Is Les Miserables (2012 Film) Worth My Time?

Acting: 4.5

Acting for this particular move also involves singing, as this was a musical.  All around, from everyone, the acting was superb.  If this were purely acting it would have received a 5.  I only have a few complaints about the singing, and the biggest one is a stylistic thing.  I do not particularly care for the way the sound was from some of the signers, some of the time.  I felt that occasionally it was too much of a swallowed sound for me.  I am sure the music director had their reasons, but I would have preferred a brighter sound in some places.  The next thing, which is pretty minor, is that I felt the Main stars, generally, did not sing as well as the "extras."  Now mind you, the "extras" are Broadway Actors/Actresses who perform this musical for a living, so one might expect that they would do a fantastic job.  And lastly I was disappointed by Russel Crow's singing.  He sang well, but I think a better singer could have been found.  A few times I felt he lacked the same amount of emotion that others had in the film.  This could have just been his interpretation of his character.  So overall these are very small things, and hardly hurt the overall score.

Cinematography: 4.75

I have decided to include makeup/costumes in this section as well.  There are some really fantastic cinematic shots that really catch the scope of what is happening.  To name one, the way the film starts, extraordinary.  The .25 loss of score comes from a two things.  1. Some of the special effects needed some polishing.  Obviously, not a huge deal, but still keeps it from being a 5.  2.  Helena Carter's costuming.  I do not know how much say she had in her costuming, but I think she had a fair amount of say, and this is where a majority of the 1/4 of a point comes from.  I do not know how many movies you have seen her in, but she seems to always have a style about her, a kind of pre-modern style.  In films such as Sweeney Todd, it fits, it adds to the story, gives some flair to a character.  Well it was present in this film as well, and I thought it seemed to take away from the historical credibility of the film.  

Plot: 4

The story is amazing.  Fantastically put together and I think highly enjoyable.  There are a few lulls in the plot, and I think it can be attributed to the fact that 90% of the movie was in song, and songs are really good about expressing how someone feels, and too much of that can put the breaks to the plot, even though it really helps with character development.  Again, because so much of the movie is in song we run into the problem of unclear events, especially in the beginning.  If the viewer is unfamiliar with the story it is very likely that they will become lost in the first half an hour or so, but after that the issue stops, the story slows down a bit and does not depend to highly on a full understanding of the beginning.  That being said, if you know the story, at least a bit, you should have no problems following it.  

My Score: 5

I have been so nit picky in the last sections I wanted to express here how much I enjoyed this movie.  I love music.  I love movies.  But generally I hate musicals in movie form.  I find them to be cheesy, unrealistic, and poor musically.  However, I have really been getting into the dark musicals, like this one and Sweeney Todd.  The music in this film was better than anything I had hoped for.  

I remember when I first watched Sweeney Todd.  I had no idea it was a musical, I just knew that it had Johnny Depp in it and I had heard how good it was.  So I sat down by myself to watch it and was presently surprised to find out it was a musical.  Even better yet was that the film did three straight songs with minimal talking between them.  I had hoped that the whole move would be that way, and was slightly disappointed when more dialog found its way into the movie.  Since that day I have been dreaming of a serious musical that had none to little talking.  I looked and looked but could not find one.  I had resigned to the idea that there was not one to be had, nor could it ever happen.  

Now, I knew that Les Miserables was a musical, but when I heard that it had accomplished this, I immediately thought my source was just exaggerating, after all it was ABC News Good Morning America.  I cannot express to you how pleased I was that it went the entire movie and used less than a page of spoken dialog. (That is not a fact, it is just an approximation  it may have been more than that, but I promise, it is not much more than that.)  Not only did it involve tons of music, but it was so successful in telling the story.  It could have very well failed at telling a cohesive story with all that music.  If this is the future of musicals, we have many exciting movies coming our way. 

Overall Average: 4.6

The movie runs about 2.5 hours.  I think it draws to a close after a correct amount of time.  It is rated PG-13, and I think that may be a little young.  Some of the ideas and events depicted may be suited better for a slightly older audience,  just use good judgement.  You know your children better than I do.  If you do not like musicals, just stay away from this movie, read the book, or watch one of the older versions, the one that is not a musical, 1950 something I think.  Otherwise have some tissues handy, and be prepared to be in awe the entire time. 

Is 1984 Worth My Time?

1984 By George Orwell

I am an Education major at school.  We have a professor who has a subscription to scholastic.  Every now and then she picks a helper to do the work for this subscription.  She picks a new helper when her current helper goes into student teaching.  The helper basically puts the order forms out, collects them, orders the books, and then passes the books out.  The helper then gets points to spend on scholastic, based on how much money you raise scholastic, and then the helper orders books, for free.  I am the helper and I have been building my collection of young adult / high school literature.  This is the first book I finished from that collection.

In high school we were expected to read 1984.  I did not.  I was not much into reading at that time, well I was, but for some reason assigned reading just seemed like work, and that was not what I wanted to read, instead I read mostly Harry Potter throughout high school. I wish I would have read this book then, like I was supposed to.

It is a fairly dense book.  Not much dialog, and lots of introspective thoughts.  Orwell created a very believable environment.  So believable, in fact, that  it could happen.  I think that is why it is such a successful book.  It is so easy to draw parallels with the book and the real world.  Even more scary than that, is the fact that it was written in 1949.  Orwell seemed to know what the future held for us if things do not change.  Yes the year 1984 came and went, but the year is ambiguous, it could be 2084 or 2149, it does not matter.  What does matter is the intuitiveness he showed in writing what the world could look like.  I enjoyed it very much and I think some of you will as well.

Is "Blank" of Dune Worth My Time

Paul of Dune
Winds of Dune

By Brian Herbert 
and Kevin J. Anderson

In short, no.  I know, my first real poor review of books from the Dune Universe.

If you really like the universe, and you really want to learn more about it, you should read them.  I have a few reasons for not liking them.

I knew what was going to happen, basically   Because of where the books are in the series I just knew what needed to happen to fit the story, but how we got there was sometimes unexpected.  Both books are similar in structure, they involve two stories in one book.  Think of it as a flashback, every few chapters we go back in time to learn about the past.  Honestly, I found the flashbacks of the books to be more enjoyable than the main story.  There was very little character development, mainly because it is mostly done in other books, that were written awhile ago.   

These books provide good facts about events that happened, but do little in expanding those event to anything special.  To be fair, to make them to special would surly steal some thunder from previous books, which would not be good either.  These books just give the feeling of filler, something that was unneeded,  doesn't really add anything special, and just fills some small gaps.  I do not regret reading them, but have no real desire to read it again.

If you want to know where they fit chronologically, here you go.  Red titles are by Frank Herbert, the rest by Kevin and Brian.

Dune The Butlerian Jihad

Dune The Machine Crusade

Dune The Battle of Corrin

Dune House Atreides

Dune House Harkonnen

Dune House Corrino

Dune

Paul of Dune

Dune Messiah

Winds of Dune

Children of Dune

God Emperor of Dune

Heretics of Dune

Chapterhouse Dune

Hunters of Dune

Sandworms of Dune

These authors have released a new book, Sisterhood of Dune.  From what I understand it is the first book in a new trilogy.  I will not be reading it until the other books are released as well, as I do not want to read it, then have a year or so to forget what is in it and then read the next one.  

Is "The Dark Knight Rises" Worth My Time?

I want to start using a more set way of grading movies.  So I made a rubric.  You can find it on my other blog.  I will first address all the things on the rubric, and give you comments to explain the grade given.  After the rubric I will give you my personal over all score, and reasons.  Then I will average all the scores together.


Acting
5.  All of the characters felt real to me.  The had real personalities.  They had real problems, and real dilemmas.  They made choices that you could tell they either regretted or supported.  Very well done.

Cinematography

4.  Everything was good.  The camera angles and background were not legendary by any means.  They were good, but not great.  I felt like Batman's motorcycle seemed fake sometimes.  They way it moved, and bounced.  But that is it.  There were a few little lighting issues, at one point it was snowing and sunny.  Again not a huge issue.    Mostly the set enhanced the story.  There was one scene that a city street was wreaked by an explosion before an explosion happened.

Plot

4.  I wanted to give it a five here, but after looking at my rubric, I could not do it.  The beginning seemed a little too sluggish, but it quickly sped up.  There was one thing that was very predictable, but to share would spoil it for some of you.  The movie had some really fantastic themes.  And I feel it ended all the plots lines that were opened up throughout the three movies.  

My Score

4.  In comparison to "The Dark Knight," the movie fell just a little short.  Just a little.  It did not reach the same level of intensity.  Still a very very good movie.  Fits well into the story, and adds some great details, and ties the three movies together.  

Overall Average

4.25.  The movie runs about 3 hours, and a short 3 hours it is.  Appropriately rated PG-13.  It is not nearly as dark as "The Dark Knight," but defiantly has an appropriate feeling for the series.  The end might have been a little too romantic for some, but not for me.  A fine conclusion to an awesome series.  Go watch it, you will not be disappointed.  

Is Dune (The Finale) Worth My Time?

Hunters of Dune
Sandworms of Dune


By Brian Herbert 
and Kevin J. Anderson

These two books were planned by Frank Herbert, but he passed away and was unable to finish the series.  In fact, the notes for the books were in a safety deposit box, which lay unopened for years after Franks's death.  Brian, his son, came across the notes, and eventually Kevin and Brain crossed paths, and decided to start working of the Dune story once more.  Brian had helped his father on some of the original books, and Kevin has written many books on his own.

So if they had all these notes to finish the series why not finish it, why write all these other books?  Well, simply they wanted practice.  But a deeper reason has to do with the story.  There are some vital elements that need to be understood before you read the last two books.  That was their thinking, and now that I have read the last two (and all the books written before them), I agree with them.

The two books are very good.  Even better than the last three. They bring the story to a great close that I think could really be related to current life, in many different ways.  I did not expect the ending, and it was far better than what I could have came up with.  I think these two men have done a fantastic job in keeping the Dune Universe true to franks dream, but instead of trying to emulate him, they made it their own, and they have done a wonderful job at it.

As to the order to read the series I recommend this. (I am only going to include books up to the point I have read.  There are three more, but at a later time I will tell you where they should be read in the set.)

Start at: 

Dune

Dune Messiah

Children of Dune

God Emperor of Dune

Dune The Butlerian Jihad

Dune The Machine Crusade

Dune The Battle of Corrin

Dune House Atreides

Dune House Harkonnen

Dune House Corrino

Heretics of Dune

Chapterhouse Dune

Hunters of Dune

Sandworms of Dune

That is just my opinion, feel free to read them anyway you want.  I am reading them in the order they were written.  And because of life, the lengths of the books, and my poor memory, I felt like by the time I got to Hunters and Sanworms, I had forgotten important things from Heretics and Chapterhouse.  


An alternative place to start would be Dune The Butlerian Jihad.  And continue to read them in chronological order.  When I catch up to the authors (that's correct, they are still writing books) I will read them in the chronological order.

I think the order I have given you is the best of both worlds.  Because if you start the series at Dune and do not really care for it, its a self sufficient story, and needs no other books after it, making it a good place to start. And if you do like it, you can explore the universe in an order that should help you retain the information needed most to understand the end.

Is Dune (The Machine Trilogy) Worth Your Time?

Dune The Butlerian Jihad
Dune The Machine Crusade
Dune The Battle of Corrin


By: Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert

If ever there was another place to start the Dune series, this would be it.  No real background on Dune is needed.  Just jump in and go.  As you progress through the trilogy, the books get better.  There are lots of characters to keep track of, and lots of things happening all at once.  And in these books, I think the authors did the best job yet of really bringing the events together seamlessly.

Not only that, but if you know where the books are headed, you still find them very enjoyable.  I was always trying to figure out how the books would get to where they needed to be for Dune.  It was always kept me guessing, and they even threw in some unexpected twists.  Although the books are long, and there are lots of characters, I feel that many of the characters have lots of depth.

I would not be at all surprised if there, eventually, comes a few books before these.  I think there is fabulous potential involving the rise of the "Bad Guys."  The newest book, Sisterhood of Dune,  is the start of a trilogy between this trilogy and The House Trilogy.

This trilogy has many of the same issue that the House Trilogy did.  It moves slowly, and at times it lacks the grandiose feeling of the original.  However, I think they are the best ones yet by these two authors.  And please keep in mind, that although they are not written by Frank Herbert, they are written based on his notes, and they do a fantastic job of making it their own.  Not only do these three come highly recommended, the whole series dose as well.

Is The Devil Inside (2012 Film) Worth My Time?

I had heard so many bad things about this movie.  My opinions are usually nicer that my peers.  So I wanted to see if this movie was as bad as I had heard.  I expected an awful movie, and at the very least I could laugh at how bad it was.

Rated R, for good reason, and at just over 1 hour, seemed a little short.  No noteworthy stars, producer, or directer. The ending seemed a little abrupt, but was actualy a fine ending, in my opinion.  I saw quite a few continuity errors, but I was looking for them, kind of my pet peeve.

The director really tried to make it seem like a real documentary.  Minus the continuity errors, he did a fine job.  A few times the "realness" was broken, again mostly from the continuity errors.  The movie showed some real potential at the beginning, but as the movie went along, it failed at meeting that potential.

It is not a movie I would call scary, just kinda gross.  I was only scared once, but that was one of those cheap scares, a barking dog during a conversation outside.  Some of the movie I found humors, in a strange way, some of the spoken dialog from the possessed people was just comical.

Not a movie to see in the theater.  It might be worth it from RedBox.  And if you have the chance to watch it for free, go for it, as a last pick.

Is Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011 Film) Worth My Time?

Sequels.   Many many movies have had a sequel.  And most of them have done it poorly.  I was worried that the trailer's promise that this movie was "better than the original" would fall short, as many sequels do.  So I went in wanting an expectational movie, but expecting much less.  I got the movie I wanted, not the one I thought I would get. 

It was the sophisticated, classy, fast paced, and witty movie it needed to be.  Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) is sporadic, a little manic, and always brilliant. When things almost got out of hand, somehow he pulled it all into a plan that was either built, or one that fell into place by accident.  Not once did it seem to be clunky.  The plot moved nicely from point to point.  Being a detective movie about one of the histories greatest detectives, Holmes' logic was sometimes hard to follow, but given a recap to the slightly slower Watson (Jude Law), things became clear. 

Rated PG-13 with some blood, guns, some ladies with old-fashioned dresses, and no swearing.  2 hours and nine minutes was the perfect amount of time.  At one point I thought it was almost over, that we had reached the climax.  It was a teaser, and the next climax was for real and much better than the first.  I only have one issue with the movie.  The last 30 seconds was a shame.  More on that in the comments, no spoiler here.  Overall I was beyond pleased with the movie, and it was worth my time, and so it is worth your time.  As for a 3rd in the series, who knows?

Is StumbleUpon Worth My Time?

Yes.

However, it is MAY NOT be a good use of your time.

For those of you living under a rock.  StumbleUpon is a web site that takes you through a journey of the internet.  When you create your profile, you tell it the general categories of things that interest you. After you finish that, you then click the "Stumble!" button, and your journey begins  As you stumble across the web, along the way the idea is to tell the site, by clicking a thumbs up or thumbs down button, which sites you liked, and which ones you did not like.  And so as you go, the sites you come across are more and more tailored to you, based on what you say you like and do not like.

Your base interests can range from games, movies, news, cartoons, and even some adult content.  I have.... wasted, I hate to say that, spending time on Stumble felt so much better than just doing nothing, but nothing productive came of it, so it fits.... I have wasted many many hours on StumbleUpon.  There is something magic about the idea of sitting for hours on end, finding awesome short films, fantastic short stories, mindless videos of people be REALLY dumb, or learning tips on how to be more successful in real life.  The site has endless possibilities.  You can stumble the funny, unique, old fashioned, weird, sexy, dirty, profound, educational, and the entertaining.

The possibility that it could actually be used productively is there.  People may actually use it in that way.  I do not, and can not.  I find myself just clicking as fast as I can to get to the next new thing.  I rarely watch videos, hardly ever read an entire article, and mostly just look at pictures and memes.  And I do not think I am alone in this.  In fact, I have stumbled upon cartoons making fun of that very fact.  The fact that you can sit for hours, look at hundreds of pictures and leave totally satisfied about what you have done, and think nothing of what you saw ever again.  I KNOW I am not the only person who binges on StumbleUpon.

If you have noticed I have a StubleUpon badge on my blog here.  Because I know that it increases my viewership with more people that "like" my blog.  It is a great way for people to find things they would have NEVER found any other way.  Lets face it, the internet is HUGE.  It is impossible to find everything that could interest you, neither do we have the time to search through the entire web trying to find something interesting.  Stumble is a great site to discover new things, and it does so by transporting you all over the web with minimal work on your part.  All you have to do it sit back, click the mouse, and enjoy the ride, and what a ride it is!

stumbleupon.com

Is Dune (House Trilogy) Worth My Time?

Dune House Atreides
Dune House Harkonnen
Dune House Corrino


By Brian Herbert 
and Kevin J. Anderson

So, you have read the first six books of Dune, and now you want to know what to expect from the next set of three.  Or maybe you did not read the first six, maybe you wanted to start the series here.  For whatever your reason or how you got here, you need to know a few things.

First, they were not written by Frank Herbert.  It is SO important you know, understand, and are okay with that.  They were written using notes written by Frank.  Also, Brian helped his father with the last few of the first six. Not to mention that Keven has written many science fiction books.  So it is not like the series is continued by nobodies. 

Next, the books do not have the same grand feeling as the others.  They seem less complex, less integrated with social issues of today.  They are a fantastic story, and give you a wonderful history of how things got to be how they were.  There are a tremendous amount of events that fill the books and I never became board, but it just does not have that grandiose feeling of the first six.  The three books roughly cover from Duke Leto as a pre-teen to the birth of Paul.

The first (House Atreides) is the worst of the three.  It slowly gets better and by the end I was happy where it was.  And each book after that got better and better.  By the end of the third (House Corrino) I had completely stopped comparing it to the first six, I did not care that it did not meet my standards of the other books, they were good in their own right, and it is unfair to everyone involved to compare them.

And lastly, they move slow, and that is okay.  They pick up momentum, and their comes a point where you don't want to put it down.  I was worried that they would be so poorly done that it would take away from what Frank as built.  It does not.  It is a great addition to the already mind-blowing series.  It is worth every minute of your time.

dunenovels.com

Is J. Edgar (2011 Film) Worth My Time?

I was expecting a film to commemorate J. E. Hoover.  Something patriotic.  Something to tell us how much he did for our country, and how things would be different without him.  

What I got was so much more.

The movie did show me some of that.  But what I got, and did not expect, was a story about a REAL person.  A story about someone imperfect.  A man with goals, dreams, hopes, reservations, fears, and confusion.  

The movie revolves around history, events that he shaped, and events that shaped him.  Knowing what happened in our history since 1914 could be very helpful.  You do not need to know every bit of history, but knowing the basics is a good idea.

A movie of 2 hours and 17 minutes seemed a little daunting to start with, but it progressed nicely, pulled you in from the start, and kept you interested until the end. 

The movie takes place over his lifetime in the FBI, but not chronologically.  It flips back and forth between "now" and the past, making it hard to follow at some points.  For the most part it was easy to tell when you were based on how old he looked.  Throughout the movie old J. E. Hoover is dictating a story to a writer, well multiple writers. Thus my confusion when the writer would change in what seemed like in the middle of a scene, split by a flashback, so really two scenes.

It is rated R, mostly unnecessary.  There is some bad language, some suggestive dialog, and adult moral issues.  

The plot was deep and thought provoking. Staring Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar, and directed by Clint Eastwood, could we expect anything less?  This movie is definitely worth your time.  

Is Chatroulette Worth My Time?

http://chatroulette.com/

Ha.  Hmmmm....

Not really, no. Unless....

1) You are not easily offended.  Lots of things that get said, and things that happen, could make some people VERY uncomfortable.

2) You are a homosexual/bisexual male.

3) You are a straight female.

4) You are ready for rejection, and will not take it personally.

5) You like to screw with people.

If you pass at least number 1 and 4, you could have a very nice time.

For those of you looking to meet new people from all over the world, good luck.  You CAN meet nice people from all over the world.  You just have to be willing to sit, and sit, and sit, and sit, and sit, and then sit some more.

They have added some features to help you sort out what kind of people you want to see.  Basically, 18+ material, or 17- material.  Sorry, sometimes you still see the 18+ material on the 17- section.  It happens, they tried to fix it, but it is not perfect.

Don't get me wrong.  I know some people who think it is amazing, but they usually fit a few stereotypes, groups of boys, looking to screw with people, and see some female 18+ material.  The site is dominated by males, doing anything you can imagine. 

But don't take my word for it, check it out, and decide for yourself, just be careful about the company you have around when you do it.

Is Dune (First Six Novels Published) Worth My Time?

Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Chapterhouse Dune

by Frank Herbert

The Dune Series is huge.  Started in 1965 by Frank Herbert, and continued still today by his son.  That being said, I will review the series in sets.  The first set involves all the Dune books written by Frank. (Also the list above.)

Dune, and the books after it, are not light reads. They are complex, involving, and mentally taxing to understand.  They run many parallels to our current society.  They study religion, government, the ability to see into the future, and how all of these forces play upon one another.  There is a huge host of characters, and groups, all trying to obtain different things, both peacefully, and not so peacefully.

The books take awhile to really start moving.  They are slow to get started, and slowly gain momentum.  There comes a time in each book where you won't want to put it down.  Most of them climax at almost the end of the book, with only a chapter or two to wrap things up.  Just about all of them end in a cliffhanger, things do get resolved,  but you always want to know more than Frank tells you.

If you want to read the series, but you are not sure if you will like it.  I recommend starting with Dune.  It is a good complete story in itself.  The books after continue the story, and are not NEEDED to enjoy the first book.  Then, if you enjoy the series, continue it.  Because it only gets better after that book.

As always in such a large series, there is the question, "Where do I start, and in what order do I read them?"  I read them the order they were published (That's the order they are in at the top of this post.)  Start with Dune.

Dune Chapterhouse is not the end of the series.  In fact, it is less than halfway through.  But unfortunately, it is the last one for Frank to write, he dies before he can get more Dune books out.  And this book ends in the biggest cliffhanger yet.

Now I know what your thinking, "Can the books after Frank dies be any good?" Well, for that, you will have to wait for my review on them, or do some more research. 

Do not let the complexity of the series, its length, or its incompleteness scare you away.  It is highly entertaining as well as deep.  The journey is an epic tale across time and space, to a distant future of the human race.  Well worth your time.

http://www.dunenovels.com/

Is DLC Worth My Time?

Downloadable Content.  

For those of you who are too young to remember, or are forgetful, games used to be released, played for awhile, and then MAYBE, if the game was good enough, the developers would release an expansion.  Sometimes even two if the game was really good.  

But with the onset of faster and faster internet, game developers saw a way to make more money.  DLC.  Some DLC is fantastic, and other DLC is very poor.  Some people view DLC like in this cartoon.  (http://desuchan.com/post/view/1888?search=comic)

And I don't disagree.  Some game developers release a game missing very needed content, just so they can turn around and sell it to you like its extra content.  On the other hand, some DLC is perfect, not needed for the game, but a nice little addition.  

One way too look at DLC is to view it as a mini expansion pack of the game.  If you do not like the game, buying this will not help you like it more.  Another way is to see when it is released.  If it is released way after the release of the game, it might be okay.  The issue is when it is released at the same TIME as the game. There is a very big possibility that it was originally supposed to be IN the game, but taken out to make a little more green.  

One last way to safe guard against bad DLC,  DO YOUR RESEARCH!  See what others are saying about it.  Find out what you get and how much it really adds.  I have lost track of the DLCs that I have bought and been disappointed with.  It happens.  

So is it worth your time? I don't know.  It depends on how much you value your money.  There are some really great DLCs available.  Some that really add to the game, and some that do not.  Make sure you know what your getting, before you buy, and never buy it in hopes of making an unplayable game playable.     

Is Pandora Worth My Time?

Pandora Radio. www.pandora.com.  Best way to listen to music online.

Pandora selects music for you based on what you tell it you like and what you do not like.  For instance, you tell it to play Daft Punk.  It may play you a Daft Punk Song, or it will play a song that is similar to Daft Punk.  You can then thumb the song up or down, and then Pandora uses that information to select a song that it thinks you will like, based on what you have thumbed up or down.

I find it a great way to discover new music.  I put in a song or artist I like, and see where it takes me.  Do I always like what it gives me, no.  Do I find music that I love and would have never heard, yes.

Is it perfect?  NO.  I have a station based on The Flobots, it is not very good.  I like The Flobots, but the music I get on the station does not fit at all, mostly because of the unique sound they produce.  But every station gets better with use.  Use it, rate the song, and move on.

"Do I have to pay?"  Good question, no.  Pandora is free, with ads. "Can I skip any number of songs if I do not like it?"  Also a good question, no.  There is a limit to the number of songs you can skip in a given time.  However, you can pay for a year subscription and receive no ads, and an increase in the number of skips. "Is buying the subscription a good deal?"  I feel as if the paid version is a good deal, for as much as I listen to Pandora.  That's a question you will have to decide for yourself, based on how much you listen, and how important the money is to you.

"Can I listen to a specific song?" No, I am sorry.  That is my biggest issue with Pandora.  No matter how old, unpopular, strange, loud, fast, or whatever.  You are very lucky if you name a station after a song, and hear that song right away.  Although, you will most likely hear the song, eventually.

Pandora has a large variety of music to pick from.  And everyday I listen I find something new.  So Yes, Pandora (Paid) is worth my time, and honestly, so is the free version, I just don't like ads.

Is Steam Worth My Time?

No, not steam that powers generators.  I mean Steam, http://store.steampowered.com/.

Steam is an application that is downloaded onto your PC or Mac.  You can buy games from Steam.  Usually you can find a good deal.  They have many sales going on all the time.  After you buy a game, Steam downloads it to your computer, and then you can play it.  "BUT WAIT," you say, "I do not have a REAL copy of the game!"  Then I say "Hold on. Everything will be okay."  No, you do not own a physical CD.  Yes, you really own the game.

This is where steam seals the deal for me.  I bought the game, downloaded it, and played it.  But my computer decides to die, all that hard work, and the game itself, gone.  So I get a new computer, I download Steam, again.  I re-download the game, and BAM,  I am playing the game right from where I left off!  In fact you can play the same game on two computers, without them ever being connected together in a network.  Steam has a record of all the games you own, and you can upload you save games to the servers, so you can download them again some other time.

Steam offers some other social networking aspects.  I do not use them.  I use it to game.  You can connect with friends, and I do.  You can always see what they are playing, and if it is a multi-player game (and you own it),you can usually very easily play with them.

Is Steam perfect.  No.  It has some issues, and as I have used it over the last few years, it has gotten less buggy.  I look for the pattern to continue.  One of the biggest issues is this:  Every time I visit the store page, I want to buy a game that I can not afford.  Their sales are wonderful, but other than that, the games are not that much cheaper from anywhere else.

Steam is "Powered by Valve."  That is the catch line, meaning, every game Valve has ever released is available for purchase (That may or may not be an exaggeration.).  "Only Valve games! That sucks." you say.  And to that I say "Nay, they sell other games too."

I like valve games, but lets be honest, even EA can make a good game (given a month after release to work out the bugs).  Steam does offer non-Valve games, even free games.  All games ever made?  No.  Why? Well because some suck, but mostly it has to do with the plans the game-maker has for the game.  For instance, Steam does offer Battlefield Bad Company 2 for purchase, but not Battlefield 3.  Why?  EA (at the time of release for Battlefield 3) was getting ready to launch their own "Steam," called Origin.  So they denied Steam access to force computer gamers to download Origins to play Battlefield 3. It was a way to get Origins out, and in use.

So, is Steam worth my time? Yes.  I do lots of gaming and love the fact that when this computer stops, I still own my games, without ever having to worry about where I put those CDs when I installed the games 4 years ago. In fact, I only see two possible bad endings.  1)The Internet ends.  Yeah, like that will ever happen.  The ONLY way that happens is if the world fights itself in another world war, and we go into a nuclear winter. 2) Valve goes out of business.  I do not see that as an issue, as long as people keep buying games from them.  I will continue, and I think you should check it out.

Maybe you do not like Valve.  Okay, try EA's Origins, or the Microsoft's version of Steam (the name escapes me and of which I have looked at once, and never used, just saying).