The LuxMob Info Tags

Welcome to Basin City, a city where a Senators maniacal son has
access to its youth, where you’re just as likely to be killed by
the police as you are a criminal and the prostitutes have their
own section of town where they can dish out their own brand of
justice independent of any officials.

Basin City is also home of Sin City the noir graphic novel (I
call them comic books) by legendary comic Frank Miller. Frank
Miller and Robert Rodguiez, with a little help from Quentin
Tarnatino bring his very pessimistic and sadistic world to life
in the new film of the same name and takes us all along on a
wild, and very violent ride through Miller’s morally bankrupt
imagination.

Sin City is everything you’d expect to hate about a movie:
drastically violent, sadistic, misogynist by anyone’s standard
and lacks any hint of morality but, despite all of that, it is
one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.

First of all it is visually stunning. Rodriguez apparently
adhered slavishly to Miller’s comic book and painstakingly took
it from the comic pages to the big screen. The settings are
stunning, and the color, this extreme black and white with
splashes of well placed color, is astounding. Rodriguez, who has
brought us films such as El Mariachi and Desperado, is just as
stylized as he’s ever been and just as brilliant. He really
brings you into this world of victim vs. victimizer where no one
really wins and everyone is a loser.

Secondly Sin City’s all star cast doesn’t disappoint, with the
exception of Jessica Alba who is out of place and completely out
of her acting league in her role as Nancy, a stripper with the
heart of gold. Some notable performances include Benicio del
Torro, who is amazing as Johnny, the decorated yet sadistic and
abusive police officer and ex-boyfriend to Brittany Murphy’s
Alice and Clive Owens who plays Murphy’s new love interest and
Johnny’s nemesis.

But the best performance of all is Mickey Rourke as Teddy a half
man, half beast thing that avenges the murder of a hooker,
Goldie, who is the only person who has ever shown him any
kindness. When she’s found dead after a night they have spent
together, Teddy is excused of the crime. He swears to find those
guilty for her murder and proceeds to stop at nothing to see it
done. This is a role Rourke was born to play. He embodies the
psychotic and violent Teddy and you can’t help but feel for him
as he sets out to exact the vengeance that has consumed his soul.

Sin City isn’t perfect however. The dialogue can start to get
old after awhile, I know it is a comic book, so that over the
top, nineteen fifties “Golly G” language is to be expected but
still it was a bit annoying. Also the story is very complicated,
having been adapted from three of Frank Miller’s comics and if
you don’t pay close enough attention you could miss how all of
the stories connect. I’ve already mentioned the violence but it
bears repeating that this is an extremely violent film. While
most of the violence and gore is stylized, (there’s a whole
sequence with a decapitated, talking, head) it is still a bit
much and if you’re of the faint of heart then this movie is not
for you.

With that said Sin City is a great film and those young males
who are a fan of Miller’s comics will not be disappointed here.
If you can stand random acts of violence, beheadings and
castrations, then take the time and see this film, it’s
definitely worth your money. If not, stay home, this isn’t a
family friendly flick.

Could there be anything better than a hot, fresh brewed cup of coffee? As you open that can of pre-ground Maxwell House Coffee, did you even know that coffee comes in different roasts? Did you know that you can roast your own coffee beans at home? If you think that the aroma of your fresh ground coffee beans can’t be beat, get a home coffee roaster, you’ll be in Java Heaven.

Roasting the coffee beans is what imparts flavor. Similar to the making of a fine wine or a hand rolled cigar, some consider the roasting of coffee beans as an art. Those that describe coffee use some of the same vocabulary they use to describe wine. Depending on the roast level chosen the beans take on different flavor characteristics. The lighter the coffee bean the less flavor it will have, the darker the coffee bean the stronger the flavor it will have.

There are generally four different categories of roast. A light roast (American) , a medium roast (Breakfast), a dark roast (French), and darkest roast (Italian or espresso). Each type of roast imparts a different appearance to the coffee beans.

When a coffee bean is roasted to an American roast the beans will have a very light color to them and they will appear dry. A medium roasted bean, or Breakfast roast will have a rich brown color and will be oily in appearance. A French roasted coffee bean will have a very oily appearance with the beans appearing very dark brown. The darkest roasted beans or Espresso beans will appear black.

Coffee roasting can easily be done in your home. Depending on the roast that you desire you can roast coffee in five to fifteen minutes. Green beans are available online from a number of sellers, as are coffee roasters. Choose different types of green coffees to sample. Drum roasters are very popular for use in the home. It’s best to consider purchasing a roaster as it will give you the most consistent finish to your beans. Some try to roast beans in frying pans, some use hot air popcorn poppers. While each of these techniques will work, as mentioned above they don’t give a consistent finish to all the beans and you will most likely be disappointed in the result.

Enjoy!

Article courtesy of barnies-coffee.com