Pete's Write

The American blu ray review  (DTS HD MA 5.1) This is one show that tends to divide the viewers, if you liked Solaris and it's slow burn nature, then you will appreciate its more delicate development of the story. Otherwise the more meandering pace will have you reaching for the fast-forward or worst yet, wondering "are we there yet?".... but even as we use this oft quote tourist phrase, the views of Italy are so stunning, that it made me look up where Castel Del Monte and other places were that were depicted in the movie. The American is a story about a master assassin and gunsmith, who moves to a small place in Italy after some people try to kill him. What follows is a suspense, thriller with a dash of romance thrown in and also a study of the life of the lonesome killer. Of course it is only possible in Hollywood to have someone as beautiful as  Violante Placido play the hooker in a tiny small town, and the blonde-hot Thekla Reuten play another assassin. You get prett...

  Review of the Oppo BDP 95 Specifications: (The bits in bold are really exciting) High Fidelity Audio Performance: * SABRE32 Reference Audio DAC - The DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter) is one of the most important components for digital audio playback. The SABRE32 Reference ES9018 from ESS Technology is the world’s best performing 32-bit audio DAC solution targeted for high-end consumer applications and professional studio equipment. With the ESS patented 32-bit Hyperstream™ DAC architecture and Time Domain Jitter Eliminator, the SABRE32 Reference DAC delivers an unprecedented DNR (Dynamic Range) of up to 135dB and THD+N (Total Harmonic Distortion plus Noise) of -120dB, the industry’s highest performance level that will satisfy even the most demanding audio enthusiast. The BDP-95 uses two ES9018 DAC chips - one for the 7.1-channel output, and another for the dedicated stereo output. * Toroidal Power Supply - Custom designed and built by Rotel, the toroidal...

An Exceptional Year A.1.          Our economy has done exceptionally well in the past year. After two weak years in 2008 and 2009, when growth was close to zero, our GDP grew by a record 14.5% in 2010. Unemployment is down to the levels seen in early 2008, before the crisis. A.2.          We have recovered faster than most economies. The IMF has estimated how long various economies will take to get back to their potential GDP levels – in other words their potential based on longer- term trends. Singapore had recovered fully from the crisis by the second quarter of 2010, like Taiwan. Most other Asian economies did so by the end of last year, or will get back to their potential levels in the course of this year. However, the outlook for the US, the Eurozone and Japan is challenging, with recovery from the crisis expected to take at least another four years (see Chart 1 ). A.3.     ...