Pete's Write

When someone thinks of a Taiwanese movie, you would not normally expect a movie in which 95% of the dialogue will be Japanese. Yet, here is a movie about a Taiwanese team based in Kagi or Chia-Yi, set during the occupation of Taiwan in the 1920s, and how the mix of Japanese, native Taiwanese, and Han Chinese go from absolute losers to feature in the final of the top middle school baseball tournament in Japan. Sure the actors are raw, but the director takes great pride in getting the accents right, and the coach is wonderful and the movie is less about nationalistic sentiment of an occupied nation, but more about beating the odds and digging deep during a difficult time when half of North Asia was under Japanese rule. It's a little longer than it could have been, some of the training scenes could have been edited out, but it's heart warming, and a good effort. Highly recommended for sports fans, and worth a watch even if you aren't one. ____________________...

Jon Favreau usually is associated with more action movies like Iron Man, Aliens and Cowboys, and he spends more time behind the camera or in the directing chair these days, but I am glad he decided to take on a different kind of project that warms not only the heart but also the stomach.. In fact, if you aren't reaching out for a cubana or some kind of sandwich after watching this, you aren't human... Jon actually took lessons from a food truck chef to make this show and that's really him chopping those veggies at top speed. This light-hearted and yet moving show depicts Jon as a chef who cooks well albeit unhappily at a top restaurant in LA, and his creative juices are suppressed by his boss, played nicely by Dustin Hoffman. A top food critic lambasts his efforts and he goes berserk,  leading to a meltdown and his sacking. At the same time, he has trouble connecting with his son, who lives with his estranged wife, played by a super hot Sofia Vegara....

When one adds speakers into an existing setup, there are a few considerations: 1) Space Do you have space, and what kind of speakers can you add - floorstanders, space for stands and space in the ceiling for speakers is no different. As it's an added on item you may already have stuff on the ceiling, such as fans, lights or even other speakers.. If they are too close together, the sound will be affected. 2) Mounting Are the speakers mounted directly onto the concrete ceiling or will they go into a false ceiling? Cutting into concrete is no mean feat.. there's lots of dust, and you will need to cover up your stuff in the home if you want to avoid dust. Trust me, they will get into everything if you don't cover up.. If there are items where dust is a no no, move them.. As for false ceilings, will the ceiling take the weight? For small speakers like the Anthony Gallos, that's usually no issue, but if you are using regular bookshelf speakers, a...

I decided to design a rack myself with the help of Nic and my ID for my mum's home, and this is a full tower rack, plus a front console which can store four CD / BR players, two set-top boxes / Modems, one processor and three amps / power amps. The rack is made from mahogany, and can be stressed to carry 300 kg or so. It has slits for ventilation, and a sliding side door to access the back panel. There are double magnets to hold the doors to prevent shaking.. and we tested the place with a solid sub to check for vibrations. In addition there's a LED light strip stuck to the wall behind the shelves. Each shelf can also be removed totally, allowing for a PA rack to slide in.. I also sized the bottom to fit up to a JL Audio F 113 or Rhythmik F15HP.. and there's an inbuilt Auralex-like pad at the bottom of the console. The front console follows the basic dimensions of my old rack, but the top is removable to access the gear inside, plus a rear access panel which o...

 New year, new gear... Well it's not 2015, so not everything is in place... But here's what I will be getting in the next few weeks or are in place recently: JL Audio E 112 - two units Auralex Gramma QED Revelation Signature Anthony Gallo A'Divas I am current waiting for things to settle before I decide on which AV amp / processor.. The MLP is sited under the fan, which I don't use for critical listening... but the blades don't hit the speakers... and they are far enough to avoid influencing the sound.. The speakers are 35 degrees from the perpendicular, pointed towards the MLP. The speakers are in line with the front speakers.  The one in the centre is meant for a future Auro Voice Of God project.. The cables were cut and buried into the ceiling.. that was one dusty and tough job... We used a combination of QED Classic and Micro.. And what's already in my current setup: PS64D8000FM Samsung plasma TV Marantz PM 11S3 : 2 channel stereo...