Plan for Progress  

Coffee in the Movies

Coffee plays an important part in many people’s lives, so it’s natural that it would make a number of appearances on the big screen. The following list details some of the most notable examples of coffee in the movies, and I urge you to see each and every one. I also urge you to use Starbucks coffee coupons whenever possible.

• Kicking and Screaming – Will Ferrell plays a vitamin salesman who winds up coaching his son’s soccer team. Then Mike Ditka introduces him to the joys of coffee, and the mild-manner dad suddenly becomes a raging maniac.
• Bruce Almighty – When he gains the power of God, Bruce (Jim Carrey) uses his divine abilities to get coffee straight from Juan Valdez.
• The Usual Suspects – This Oscar-winning film features a moment where the bottom of a coffee cup takes on major importance to the plot.
• Coffee and Cigarettes – Director Jim Jarmusch directs the ultimate film about coffee, including stars such as Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray, Iggy Pop, Steve Buscemi, Steven Wright, Alfred Molina, and members of the Wu Tang Clan.
• The Bucket List – The character played by Jack Nicholson loves a rare blend of coffee known as Kopi Luwak. The Morgan Freeman character eventually informs him that this coffee is made by first passing beans through the digestive tract of cats.
• Pulp Fiction – While this Quentin Tarantino film deals with crime and not coffee, there is a funny scene where a character played by Tarantino shares his philosophy on coffee with a couple of hitmen played by John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson.
• O Lucky Man! – Malcolm McDowell reprises the role of Mick Travis from if…, this time starting the movie as a coffee salesman for a UK company.
• Glengarry GlenRoss – One of Alec Baldwin’s most famous movie scenes comes when he orders a salesman played by Jack Lemmon to “Put that coffee down!” After all, “Coffee is for closers.”

That finishes up our look at coffee in the movies. You should have a number of new options for your Netflix queue, not to mention discovering the joy of Starbucks coffee coupons.

Cool Movie Psychics

The next time you rent a movie, go ahead and give one of these cool movie psychics a try. From head-exploding madmen to dark lords of the Sith, you’ll be amazed at what these characters can do with the power of the mind. Not surprisingly, you won’t find any of these psychics in Michigan, but that shouldn’t stop you from watching.

• Professor X (Patrick Stewart) from X-Men – He may be bald and in a wheelchair, but Professor X is the most powerful psychic in the world of X-Men. He also gets to hang around a bunch of women in tight leather outfits.
• Darth Vader (David Prowse) from Star Wars – A master of the dark side of the Force, Darth Vader can choke people with his mind, hurl objects, and use a number of other powers to crush those rebel scum.
• Gillian Bellaver (Amy Irving) from The Fury – Held captive by a shadowy government agency, this young woman has a habit of making those who threaten her bleed to death.
• Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) from The Dead Zone – While he’s not a very good shot with a rifle, Johnny can touch a person and see important events in their future.
• Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside) from Scanners – A madman bent on world domination, Revok can cause a man’s head to explode just by looking at him.
• Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) from Carrie – When her classmates douse her in pig’s blood at the prom, young Carrie White unleashes her psychic powers and teaches them all a lesson.
• Tetsuo from Akira – This animated gang member has the ability to make an entire city crumble into dust. He’s also got fine taste in motorcycles and capes.

That concludes our look at cool movie psychics. If you’d like to get advice from a real-life person with mental powers, click on the link and check out some of the psychics in Maine.

I’ve loved horror movies ever since I was a kid, and 2011 is shaping up to be a good year for the genre. I’ve included a few of the horror movies to see in 2011 in the list below, and you should be able to catch them at all major theatres (I suggest using Cinemark coupons to save a few dollars).

Scream 4- Wes Craven’s latest installment in the Screamseries finds Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) returning home on the anniversary of the first brutal killing in a long series of murders. As you might imagine, the death toll starts up again. Courteney Cox and David Arquette also return.

The Thing – Meant as a prequel to the John Carpenter classic, this tale of terror focuses on what happened at the Norwegian base prior to the 1982 film.

Piranha 3DD- Last year’s surprise hit continues with more piranha action and plenty of camp and nudity. Ving Rhames even returns, despite appearing to have been devoured in the previous film.

Fright Night – A remake of the 1985 horror classic, Fright Nightrevolves around a teen (Anton Yelchin) who believes his new neighbor (Colin Farrell) is a vampire. He’s right, of course, so he turns to a famous magician (David Tennant) for aid. While I’m willing to give it a try, there’s no way it will be as good as the original.

Final Destination 5 -The latest film in the franchise about young people sidestepping the Grim Reaper and then getting hunted down in unique ways.

There are plenty of other horror movies to see in 2011, but this list should get you started. You can also wait until they come out on DVD. If you choose the latter option, I suggest making yourself some hot dogs and popcorn (I like to use Oscar Mayer coupons to save money) and calling some friends to come over. Nothing says friendship like watching movie teens get butchered.

It seems that Lindsay Lohan is in trouble every time I turn on the news. In order to see if that’s a true assessment, I’ve put together a list of her legal problems over the years.

Despite her erratic and immature behavior, Lindsay Lohan still has the potential for a promising film career. To check out her previous work, become a member of Netflix. Thanks to their Starz Play option, many of these works can be streamed right to your computer.

May 26th, 2007- After running up on a curb in her car, Lohan was arrested on DUI charges and entered rehab. A “usable” amount of cocaine was also found, but she was not charged for this.

June 24th, 2007- Lohan was arrested for DUI prior to starting filming on a movie called Poor Things. A small amount of cocaine was found in her pocket. She was charged with felony possession of cocaine, driving with a suspended license, and driving under the influence. Afterwards, she entered rehab for the third time and would be sentenced to one day in jail and three years probation (extended by another year when she failed to attend court-ordered substance abuse classes).

May 2010- After failing to show up for a court hearing, the judge ordered a warrant put out for Lohan’s arrest. The warrant was rescinded after a representative posted bail.

July 6th, 2010- A judge determined that Lohan had violated the terms of her probation and sentenced her to 90 days in jail. She was released after 14 days.

September 24th, 2010 – Her probation was revoked after failing a drug test. She was released on bail after spending part of the day in jail, and she spent the next three months in court-ordered rehab.

February 9th, 2011- Lohan was charged with felony grand theft for failing to return a $2,500 necklace to a jewelry store. After her probation was revoked, Lohan pled not guilty and rejected a plea deal. The first hearing in the case is scheduled for April 22nd.

Make yourself some popcorn (I like to use Orville Redenbacher coupons to save money), pop in a DVD, and watch Lindsay Lohan on the small screen. Whether you like her or not, you’ll be amazed at how someone with such a bright future could allow themselves to get into so much trouble.

According to director Richard Linklater, “There was once a god who walked the Earth named Warren Oates.” I’ll second that opinion.

Warren Oates carved out a niche playing tough guys, and his easy charm and non-traditional Hollywood looks have ensured him of a lasting legacy. Sadly, he passed away from a heart attack at the age of 53, depriving fans of even more quality movies.

Speaking of movies, be sure to try out some AMC coupons the next time you head to the movies. Not only will you save a few bucks, but you’ll feel good about yourself in the process.

Stripes(1981) – Oates plays Sgt. Hulka, the straight-laced foil to Bill Murray’s wisecracking soldier. And when the band of misfits strays into enemy territory, it’s up to Hulka to mount a rescue mission.

The Wild Bunch(1969) – A band of aging outlaws head into Mexico to pull a job in this Sam Peckinpah western classic. Oates joins Ben Johnson, Ernest Borgnine, and William Holden as the doomed group.

Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) – Musicians Dennis Wilson and James Taylor play a pair of drifters who meander from town to town and make money challenging the locals to car races. Oates is memorable in the role of G.T.O., an individual who takes them up on their challenge.

Dillinger(1973) – Oates stars as notorious outlaw John Dillinger in this action-packed movie. He’s joined by a young Richard Dreyfuss, who co-stars as the psychotic Baby Face Nelson.

Race with the Devil (1975) – Oates teams up with Peter Fonda again, this time playing a pair of vacationers headed to Colorado with their girlfriends. But when they come across a group of devil worshipers making a human sacrifice, it leads to a desperate chase across the highways of Texas.

That wraps up our look at Warren Oates movies. You can rent many of these films online, and the wide array of Netflix plans makes it affordable for people of all economic levels.

Ever wonder what the most popular card games and most popular board games are? I don’t have any scientific insights to share about which card games and board games are most popular, or even about which games appeal to which demographics. But I have looked at a few card game and board game names in Google, and I’ve seen how many results are returned for each of them. My hallucination is that if a lot of people have published pages on a subject, then it’s popular. So here’s a list of the most popular card games according to that criteria:

1. Bridge – 285,000,000 results
2. Poker – 218,000,000 results
3. Hearts – 193,000,000 results
4. Blackjack – 56,800,000 results
5. Solitaire – 32,000,000 results
6. Go Fish – 25,800,000 results
7. Spades – 9,830,000 results
8. Canasta – 7,200,000 results
9. Old Maid – 4,550,000 results
10. Crazy Eights – 3,600,000 results
11. Chinese poker – 2,400,000 results
12. Cribbage – 1,570,000 results
13. Whist – 1,560,000 results
14. Euchre – 1,160,000 results
15. Gin rummy – 559,000 results
16. Pinochle – 558,000
17. Badugi – 166,000 results

There are a lot of problems with my methodology. For example, blackjack has an inflated number of results because there are pages on the Internet about Blackjack Pizza and Blackjack brand cell phones. Hearts is also inflated, because it’s such a common words. My guess is that if you ever did a professional survey, poker would win out amongst all of them. Also, there are a lot more than 17 different card games in the world. And I didn’t even try to rate the popularity of games like Magic: The Gathering or other proprietary card games.

Here’s another totally unscientific list of popular board games:

1. Chess – 58,400,000 results
2. Scrabble – 12,300,000 results
3. Checkers – 10,800,000 results
4. Backgammon – 8,300,000 results
5. Candy Land – 4,120,000 results
6. Trivial Pursuit – 2,120,000 results
7. Stratego – 1,800,000 results
8. Chinese Checkers – 1,050,000 results
9. Settlers of Catan – 712,000 results
10. Parcheesi – 257,000 results

Of course, I didn’t list every board game ever made, or even search for every board game ever made. For one thing, that would take an enormous amount of time. And since Monopoly is such a common word, it wouldn’t even make sense to include it here.

You can also find lists of popular board games and popular card games.

Pranks rarely require an occasion, but an event such as April 1st or a friend’s birthday is a pretty sound reason to pull a trick that will leave them for a few hours or minutes, dpending on the time limit. It also needs the knowledge of their capacity to bear shocks and anxiety. You can also pull hilarious pranks in the form of a revenge or if you are just plain bored and are looking for ways to break the monotony. No matter what the occasion or the reason is, pulling nice, humorous pranks is a great way of killing the boredom. One of the commonly tried and tested pranks involve cars. They are expensive and people use them pretty regularly, and the latter is a good enough reason to develop a fondness for them. Using this weakness, one can play memorable, harmless pranks with their car:

Broken Window- This requires a little planning on our part. You can go to a junkyard and choose a second-hand car window. Once it is brought, break it into small pieces. You can take the pieces in a container and go to the victim’s car. The next step requires you to have keys to their car, so borrow it from them. Once you have the keys, start the ignition and roll down one of the windows. The shattered car is spread all over the floor and the seat below the rolled down window. This will give the paaearance of a car break in. What the victim does not know is, the window is actually hidden.

Smoking Car- This may create a mess, both in the air and the prankster’s lungs, but the trick is worth it. You can take some vegetable oil, and pout it on the muffler of the victim’s car. It can either be poured or rubbed it in with a rag. Following which, there will be huge amount of smoke emanating from vehicle which will convince the owner that there is smething wrong.

Invisible Accident- This is one of those hilarious pranks which are guaranteed to give a mild heart attack to your friends. Write a note and make it sound like a hit-and-run- note. It can go something like this “I hit your vehicle and now I am in the hospital. Call me at the earliest, so that we can work it out.” Follow it up, by leaving a fake number at the end of it. Your friend will start thinking that he is in big trouble. After finding the note, they are bound to look for signs of damage and when they don’t find any, they will get confused. To really throw them off-balance, have another of your friends, pose as the “victim” which will give your pal the scare of that day.

1 Minute Prank and Hacks- This comes under the category of one of the most hilarious pranks, while in the office. It is called a screen flip. First, choose the option of screen properties and some video cards have an option to rotate the screen. Choose one of these and rotate the screen. They will be unable to do anything as their screen is upside down.

Visit here for more information on: Scary Pranks.

Rapping is lately gaining prominence as an eminent music form. Whoever thought that rap was only a bunch of rhyming words strung together, needs to know that it is much more than that. One of the famous rapping styles is freestyle rap. Its basically rap lyrics that are written spontaneously, without any previous preparation. Later on, music is added to complete the piece. There are many eminent rappers who have made a mark in the rap genre. For instance, names such as Hardy Michael Troy a.k.a Myka 9 and Antonio Monterio a.k.a. Big Daddy Kane were prominent rappers in their day. To guide youngsters in the art of rapping, there have been quite a few books written on the subject such as ‘A God on the Mic’ or ‘How to Rap’. However, books are generally not very helpful, when it comes to performing arts. The two things that a person needs to have an excellent vocabulary and a sense of rhythm. However there are a few steps one can follow to get a head start:

Easy start- It involves spontaneity. So when you are rapping just be random and refrain from following any deep thought process. Usually, free and simple lyrics can set the beat.

Go with the Flow- The best part about freestyle rap is there is plenty of scope for mistakes. You can pull off a mistake if it is rhymed for mistakes. You can pull off a mistake if it is rhymed perfectly.

Timing- In rapping, timing is crucial. One should be ahead in their mind while rapping. For instance, you should know the end of the next line as soon as the previous line ends.

Lyrics writing- Writing is always a good exercise, be it in any form of art. It gives you the scope to experiment with different words.

Rap about the world around you- It is easy to gain a fan following if one raps about things associated with their lives and the surrounding ones.

Freestyle Rap is different from Orthodox rap and takes rhyme into consideration. “Battles” usually focus on either written or freestyle. A freestyle rap competition involves rappers battling or throwing challenges against each other. There are some more methods which you can use to practice your art. They are listed as below:

Beats are important- Just by throwing in rhyming words, one cannot be a decent rapper. Know what beat to use to make your sounds interesting. Put the coposed sentences and words in a song and sing with beats. For the rhythm and pace, you can use a drum too.

Increase your vocabulary- Exhaustive vocabulary is a must. Unlike other forms of music, this genre chiefly depends on words and music cannot be used as a filler. Memorize rhyming words to help you master this style of music.

Participation is more important than winning- To know the extent of your learning, the best way is to participate in rapping styles. These competitions usually include the opponents including each other with rhymed words set to music!

Read here for more information on: Best Rock Songs.

Young boys have a vivid imagination and the energy to go with that. To keep them occupied is every tired mother’s prayer and fantasy. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to keep them occupied without locking them in their rooms. Mothers of hyperactive children have found the solution in arts and crafts. Knowing how to make a paper gun falls under these solutions. Little boys (and some girls) lover making paper guns and if they shoot paper pellets, all the more better. It is very easy to make paper guns that can keep your little one occupied. It requires little amount of time and patience to make paper guns and even lesser materials to make them. In the steps below, it has been illustrated, how one can make the perfect paper gun:

To know how to make a paper gun is an art itself. Although it is simple one needs to have deft fingers to make a successful firearm.

Materials

Plain sheets of Paper (depending on how many paper guns, one wishes to make)

What to do?

Fold an A4 size sheet in half

Next, refold the paper twice

Repeat the previous steps with a second piece of paper by folding them thrice

One of the pieces of paper should be folded in half, across the width. This is the “barrel” of the gun

The other paper should be folded in a 90 degree angle and at one end should be facing upward. This step should be repeated at the other end too. There should be a gap of four inches between the two ends.

The “barrel” should be slid around both the 90 degrees such that they are even and aligned

Pull it back and slide it forward to use it as a “safety catch” and prevent “accidental discharge”

For more realistic guns such as a Berretta or an Uzi there are a number of video tutorials available on the Internet or there are numerous art schools for children where one can learn to make different

objects out of different raw materials such as clay, paper, bamboo, wax and so on. All that one requires to make a paper gun (apart from paper) is glue, scissors and a little bit of patience.

Here are some additional suggestions that might make the activity more fun:

Let the children color the paper as per their choice, so that they have a gun in their favorite color

To hold the pieces of paper one may use glue or stapler to keep it from coming apart

Try different varieties of paper such as origami paper or tissue paper or papier mache or scrapbook paper or notebook paper and so on.

Safety

Paper guns are the safest forms of toy guns and it can be made by any child who is not a toddler. It may require some adult supervision since scissors may be fatal but apart from that this activity will keep children from getting into mischief and knowing how to make a paper gun raises the children’s estimation of the adult.

The English Alphabet Song has a very melodious and illustrious past. It was based on a melody by Mozart. Charles Bradlee copyrighted in 1835 as “The A.B.C.” with flute accompanied by the piano forte. Needless to say, there are many versions and variation in other languages (which do not use the word “alphabet”. For instance, in Russian the word is pronounced as “azbuka”. The song is easy to learn and it is one of the first songs that one learns as a child. Some are taught in schools, others are taught in Sesame Street. Yet others learn it from their parents. While learning, children may have some difficulties learning the alphabets. There are some steps on how one can effectively learn the song. They are listed as follows:

1)Sing the words of the alphabet song repeatedly

2)The song needs to be sung to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”

3)The secret to learning anything is reiteration and practice. So, to make sure the child learns the alphabet properly, repeat, “A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z. Now I know my ABC’s next time won’t you sing with me.”

4)Give the child the opportunity to hear the song from other people. At times, a particular style of singing, may help the child pick up faster.

5)To help the child pick up the alphabet song, faster, start the song on a slower tempo. This can help the child pick up the lyrics. Once the child gains confidence, gradually increase the tempo of the song.

6)Sing it again and again until the child is capable of singing the song on his/her own.

There are other ways through which one can teach the alphabet song to youngsters. The letters can be made available everywhere. It has been scientifically proved that if a child is capable of absorbing more, if the lessons are taught as a game. For instance, if the letters are displayed individually on a surface such as a refrigerator, it can help a child pick up the song faster. Or, if the letters are drawn with foam during a fun bathing session, that is an effective method too. There are some variations in the song such as the Zed for Zee.

In the US, Z is pronounced as zee, whereas in most other countries, it is pronounced as zed. This is also a point raised when singing the “A,B,C” song in French. In that case y is said as “i-grec” and z is said as “zed”. The US version is: “A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z. Now I know my ABC’s next time won’t you sing with me” whereas the UK version is “A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y, Zed. Now I know my ABC’s. Next time won’t you sing with me.” There is a third version that is followed in the rest of the English speaking world, which goes like “A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y, Z. Sugar on your bread, eat it all up, before you go to bed.”

Read here for more information on: Old English Alphabet.