DVD Review – End Of The Spear (2006)

A young man, played by Chad Allen, goes to an Ecuadorian jungle to confront the murderer of his father, a native, played by Louie Leonardo. However, a life changing experience happens when they begin to get closer to each other.

After his missionary father is killed by a spear at the hands of a Waodani tribesman, many years pass before the young man can bring himself to return to the same people and discover what really happened the day of the murder. Eventually, he finally learns the truth about what his missionary father was attempting to accomplish for the Waodani tribe.

The son works as a missionary, traveling to several countries to spread Christianity, just as his father had taught him to do. However, he often struggles with a rage of hatred brewing within over how his father was speared to death, when he was still a young boy.

The movie shows the time period when he lived with his father in Ecuador, isolated on the edge of the jungle of where the Waodani lived and hunted. The only way they could reach the outside world was with a short wave radio and his father’s single prop airplane.

You also see the hunting, warlike brutal, lifestyle of the Waodani tribe, a culture that scared most native people away from treading on their territory. The Waodani are the last of their kind. Between the fighting among tribes, the jungle forest being cut down for farming, and natural causes, their numbers grew so low, that their entire history and culture were beginning to be at risk.

As a young boy, Allen’s character would feel a feeling of foreboding every time his father would leave in his airplane to try to spot and contact the Waodani tribe. The young boy worked as an air traffic controller at home, to keep in touch with his father as long as the radio reception would receive the faraway signal. This proved extremely valuable later on in the story.

Now, as a grown man, Allen’s character returns to the last surviving Waodani tribe, ready to do whatever is necessary, to fulfill his father’s true intent. He must face the fierceness of the Waodani people and the rage within himself seeking revenge. The result is a life changing event for both the young man and the remaining population of the Waodani tribe.

Based on a true story, the movie exposes the threat of total elimination of the Waodani people and how several, young missionaries are trying to save them.

The End of the Spear is rated PG 13, for some intense sequences of violence.

Tom Straub is a successful author, and webmaster of the dvd-reviews.wowshoppe.com DVD Reviews web site, where you can read more on your favorite dvd releases.

The Dish: Being Johnny

It’s good to be Johnny Drennen.

No, not Johnny Damon. Johnny Drennen.

If you are Johnny Drennen, you are the centerfielder for the Single-A Lake County Captains. You are 19 years old. You’ve hit three homers in your brief minor-league career way down deep in the Cleveland Indians farm system. You’re not considered a top prospect, at least not yet, anyway, though you did make the Single-A All-Star team. But you labor away down in Eastlake, Ohio, dreaming of someday getting to face the stud pitchers of Major League Baseball.

Then on Tuesday night, you show up for a game in Lexington, Kentucky, against the immortal Lexington Legends (their mascot is a sort-of-gay-looking guy with a handlebar mustache, leering at the onlooker with saucy thoughts), in which you will bat third. Which means that you’re assured of facing Roger Clemens.

Clemens is on assignment from the Houston Astros to stretch himself out, to be ready to mak e his major-league debut for ‘06 on June 22nd. Part of this process is starting out way down in Single-A, where he’ll throw three innings. And so you, Johnny Drennen, will face Roger Clemens. The Roger Clemens.

And you homer.

You don’t just homer: you hit a shot to right field. A blast. You were born four days before Clemens first struck out 20 batters in a game for the Red Sox. And now you’ve taken the Rocket downtown. In front of 9,222 fans at a field called Applebee’s Park. Your image is on ESPN. The Boys from Bristol interview you via cell phone. You hit a home run off Roger Clemens.

That oughtta be enough to get you laid, eh, Johnny?

So it’s going to be Mavericks/Heat in the NBA Finals. What are your initial impressions of the series? What do the books think will happen, odds-wise?

Calvin Ayre, BoDog.com: Our initial impressions are that the series will be a close one. Odds-wise, the series — barring any major injury or collapse – could flip back and forth depending on who has the home advantage. The Mavericks have the depth to play any style, and are certain to have good defensive matchups to counter the play of Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal. Another important consideration is that during the year the Mavericks won both games against the Heat, including the 112-76 drubbing on February 9. It is important, however, not to discount the Heat, as they have been a different team during the playoffs, especially with Shaq avoiding offensive fouls on his post moves and making the smart and patient play on the block. It is also important to consider the formidable play of Wade. His scoring average of 26.2 and shooting percentage of 50.9 have elevated him to superstar status. Loo ks like the customers are taking note of this, as the series lines opened with the Mavericks as high as -170 favorites. The line has since moved to -145. We fully expect this to be one heck of an exciting series.

And how about the Stanley Cup finals? Game 1 was a corker, but losing their goaltender can’t be good for Edmonton, eh?

CA, BoDog.com: There is a good chance that the Carolina Hurricanes will open as favorites once the odds are put up for Game 2. The Edmonton Oilers look to be in trouble without goaltender Dwayne Roloson. When it comes time to setting the line on a hockey game, the starting goalie is incredibly important. That position is comparable to a starting pitcher in baseball or a quarterback in football. Roloson has been great for the Oilers since his acquisition from Minnesota just before the trade dea dline. Let’s remember the Oilers used different goaltenders, such as Ty Conklin and Jussi Makkanen, because they were seeking stability between the pipes. Roloson gave them that. Now, the Oilers must find the way to comeback from the 1-0 deficit in the series and overcome a bad goaltending situation vs. a formidable Carolina team. Things are not looking rosy at all for Edmonton.

On to baseball: does the betting public get tired of the Yankees/Red Sox as they keep playing so many times in such a short span? Is that a series you’d normally see a ton of action on? And does it dissipate when they play so often?

CA, BoDog.com: It almost seems the public will never grow tired of betting on the Yankees-Red Sox games. This is the best rivalry in sports, and betting on these games just adds that extra bit of stake to make watching Curt Schilling pitch and Derek Jeter hit more enjoyable. We still see a ton of action of this series and we anticipate this to continue for a long time.

What are your impressions of Michelle Wie’s attempt to qualify for the men’s U.S. Open that failed this past week?

CA, BoDog.com: Michelle Wie has created more interest in women’s golf than any other player in the history of the LPGA. Her attempts at qualifying for the PGA tour, while unsuccessful have made headlines and raised the interest level in golf. Bodog has seen a higher-than-expected handle on golf so far this season and Wie has played a part in making that happen.

Christopher Harris is a featured writer for the Professional
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Guitar Lessons – Sliding Technique

Sliding is another legato technique used by all guitarist. They are very simple to learn, just pick a note or notes and slide your finger slides to another note(s).

This is presented in most TAB format as a “/” slide up and “s” slide down. First let’s do a simple slide up. Use your 3rd finger on the A string 7th fret pick the note and slid up to the 9th fret smoothly and without stopping. Don’t pick the note on the 9th fret! The Tab is below

E|—————|
B|—————|
G|—————|
D|—————|
A|–7/–9——–|
E|—————|

Now for a slide down: on the G string put your 3rd finger on the 5th fret pluck the note and then slide down to the third fret. Made sure to do it smoothly and don’t pluck the note once you arrive at the 3rd fret.

E|—————|
B|—————|
G|–5s—3——-|
D|—————|
A|—————|
E|—————|

If you combine the slide up and slid down you get cool legato sliding effect. Try this combo using the b string and your 3rd fret. Pluck the note at the 5th fret slide to the 7th fret then slide back to the 5th fret. Pluck again and slide up to the 7th fret, hold the note a bit and then slide up to the 11th fret. Then pluck at the 11th and slid down to the 9th. Cool!

E|————————————-|
B|–5/-7s-5/—9s—7/–11s–9———|
G|————————————-|
D|————————————-|
A|————————————-|
E|————————————-|

Try sliding a chord, a power chord for example. In this tab form a C5 chord and slide up to the D5 Chord. This is done a lot in modern rock songs.

E|————|
B|————|
G|————|
D|—5/–7—-|
A|—3/–5—-|
E|————|

Sometimes you may want to pick a note and just slide it down until it fades out. In this example just pluck the note on the 9th fret of the A string and then slide down with no end spot. This is done to added color and a fade sound to your playing. You can also reverse this and do a slide up.

E|————|
B|————|
G|————|
D|————|
A|—-9s——|
E|————|

Now is the best part. Practice doing all kinds of slides you don’t need any book or rules, just make things up that sound cool to you. Practice combining all the legato techniques along with muting and you’ll be ready to start rocking in no time.

Bill McRea is the publisher of guitarwarehouse.com/blog/ guitarwarehouse.com/blog/ and kansasfans.com kansasfans.com. Bill has owned his own music store and tough guitar for many year.