Luke Judge

DVD News

Jane Fonda?s audacious cult classic Barbarella blasts to Blu-ray for the first time ever on July 3rd from Paramount Home Entertainment.

Who can perform a zero-gravity striptease, seduce an angel and still have time to save the universe?  Sexy, sultry, space adventurer Barbarella, that?s who! 

The terrifically titillating sci-fi romp Barbarella continues to entertain with its outrageous, out-of-this-world story and brazen sexuality. 

Jane Fonda stars as the titular heroine who lands on the planet Lythion in the year 40,000. 

Faced with robots, monsters and evil of varying stripes, she must vanquish her enemies, all while attempting?and failing?to keep her skin-tight spacesuit on. 

Along the way she receives assistance from a variety of handsome men, each of whom receives her uninhibited appreciation.  Directed by Roger Vadim (Fonda?s ex-husband), Barbarella is a kind of sexual Alice in Wonderland of the future and the film is replete with psychedelic set designs, far-out characters and an outrageously entertaining story set amongst the stars.

The Barbarella Blu-ray is presented in 1080p high definition with English Mono Dolby True HD, French Mono Dolby Digital and Spanish Mono Dolby Digital and English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.  The Blu-ray includes the theatrical trailer in high definition.

digital french spanish, july 3rd

“I feel like the paintings chose me more than I chose them,” the Birmingham author said in an e-mail. “I really respond to visual art on an emotional level.”

Indeed, a set of postcards titled “Women in the Arts” caught her eye in 2010 at a book signing for her novel, “Leaving Gee’s Bend.” it featured pieces in the permanent collection at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., and Latham used those works as prompts for the poem-a-day challenge she undergoes each April, National Poetry Month.

March, however, is Women’s History Month, and Latham is returning to Florence on Saturday to lead a program highlighting women in art and history at the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library. She’ll use as a discussion springboard her new collection of poems, “the Color of Lost Rooms,” which contains 12 of her art-inspired poems along with 15 written in the voice of historical women such as Mary Todd Lincoln, Lady Clementine Churchill and Audrey Hepburn.

“the program combines poetry, women’s history and women’s art,” said Jennifer Butler Keeton, literary outreach coordinator at the library. “There’s a wide range of possible interest, (and) I think there’s a pretty wide range of audience there.”

Latham will share the history of the women she writes about, history she was inspired to dig up thanks to recommendations from friends and family. Attendees also will work with Latham on creating a community poem in response to an artwork she will share during the presentation.

“I believe everyone has a story to tell, whether they see themselves as writers or not, and I think attendees will be surprised how easily they can become part of the story of a painting when directed to key into the emotions we all share,” Latham said.

“I hope that by sharing my experience, my connection with these women, their lives and work, it will open the door for attendees to make connections between their own experiences and this whole world of women’s history and art that’s literally at our fingertips, thanks to the digital age.”

Through the library, Latham visited the Shoals in 2010 to speak at area schools such as Hibbett Middle School and Underwood School. Keeton describes the author as being equally engaging with children and adults.

“She’s just one of the nicest and most charismatic authors we’ve had,” Keeton said. “everybody who met her last time just fell in love with her. Irene’s a very nice lady, very smart and very engaging.”

Her poetry isn’t too shabby either, Keeton said, admitting she herself can be “a little pretentious” when it comes to good literature thanks to her master’s degree in English. Latham’s work finds the balance of being both good and accessible, she said.

For her part, Latham is thankful for the opportunity to let readers know poetry can be enjoyed by anyone. perhaps Florence can adopt the Birmingham program, “My Favorite Poem,” she said. Sponsored by the Birmingham Arts Journal and the Alabama School of Fine Arts, members of the community share their favorite famous poem at the event and how it has influenced their lives.

“I think if we could share enough poems that explode the tiny moments of our lives, that allow us to bring our own emotional lives to the poems,” Latham said, “we’d be a nation of poetry-lovers.”

Sarah Carlson can be reached at 256-740-5722 or sarah.carlson@TimesDaily.com.

digital latham, mary todd lincoln, outreach coordinator, postcards

“Why would radio remain an island of analogue?” asks Ford Ennals, the chief executive of Digital Radio UK, and the man tasked with getting millions to part with their beloved analogue radios by 2015 in favour of a shiny new digital version.

Last month the controversial Digital Economy Bill became an Act. Lurking among the clauses about piracy and broadband disconnection were some pretty confusing rules regarding the future of radio. Regardless of which party forms the next Government radio’s digital switchover is now law.

Scare stories circulated that all motorists would be without radio signal in their cars by as early as 2013 without any kind of warning. Web forums and newspaper letters pages alike were filled with confused listeners asking the same questions: ‘Why do we need digital radio?’ ‘My FM signal works fine.’ ‘DAB signal isn’t even good in my area.’ ‘It’s not like TV switchover where you got lots of extra channels so what’s the point.’

Ennals, who coordinated Britain’s digital TV switchover, as the former chief executive of Digital UK, brushes these concerns aside and explains that TV’s journey to digital faced similar issues.

“People didn’t know they wanted their TVs to go digital until the market – both manufacturers and broadcasters – put their joined weight properly behind the transition by investing in unique digital content and devices, therefore creating an appetite,” he says. “But it all started with a Government trigger from Tessa Jowell in 2005, which properly kick-started the process. We went from 56 per cent digital TV penetration in 2005 to 90 per cent in 2008. This is what the Digital Economy Act will have done for radio.”

However, unlike with TV switchover, the Digital Economy Act failed to set a date for the digital transition. People have no idea when it is meant to happen. Instead the Act said that 50 per cent of all radio listening must be via digital platforms and the DAB transmitter network must match FM coverage by 2013. Then a full switchover can begin, working towards the 2015 target laid out in the Act’s White Paper, last June.

Currently only 33.4 per cent of all radio listening is digital. DAB accounts for 20.4 per cent of that with the remainder coming from digital TV and the internet, according to Rajar [Radio Joint Audience Research] figures. Rajar does not yet factor in mobile phone listening.

Ennals says the Government’s decision not to set a switchover date was a deliberate attempt to make the process ‘consumer-led’, which is how it should be. He is confident that the Act will now encourage broadcasters and manufacturers to get the market moving. But what are the benefits to consumers of going digital?

Ennals’ first answer is more choice – local stations will be available nationally and he predicts a proliferation in digital-only stations, as there are many more slots available on the DAB network than on the crowded FM spectrum.

However, with just eight national digital-only stations live now, including Q Radio and Planet Rock, Ennals admits that broadcasters so far haven’t offered enough. “There hasn’t been that ITV1, 2, 3, and 4 moment for radio – where listeners feel that there are sister stations to their favourite brands that they missing out on. There needs to be more brand extensions of existing and much loved stations,” he explains.

“The BBC are focusing on this at the moment and it will be key in helping shift over people from analogue to digital. It will only take one or two stations which really catch on to do it.”

Fully-digital radio means people can ‘tune’ their radios via the name of the station rather than by frequency, which speeds up the process and makes browsing easier. Ennals says this is a major benefit – as is the ability digital radio gives people to pause, rewind and play back radio shows. “The facility to be able to manipulate content for your own timetable is a key advantage of digital radio – especially in an on demand world. It is madness that the rest of media goes catch-up friendly and radio remains fixed in a set timetable. Digital is also much better quality” says Ennals.

Broadcasters will soon be making more use of the latest generation of touch screen radios, which could see radios syncing to people’s iTunes’ accounts and enabling them to buy songs after hearing them on the radio and other similar clever link-ups.

Ennals, for the moment, is focusing on getting these messages out to the public via retailers. Can he get everything in place by the target date of 2015? “We are confident digital listening can reach 50 per cent by 2013 – but a big step change from the broadcasters is needed,” is his guarded reply.

digital digital radio, tessa jowell

When it comes time to print your brand identity materials, there’s one overarching question for you to consider — whether to print the resulting materials on a digital printer or traditional press. There are many differences between the two processes, some of which are outlined below.

Less expensive — Digital printing is a direct-to-paper printing process. As a result, it often runs about one-half of the cost of press printing.

Lose color accuracy — Digital printing is a four-color printing process. Four colors — cyan, magenta, yellow, and black — are printed in tiny dots that when visually mixed together, create various colors. This, in addition to the different set-ups and settings on the machines from press-to-press, batch-to-batch and printer-to-printer, can produce a wide range of different color results. You can never be certain what you’ll get.

Lose color range — Four-color printing has limitations on the brightness, saturation, and range of colors available — when mixing colors in this way. To produce bright reds, oranges, blues, and purples, especially, press printing is a better choice.

Cost of proofing — Proofing is one way to produce accurate color. Proofing can be costly, especially when compared to the overall cost of the job. But, since the proof is created on the same equipment that the final job is printed on, it is often quite accurate.

Can be faster — Since no pre-press work or press setup is needed, running your job on a digital press can be faster, depending on how many jobs the printer has in the queue before yours. Some printers can even offer same-day service. Three days is a standard turnaround time for many of the web-based digital printing companies.

Limited paper choice — Digital presses can only accommodate a limited paper thickness, and many digital printing companies only offer smooth, white papers. Thus, if a thick business card is important to you, then digital printing is not your right choice.

Limited finishing choices — Foil stamping, metallic inks, and embossing services are usually not offered by digital printing houses. Some digital printers also do not offer die-cutting or special folding services.

Limited choice of material sizes, styles, and formats — Digital printers will offer a very specific “menu” or range of products. If you want to create innovative marketing materials, such as the brochure-style business cards that we create at elf design, then digital printing is not a choice for your project. Large formats are also not available with many digital printers, as the largest paper size they can accommodate is 11″ x 17″.

More costly — The difference in costs is mainly due to setup costs. For press printing, films must be produced, and plates may have to be produced as well, which are additional items that add to the overall cost. Additional time is involved in setting up and aligning the press, as well as washing the press. Also, there are more overruns from traditional printing, since you cannot program in a specific number of pages to be printed as you can with a digital printer. Most printers consider overruns to be billable, or they add an additional cost for that into the initial estimate. Jobs done on a press will typically run about twice the cost of digital printing.

Excellent color accuracy — The Pantone Matching System (PMS) offers great color accuracy. Pantone colors are mixed to precise, pre-set specifications, which are printed each year in their color matching guides. You can consult these books to see exactly what the final color will look like in advance. It’s a lot like going to the paint store and specifying colors for your home on the paint chips they offer — you know what you’ll get. So, if color accuracy is important to you, then press printing may be the best choice.

Brighter colors are available — Since the Pantone colors are mixed using inks, they can be created to be much brighter and more intense. So, if lively colors are important to your brand image, then press printing may be the way to go.

Cost of proofing — For four-color press jobs, proofing is often not too expensive when compared to the overall cost of the job. However, it can be inaccurate, depending on the type of proof run and the type of press on which your final job will be printed.

For two- or three- color jobs printed using the Pantone system, complete color proofing is often not available. However, samples of the colors are available in the Pantone books. And, inexpensive laser prints or inkjet prints can be created to view the positioning of the elements of the page. With a little imagination, you can visualize how the final job will look.

Press printing can take longer than digital — There are several additional steps involved in press printing, which are taken care of using direct-to-press, digital technology. Films and plates must be made, the press set up, run the job and then tune us needed for drying. Then cutting, folding, and other finishing must take place.

Types of paper — Choose from an entire rainbow of paper colors — fire-engine red to deep blue, sunflower yellow to pitch black. There is also a wide range of thicknesses and textures from which to choose, including specialty papers, such as vellum and metallic papers. If you are considering using nontraditional paper your card or materials, press printing is the best way to go.

Fine line screens are available — The result of this is that even under close inspection, the color will look smooth and seamless. It will also appear brighter and more intense.

Wide range of finishing techniques — All finishing options are possible with press printing. Metallic inks can be run through the press as easily as can a nonmetallic ink. Embossing, die cutting, and foil stamping can be done in traditional printing houses. You can create materials that really stand out using these techniques.

Innovative formats, shapes, and sizes are possible — Traditional press printing can accommodate a wide range of paper sizes and can result in innovative and creative finished projects. This is largely due to the “have-it-your-way” range of options, where you can specify special sizes and finishing techniques.

We hope that the above primer on the pros and cons of both digital printing and press printing helps you to decide which you will choose to produce your materials.

digital choice digital, color accuracy, paper printing, printing process