So how about you? What's your favorite Super Bowl commercial?

To listen to the news media, we're on the verge of a winter storm of epic proportions. While I'm a skeptic at heart, I'm becoming more of a believer every minute. We've already shoveled the drive once to get the van in the garage, and will probably have to do it several more time.

Last month I made the switch from my Blackberry (Tour) to an Android (Droid 2) phone.  One of the things that I'm loving about the Android platform is the great selection of photo and image related apps available for it.

Here are some of my favorite:

FXCamera
A great photography app with some really great effects such as:

• ToyCam - a Toy Camera Emulator
• Polandroid - a 1970's Polaroid Camera Emulator
• Fisheye - a Fisheye Lens Emulator
• SymmetriCam - a Mirror/SymmetriCam (my personal favorite)
• Warhol - a Pop Culture Cam that produces Andy Warhol-like pics.
• Normal Cam - a Basic Camera with sepia, b/w, and saturation filters.

Adobe Photoshop Express
  I've used Photoshop for years (since I studied graphic design back in the mid-90's anyway).  While this is not the most full-featured image-editor out there, it is a great one, and it's FREE!

Editing with Photoshop Express is extremely intuitive...simply drag your finger to crop, adjust color, apply effects — you name it.

• Crop, rotate, and color-correct...this is my favorite part of the app.
• Add soft focus, sepia tint, or change to black & white quickly.
• Browse your photoshop.com account using the Photo Browser.
• Add one-touch other effects like Warm Vintage and Vignette.
• Oh yeah...did I mention it's FREE.

 Camera ZOOM FX
The Pièce de résistance of Android photography apps. 

While it's not a freebie (you get what you pay for), it is hands down the most useful, and full-featured Android photography app (as of this writing).

• 40 photo fx as of the most recent release. (fisheye, mirror, greenscreen, and tons more)
• Fully customizable button set up.
• Burst shooting (really cool feature).
• Photobooth feature (shoot a 2x2 image without cropping).
• One click uploading to Twitter, Facebook, etc...
• Customizable grid overlays for perfect shot composition.
• The list goes on and on...a must have app for anyone wanting a great camera app!

So that's my short list (there are others, but these are my favorites)...what are you using?

I went with my oldest daughter Helena and two of my nieces (Lexi & Paige) to watch TRON: Legacy in 2D.

I'd been excited to see TRON: Legacy since I'd heard it was being made.  I love Jeff Bridges, and have a strong interest in 1980's video game related material.

Unfortunately, TRON: Legacy did not come close to meeting my expectations.  Nor did it meet my expectations for a film to be well paced, emotionally moving, and intellectually engaging.

Here are my quick hit thoughts on TRON: Legacy.

• The film was beautiful throughout.  The action scenes were entertaining, if not emotionally engaging.
• The pacing of the film was so poor that even my 12 year old niece noticed it.  The story was painfully slow and plodding in the middle of the second act and through the end of the film. 
• The movie tried too hard to make you feel something, the story was so thin and the characters so underdeveloped that all I felt was my butt getting numb from the wait to leave. 
• The soundtrack was just alright for me...but interesting at times.
• The casting was alright, but the woodenness of most of the cast made Michael Sheen's character seem completely out of place (but Sheen was still one of the few characters who made me feel anything during the film).

Overall I'd give it 4 out of 10 for entertainment value.  Just not nearly a strong enough story to carry a 2 hour film.  Cut it by 30 minutes and speed up the pacing and it might have been a 6 or 7.

Okay, so it's the first day of 2010.  One decade has come to an end and a new one has been birthed.

I've lived three full decades, and half of another.  I've spent my decades the following ways:

Watched Invictus with Steph last night. What a great story. I've always been intrigued by the perseverance and patience of the man.

While the story is great, the direction and pacing of the film were not so great.

Watched Avatar this afternoon. Here's my quick hit review:

* Firstly, I loved this movie.

* Great synchronicity between the medium & and the story.

* The CGI was unmatched. The world of Pandora was beyond gorgeous. I'd watch it again just for the stunningly bold visuals.

* The story contained too many storylines: big budget military sci-fi, save the planet eco-riff, and intra-species love story. But even with that, the story didn't bog down like some have suggested.

* I would add one word of caution...this film is PG-13...just remember that.

* I loved this film and will definitely watch it again.

So have you seen it? Will you? What were your thoughts?

I'm not usually a big Christmas music guy, but this year I've been in the mood for Christmas music. So I got to thinking...what are my favorite modern Christmas songs?

Here they are in order of my personal preference:

1. Better Days
2. Happy Christmas (War is Over)
3. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
4. All I Want For Christmas Is You
5. Santa Clause is Coming to Town

Okay, so I made my confessions...so fess up...what's your all time favorite Christmas song (modern or traditional)?