse often produces the best one-liners you could ever hear of. And having to think up really funny stuffs will produce jokes that you wish have never been attributed to you, because they just plain suck. Let’s face it, being funny is different from thinking up really funny stuffs and some people are just born funny in the same way that some people are born to be chefs. And that sounds like an excellent message to place on a funny apron, isn’t it?

By the way, here’s a new joke “what do you call a chef wearing ear plugs in the kitchen?” Answer: “Anything you like, he can’t hear you anyway.” Again, that is something that popped up just out of nowhere just now. And you probably have a lot of things you want to tell the chefs you know that would sound best if they were wearing ear plugs at the time. So now you have a good idea of what type of gift to give them right? Aside from funny aprons, that is.

All these ideas for funny aprons probably makes you wish you could think up really funny stuffs that would be perfect not just for funny aprons but to use during parties and other get-togethers. For instance, you could sneak in a rubber chicken into the chef’s kitchen as he/she is busy cooking and wait for his/her reaction. It can only go two ways, you know – he/she will either howl in rage that he/she has just chopped up a rubber chicken, or he/she will find it extremely funny. Either way, you should wait in the background so you can have a clear escape route should rage be the first reaction. You never know how these chefs react – they take cooking way too seriously sometimes.

If you do find someone who thinks that cooking is practically a religion, then maybe you should give him/her some funny aprons to use. That might help him or her lighten up – or make him/her one worse cook. Cooks and chefs are hard to predict that way.

About the Author:
Having to think up really funny stufffor funny aprons is harder than how it works.

Author: Daniel Lafleche.

SXSW 2008 Film Festival wrapped up this weekend, leaving in its wake a single tattered, oh so earnest, snapshot of Indie filmmaking. If Sundance is the official word on the state of indie filmmaking, SXSW is what you’ll learn going to your local bar. Getting down with SXSW is what it takes to get your ear close to the American independent film underground. Here’s a look at the Top 5 Key Trends that emerged from this year’s diverse group of fiction features and documentaries.

1. Mumblecore is here to stay. Sort of. The relationship genre for the Facebook generation, ‘mumblecore’ movies are about kids who can rarely say what they mean, mean what they say, or, even, enunciate properly while they are (not) saying it. The name is somewhat derogatory but it points nonetheless to the real problems of a generation that has lost faith in love but remains romantic at heart.

One of the more intriguing entries is Joe Swanberg’s NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS which requires no shaping narrative to step inside the lives of a young couple facing a long distance relationship. Basically, the film presents a series of random snapshots of recognizable relationship moments: insatiable passion, half-hearted compromise, bickering, disappointment, excitementthe whole darn grab bag.

NATURAL CAUSES, MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY and THE LOST COAST all give their own spin to the genre: the first plays it for comedy; the second weaves in questions of race, class and urban gentrification; and the last delves into problems of friendship and sexual identity. All in all, the extremes of the titles, from the clinically quotidian NATURAL CAUSES to the elegiac THE LOST COAST, point to a generation firmly caught between the yearning for the grand gesture and the limitations of the emoticon.

2. The mockumentary is back with a difference. This genre comes and goes and Christopher Guest has already perfected its comic potential, and so, for that matter, have Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais with THE OFFICE (and franchises). The two mockumentaries at this year’s fest stand out for their determination to let the viewer fret over their status. Indeed, A NECASSARY DEATH, seemingly the story of a student film project looking for the perfect suicidal subject to follow up to the moment of the deed, holds onto its non-fiction status until the end when it pulls the rug out from under the viewer.

WOODPECKER falls closer to Guest’s terrain, playing out as a tenderhearted bird-watching comedy. However, the film’s interview subjects are real residents of Brinkley, Arkansas who the filmmaker interviewed for their thoughts on the bird-watching craze that engulfed the town when reported sightings of the ivory-billed woodpecker, long thought to be extinct, began to circulate.

In both cases, the films are invested in presenting themselves as reliable, credible documentaries, leaving the audience to sift through the meaning upturned when their fiction roots are laid bare. Maybe, the are not even mockumentaries proper in that they are not as interested in having fun with the faux documentary genre as they are in messing with audiences expectations, by being, quite simply, fake documentaries.

3. Hats Off To The Auteurs Of Yesterday Remember in the early 90s when every Indie feature was stylistically 6 degrees from Tarantino? Things change. Filmmakers this year were paying their respects to the canon, both European and American. Generally, this was evinced by a turn to realism and naturalism in the majority of films, but on a film by film basis, a few called up the glorious filmmakers of the 50s and 60s, while still remaining their own inimitable selves.

In the short competition, Wholpin Award Winner GLORY AT SEA drew comparisons to Werner Herzog for both its ambitious, foolish, epic scope and the total commitment exhibited by its maker and his fearless crew. You have to read the whole review to get the full story on how this film became a SXSW legend. Herzog would be proud.

Shot on 16mm, Josh Safdie’s THE PLEASURE OF BEING ROBBED drew rave reviews and comparisons to Robert Bresson, a name that is not often bandied about when speaking of current films.

Grand Jury Award winner WELLNESS loosely skirts the surface of the deep tracks left by SALESMAN, arguably the Maysles brothers’ best work and certainly one damn bleak portrait of America. Equal parts bravado, delusion, hope and desperation, WELLNESS offers up the failed and failing American salesman as the most poignant of all figures. He is so, not because he has lost faith, but because he has to keep up the front, even when he no longer believes in either his product or himself.

4. Docs Love The Young - And The Old Since the success of previous SXSW entry SPELLBOUND, followed by MAD HOT BALLROOM, docs on American kids doing their thing have become a sort of documentary sub-genre. SXSW 2008 offers FRONTRUNNERS, the story of a high school election at New York’s most prestigious public school. However, YOUNG@HEART was the fest’s feel-good documentary, a look at a senior’s choir devoted to performing rock hits.

The common thread here is that both teens and the elderly are totally shafted in most mainstream representations: the former are glorified as brain-dead, oversexed consumers, full of MSN speak and limited vision; and the latter are relegated to backdrop decoration, expected to provide occasional barbs and hilariously eccentric behavior. These docs do a lot to right that balance of perception, giving the young and old alike a humanizing look that is woefully lacking at the multiplex.

5. The War In Iraq: Documentary Wins Playing in the Premiere category was Kimberly Pierce’s eagerly awaited STOP-LOSS, but anticipation quickly melted into yet another disappointing feature about the Iraq war.

Fiction features on the subject are floundering, unable to move past the rather pat assertion that “war is hell” or bogged down by their blind dedication to their own even-handedness. I sort of wish this generation had a Samuel Fuller who could take the topic to town with no concern for moral or political messages and just let the situation’s own complexities and unanswerables take center stage.

But where fiction flounders, documentaries flourish, as was the case with SXSW doc highlight FULL BATTLE RATTLE, a look at a military training facility in the Mojave Desert that simulates war conditions for its trainees. Despite the fact that audiences may have an “Iraq fatigue” brought on by a saturated documentary slate on the subject, these films stand as an undeniably strong body of work: well crafted, informative, intelligent, and emotionally charged.

About the Author:
Daniel Lafleche is the COO of IPEX TV, the leading multiplatform B2B Film and Video online marketplace. Daniel has over 25 years experience in film distribution, combining film and video licensing with internet media. IPEX TV specializes in helping indie producers and film and video distributors take advantage of the web and reach out to international film license buyers. You can learn more at http://www.ipexview.com

About the Author:
Daniel Lafleche is the COO of IPEX TV, the leading multiplatform B2B Film and Video online marketplace. Daniel has over 25 years experience in film distribution, combining film and video licensing with internet media. IPEX TV specializes in helping indie producers and film and video distributors take advantage of the web and reach out to international film license buyers. You can learn more at http://www.ipexview.com

Author: David Hurley.

The game of Japanese Chess is called “Shogi” in Japan. Shogi shares some similarities with Chess and both games are believed to be derived from the Indian game of Chaturanga. However, there are several unique features to Shogi that distinguish it from Chess.

The first couple of things Chess players are likely to notice about Shogi are the size of the board and the number of pieces. Chess players who are used to playing with sixteen pieces each on an 8 x 8 board may be surprised to find that Shogi is played on a 9×9 board and that each player starts with twenty pieces.

Also, typical Chess pieces are representations of soldiers, knights, bishops and so forth and consequently they are designed to stand upright, whereas Shogi pieces are made to lie flat on the board and are wedge-shaped, with a pointed edge facing forwards to enable the players to tell at a glance whose pieces are whose!

The rank of a piece is indicated by its size and by one or two Japanese characters painted on its upper face.

Depending on which piece is being played, when it advances to one of the back three rows it may be promoted. This is done by turning the piece over to reveal a different character that indicates its new status.

Chess players will be surprised to learn that in Shogi captured pieces may be “dropped” back on the board and used by the player who captured them! The “drop” rule is a unique development of the Japanese game. After capturing a piece the player sets it aside (or place it on a tray especially designed for captured pieces). A player who has one or more captured pieces in hand may choose on his turn to move a piece that is on the board, or to bring a captured piece into play by “dropping” it onto one of the empty spaces on the board. Because of this innovation the pieces are not distinguished by colour as they are in Chess, Igo, or other games.

A game of Shogi tends to take longer to get going than a game of Chess as some of the pieces have limited movement ranges and also because players commonly prefer to build a defensive organization around the King before attacking.

Nevertheless, Shogi has an opening, middle and end phase as does Chess, but the “drop” rule gives Shogi a more open-ended character as the board can suddenly fill up with pieces again if the players engage in a battle of “drop” and “counter-drop”.

The drop rule allows for the truth that captured soldiers may be turned against their former masters. A Shogi piece dropped deep inside enemy territory can cause major disruption. It is rather like having a hostile Ninja fighter suddenly appear armed to the teeth in the Daimyo’s bedchamber!

Shogi offers an early example of how a foreign invention is introduced into Japan and modified and refined to become something unique to the Japanese.

In recent years Shogi has begun to attract a following outside of Japan, in China, Europe and America. If you enjoy playing Chess, I recommend that you try playing Shogi and experience something of the unique spirit the Japanese have imparted to this ancient family of games.

About the Author:
David Hurley lives in Japan and runs a website supplying Japanese games and goods including Shogi sets, exclusive hand crafted Shogi pieces, Shogi boards and koma trays direct to customers all over the world. Visit => http://japanese-games-shop.com/shogi.html for more specific information about Japanese Shogi.