Buy it on DVD or not? May 22, 2008
Posted by Jelger in : Entertainment , 5 commentsAfter several years of intensive study on this subject, I’ve come up with the fool-proof solution to know if you should buy a movie on DVD or not. But first of all a quick example.
You’re in a store and you’re looking for a movie. Suddenly some familiar title grabs your attention. You grab the box, read the backside, and you get interested. If it’s a big, recent movie, you will see short flashbacks of the trailer in your head. You think you’re gonna like the movie and you buy it.
It turns out to be an average movie, and you watch it exactly one time. This is not good.
Luckily there is an obvious way to avoid this.
Everybody knows a few movies that he or she can watch every other year. A little test:
How long is it ago that you’ve seen Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption, Goodfellas, Fight Club, Apocalypse Now, Se7en or Le Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain? I bet that if you’ve seen one of those movies more than two years ago, you can (and want to) see the movie again.
As said, I did some extensive research on this subject. 
And I’ve found an interesting link between the titles of the movies you want to see again and again, and the titles of the movies that are high-rated. Guess what… they are almost always the same!
Average rated movies can be really entertaining. You can enjoy watching them alone or with friends, they’ve got the music, they’ve got the actors, but often they lack something which is quite important: a script or story that sets it apart. Those movies can be great to watch, but after a few years you won’t have that ‘I should see that movie again!’ feeling. So, avoid buying them, and rent them instead.
The movies you do want to buy are the really good ones. Imdb.com features a list with the top 250 movies all time, voted by hundred of thousands of people online. The current top 20 is as follows:
1. 9.1 The Godfather 
2. 9.1 The Shawshank Redemption
3. 9.0 The Godfather: Part II
4. 8.9 Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il
5. 8.9 Pulp Fiction
6. 8.8 Schindler’s List
7. 8.8 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
8. 8.8 Star Wars Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
9. 8.8 Casablanca
10. 8.8 Shichinin no samurai
11. 8.8 Star Wars
12. 8.8 12 Angry Men
13. 8.8 The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King
14. 8.7 Rear Window
15. 8.7 GoodFellas 
16. 8.7 Cidade de Deus
17. 8.7 Raiders of the Lost Ark
18. 8.7 C’era una volta il West
19. 8.7 The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring
20. 8.7 The Usual Suspects
Every movie-lover should own a few of those movies. If you own movies like Children of the Corn III, but you don’t own any movies on this list, you should get your movie-priorities straight.
Here is the guideline I’ve come up with:
When you come across a movie that you’re intersted in, check the rating on IMDB, and then proceed:
> Very good/Good rating: often smart to buy these movies, as you probably want to see them again some time (and again…)
> Average rating: try renting it, or wait untill it’s being shown on television.
> Bad rating: don’t buy it, don’t rent it, unless you’re watching it with a bunch of friends and are under the influence of alcohol
A good side effect of this rule (apart from saving the user money over the long term), is that it actually promotes the movie industry to invest in making good movies. Personally I always make sure that I have three or four really good movies at home, that I didn’t see yet, ready to watch. I usually buy them on Amazon, because I think they’ve got great service and prices, but there are other good shops as well.
I prefer buying movies online, because this way you have plenty of reviews at hand.
How to disturb a press conference of Kasparov? May 21, 2008
Posted by Jelger in : 'Weblog' , 1 comment so farWhy not use a flying dick?
One of the funniest ‘real life’ videos I’ve seen lately.
Toronto: The Neill Wycik Student Hotel May 20, 2008
Posted by Jelger in : Travel , add a commentI’m staying in this hotel now for two weeks, and I like it. This hotel is only open during the summer season, from May 4th until August 27th. During the college year it rents the rooms to students, in the summer in transforms into a budget hotel.
The place is not too expensive. 2008 rates: For a single room you pay $37,- a day (includes breakfast). If you’re backpacking Canada with a working visa, and you’re a member of SWAP, you pay $25,- a day. If you rent the room for a month (member of SWAP or not), you pay $540,- (no breakfast).
The hotel is great if you’re traveling Canada on a budget, and you’re tired of staying in hostel dorm rooms. Services include: laundry, housekeeping, lounge area with WiFi internet (no WiFi in rooms) and a TV (the lounge is pretty small considering the size of the building), breakfast, and a nice roofdeck view. See this video I’ve made for an overview of it all:
Before I moved to this hotel, I was staying in the Canadiana Backpackers Inn hostel, which is a really great place. But after a while you get tired of living out of your suitcase (and sharing a dorm with six people).
I’ve stayed in better hotels but I think that this one provides good value for your money, especially when you book for a month. So far the staff has been very friendly and helpful. The only downside is that when you’re staying in your room, it feels a bit like a prison room. Nonetheless: if your traveling on a budget I can certainly recommend this place.
The Toronto Islands May 19, 2008
Posted by Jelger in : Travel , 3 commentsAfter five weeks in Toronto, I decided to go and visit the Toronto Islands. They are a small group of islands just a fifteen minute ferry-fare away from downtown Toronto. The beauty of the islands actually surprised me. It’s a really nice car free place, and a good spot to escape busy downtown. Even on the sunny saturday afternoon I went there, it wasn’t ‘crowded’ at all.
You can rent a bicycle for around six dollars an hour. I can certainly recommend it, it gives you a quick overview of the islands, so you don’t have to walk for hours to find the nicest spot. Although there are some facilities on the islands like a small amusement park, a Pizza-Pizza, some washrooms, an old church, and renting companies, it’s not to commercial.
Well, enough said: below you can see the short video I’ve made about the Toronto Islands. It will give you a good impression what it’s all about.
Is it possible to make money online? May 18, 2008
Posted by Jelger in : BravoToday , add a commentI have to be fair with you. One of the reasons I started this website is to see what my options would be to actually make a buck or two on the internet as a writer/blogger. Don’t worry, there are other reasons as well, see my about page.
All my life I’ve been considering writing small articles or making some documentaries and movies. Also, this year I’ve started to realise that it would be very nice if I could create a source of passive income. Well, the result of these two things combined is BravoToday.com.
The Internet is still growing. The amount of money that is involved… is still growing. On the other hand, the ‘competition’ is also still growing. Many people try to make money online, and many of them fail. Steve Pavlina has written some good articles about this subject. If you want to monetize your website, you have to know how certain things work. You’ll have to become ‘websavvy’. I’m far from being truely websavvy, but I’m learning everyday. Another things is that every month new techniques become available. I want to be ready to use and implement them.
One of the philosophy’s I really believe in is: content first. I want to write great articles. That’s the most important thing in my opinion. It’s the only way you’re gonna get people to come back and link to your website (word of mouse). Right now I’m learning about the several options a website owner has to make a few bucks online, from advertisements to affiliate-programmes to selling stuff online like ebooks. I will start with using advertisements, later I might try different things.
For webmasters starting out or for people considering doing the same thing it might be interesting to see how a website developes. My current goal is to make ten dollars a month from this website. It’s not a big goal, and I’m sure I can do that. It would effectively cover the cost of the webhosting. I’ll get back on this subject, and tell you what works for me and what doesn’t.
The beginning May 16, 2008
Posted by Jelger in : BravoToday , 1 comment so farA website has been born
Hi there! You’ve just arrived on a website that might become big! Or not. Time will tell
On this website I am gonna give the world some very valuable content and some disposable garbage, about numerous subjects as traveling, ordinary day-to-day life, lifestyle, how te become rich (still figuring that one out though) and more.