What’s up for April 16, 2015: The Knife In Your Chest Edition

Listen to What’s Up Episode 2: The Knife In Your Chest Edition

This Second episode of What’s up is packed full of Books from Audible, , and kindle, And we have even added a brand new segment. What’s Up on bard!

What’s UP in Samnet

To Get things started, Derek Lane updates us on all the newest DVS movies added to samnet. He also informs us about some excitement going on in the forums.

what’s up in samnet?

First of all, we get started by letting you know What’s up on samnet!  This week we have several new Movies, and a bit of excitement in the users forum.

What’s up in movies?

Ten Little Indians AKA And Then There Were None

rateing: PG Released: 1974

A group is invited, under false pretenses, to an isolated hotel in the Iranian desert. After dinner, a cassette tape accuses them all of crimes that they have gotten away with. One by one they begin to die, in accordance to the Ten Little Indians nursery rhyme. After a search is made of the hotel, they realize that the murderer is one of them. A few members of the group attempt to trust each other, but the question still remains, who can one trust? And who will leave the hotel alive?

Pride

rating:R Released: 2014

In 1984 20 year old closet gay Joe hesitantly arrives in London from Bromley for his first Gay Pride march and is taken under the collective wing of a group of gay men and Lesbian Steph, who meet at flamboyant Jonathan and his Welsh partner Gethin’s Soho bookshop. Not only are gays being threatened by Thatcher but the miners are on strike in response to her pit closures and Northern Irish activist Mark Ashton believes gays and miners should show solidarity. Almost by accident a mini-bus full of gays find themselves in the Welsh village of Onllwyn in the Dulais valley and through their sincere fund raising and Jonathan’s nifty disco moves persuade most of the community that they are on the same side. When a bigot tries to sabotage the partnership with a tabloid smear Mark turns it back on her with a hugely successful benefit concert to which most of the villagers, now thoroughly in tune with their gay friends, turn up. The miners are defeated and return to work.

Penguins of Madagascar

rating: G Released:2014

Super spy teams aren’t born…they’re hatched. Discover the secrets of the greatest and most hilarious covert birds in the global espionage biz: Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private. These elitists of the elite are joining forces with a chic undercover organization, The North Wind. Led by handsome and husky Agent Classified (we could tell you his name, but then…you know). Together, they must stop the villainous Dr. Octavius Brine, from destroying the world as we know it.

Mr. Turner

Rating: PG Released: 2014

Mr. Turner explores the last quarter century of the great if eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). Profoundly affected by the death of his father, loved by a housekeeper he takes for granted and occasionally exploits sexually, he forms a close relationship with a seaside landlady with whom he eventually lives incognito in Chelsea, where he dies. Throughout this, he travels, paints, stays with the country aristocracy, visits brothels, is a popular if anarchic member of the Royal Academy of Arts, has himself strapped to the mast of a ship so that he can paint a snowstorm, and is both celebrated and reviled by the public and by royalty.

Paddington

Rating: PG Released: 2014

A young Peruvian bear with a passion for all things British travels to London in search of a home. Finding himself lost and alone at Paddington Station, he begins to realize that city life is not all he had imagined – until he meets the kind Brown family, who read the label around his neck (‘Please look after this bear. Thank you.’) and offer him a temporary haven. It looks as though his luck has changed until this rarest of bears catches the eye of a museum taxidermist.

Dumb and Dumber To

Rating: R Released: 2014

It’s been 20 years and Harry Dunn has found something out – he has a daughter! Lloyd Christmas, his equally dim witted friend, takes one look at a picture of her, develops a crush, and insists the two track her down. What ensues when Harry finally agrees is a bizarre encounter with an old lady and more hilarity because of their sheer stupidity.

Into the Woods

Rating: PG Released: 2014

Into the Woods is a modern twist on the beloved Brothers Grimm fairy tales in a musical format that follows the classic tales of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel-all tied together by an original story involving a baker and his wife, their wish to begin a family and their interaction with the witch who has put a curse on them.

The Remaining

Released: 2014 Rating: R

A supernatural thriller that addresses questions of life, love and belief against an apocalyptic backdrop. A group of close friends gather for a wedding, but the celebration is shattered by a series of cataclysmic events and enemies foretold by biblical end-times prophecies. The survivors face a horrifying, uncertain future as they scramble for safety, but as their world collapses around them in chaos and terror will they choose real life through faith, or just try to survive?

Interstellar

Rating: PG Released: 2014

In the near future, Earth has been devastated by drought and famine, causing a scarcity in food and extreme changes in climate. When humanity is facing extinction, a mysterious rip in the space-time continuum is discovered, giving mankind the opportunity to widen its lifespan. A group of explorers must travel beyond our solar system in search of a planet that can sustain life. The crew of the Endurance are required to think bigger and go further than any human in history as they embark on an interstellar voyage into the unknown. Coop, the pilot of the Endurance, must decide between seeing his children again and the future of the human race.

What We Did on Our Holiday

Rating: PG Released: 2014

Doug (David Tennant) and Abi (Rosamund Pike) and their three children travel to the Scottish Highlands for Doug’s father Gordie’s (Billy Connolly) birthday party. It’s soon clear that when it comes to keeping a secret under wraps from the rest of the family, their children are their biggest liability…

The Riot Club

Rating: R Released: 2014

SPOILER: Alistair and Miles, both with aristocratic connections, start their first year at Oxford University though they are very different, Miles is down to earth and happy to have a girlfriend from a lower background, Lauren, whilst Alistair is a snob with aspirations to follow his uncle, a Tory MP. The common bond is that both become members of the Riot Club, a long established elite drinking club priding itself on hedonism and the belief that money can buy anything. Having been barred from most establishments in Oxford they have their annual dinner at the function room in a country pub, where their rowdy behaviour angers other patrons though they reimburse Chris, the landlord. They hire a prostitute but she refuses to perform group sex, then one of them rings Lauren, whom they importune to Max’s horror. Getting progressively more drunk and ingesting drugs they start to trash the room and when Chris comes to complain Alistair savagely assaults him, landing him in hospital. Though …

Coalition

Rating: PG Released: 2015

In 2010 in the run-up to the British election PM Gordon Brown, pushed by spin doctor Peter Mandelson, nervously agrees to a televised debate with the Conservative leader David Cameron and his Lib Dem counterpart Nick Clegg. Polls show Clegg to be the most popular as a result. However on election night his party gets less votes than expected but the Conservatives are also nineteen seats short of an overall majority. Shadow chancellor George Osborne suggests to Cameron a coalition with the Lib Dems to secure the required amount of seats but some Labour ministers have the same idea . Liberal elder statesman Paddy Ashdown tells Clegg the party’s natural affinity is with Labour but Clegg is idealistic and feels that to ally himself with the stronger Conservatives would help him to bring about the changes the country needs. And thus begins a very strange and not always harmonious coalition.

Fletch Lives

Rating: PG Released: 1989

Fletch is a reporter for a Los Angeles newspaper, but he acts more like a detective. When an obscure relative leaves him a Louisiana mansion in his will, Fletch is naturally curious. Arriving in Louisiana, events occur that make him suspect that all is not well, and there is more to the property than he has been led to believe.

Birdman

Rating: R Released: 2014

Actor Riggan Thomson is most famous for his movie role from over twenty years ago of the comic book superhero Birdman in the blockbuster movie of the same name and its two equally popular sequels. His association with the role took over his life, where Birdman is more renowned than “Riggan Thomson” the actor. Now past middle age, Riggan is trying to establish himself as a true artist by writing, directing, and starring in as well as  co-producing with his best friend Jake his Broadway debut; an adaptation of Raymond Carver ‘s story, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. He is staking his name, what little artistic reputation that comes with that name and his life savings on the project, and as such will do anything needed to make the play a success.

What’s up in the forums?

According to our “users forum,” last week, David M has started the baseball chat.  He wrote: > Though today is not such a beautiful day for baseball in Chicago, we can anticipate another great season across the country.  Even in Chicago, optimism raigns supreme.  And so it is, with the often immitated, never duplicated Samobile baseball chat. > > Beginning on Friday, April 10 at 9:00 PM ET, 8:00 CT, 7:00 mt and 6:00 pt, you are welcome to come into the Sports of all Sorts room to talk baseball.  Who, as a rookie will wow the big leagues this year?  Who will win MVP honors?  Will the Braves be back?  Will the Cubs actually win?  Will the Cardinals fly high again?  Will the Giants keep their giant reputation without the big Panda?  Will the Dodgers prove to the world that money can buy you love?  Stay tuned as these questions and many others are answered during this baseball season!  Of course, all of us as baseball fans have thoughts about these and other questions about the game.  So come on in, express your thoughts, talk about the good old days and make your predictions for the season known.   Se you all next week.

So how do I get on that samnet that you’re talking about… you may ask?

Simply go to samobile.net and sign in, if you’re an existing member.  If not, consider starting your 7 day trial, and checking out all the network has to offer.

What’s up on Audible!

Hardwired

Written by: Meredith Wild Narrated by: Jennifer Stark Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins series: Hacker, Book 1 Category: Romance

Determined to overcome a difficult past, Erica Hathaway learns early on how to make it on her own. Days after her college graduation, she finds herself face to face with a panel of investors who will make or break her fledgling startup. The only thing she didn’t prepare for was going weak in the knees over an arrogant and gorgeous investor who’s seemingly determined to derail her presentation. Download from Audible

The Unleashing: Call of Crows, Book 1

Written by: Shelly Laurenston Narrated by: Johanna Parker Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins Series: Call of Crows, Book 1 Category: Romance

Kera Watson never expected to face death behind a Los Angeles coffee shop. Not after surviving two tours lugging an M16 around the Middle East. If it wasn’t for her hot Viking customer showing up too late to help, nobody would even have seen her die. In uncountable years of service to the Allfather Odin, Ludvig “Vig” Rundstrom has never seen anyone kick ass with quite as much style as Kera. He knows one way to save her life – but she might not like it. Signing up with the Crows will get Kera a new set of battle buddies: cackling, gossiping, squabbling, party-hearty women. With wings. So not the marines. But Vig can’t give up on someone as special as Kera. Download from Audible

The Gemini Effect

Written by: Chuck Grossart Narrated by: Phil Gigante Category: Science Fiction & Fantasy

A single raindrop opens a Pandora’s box of horrors when the spawn of perverse genetic research performed during World War II – refined by Cold War enemies and perfected by nature – are unleashed on an unsuspecting world. By dawn only a dead city remains, eerily quiet and still except for the mutant beasts who hide from the light, multiply, and await the shadows of day’s end.

Ordered to investigate the unfolding crisis, biowarfare specialist Carolyn Ridenour barely escapes the creatures’ nocturnal onslaught, saved in the nick of time by Colonel Garrett Hoffmann, who has lost hundreds of his troops to the mutant army that neither bombs nor bullets can break.

Download from Audible

Warspite: Ark Royal, Book 4

Written by: Christopher G. Nuttall Narrated by: Ralph Lister Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins Category: Science Fiction & Fantasy

The First Interstellar War is over, but the Royal Navy still has plenty of work to do. As Earth struggles to recover from the bombardment, Captain John Naiser is placed in command of HMS Warspite – an experimental heavy cruiser – and ordered to escort a squadron of colony ships to a star system of immense strategic importance. But as the crew struggle to survive hundreds of light years from Earth, they find themselves dealing with the legacy of the war…and a threat that may sow the seeds of renewed conflict or a deadly civil war that will rip the human sphere apart.

Download from Audible

Isle of Dogs

Written by: Patricia Cornwell Narrated by: Karen White Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins Category: Mysteries & Thrillers

Newly installed superintendent of the Virginia State Police, Judy Hammer, and her right hand and confidant, Andy Brazil, are at their wits’ end trying to protect the public from the politicians – and vice versa. And amid the mayhem, an island off the coast of Virginia declares UDI, claiming its independence lies in the history of America’s first settlers – those who set sail from London’s Isle of Dogs in 1607.

Download from Audible

Darknet

Written by: Matthew Mather Narrated by: Tom Taylorson Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins Category: Mysteries & Thrillers

One minute Jake O’Connell is on top of the world, with a beautiful family and bright future as a stock broker in New York; the next it’s all ripped away when he’s embroiled in a fraud investigation, his childhood friend is murdered, and he finds himself on the run. Dodging the FBI and targeted by the Mob, Jake is thrown into a Wall Street underworld of crypto currencies and autonomous corporations, where he discovers a dark secret setting the world on a path to destruction. He must evade the shadowy forces hunting him and find a way to redemption – but the faster he runs, the deeper he becomes entangled. In the end his only path forward is to return to the ghosts of his past.

Download from Audible

What’s up in Kindle!

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

The Dead Key

by: D. M. Pulley Length:  467 pages (Contains Real Page Numbers) Category: Mysterys and Thrillers

When engineer Iris Latch gets her first field assignment out of college, surveying an abandoned bank, she’s just looking forward to a break from her cubicle. Instead, hidden among cobwebbed desks and dusty files untouched for twenty years, she finds hints that something rotten used to go on in the back offices. She comes to believe that someone else, a young secretary named Beatrice Baker, may have left those clues on purpose—and at great risk to herself. The “dead key” in the title can grant access to wealth and forgotten secrets, but for me, the most valuable thing it unlocks is Iris’s connection to this young woman from the past. They share a lonely but fierce spirit that won’t let them step aside as corrupt and powerful men go unpunished. Their stories intertwine even though they don’t know each other, and in a strange way, they are counting on each other to expose the truth at last.

Download on Kindle Download on Audible

Literature & Fiction

It Had to Be Him (An It Had to Be Novel)

By: Tamra Baumann Length:  287 pages (Contains Real Page Numbers) Category: Romance

It Had to Be Him is full of delicious secrets. Meg Anderson has secrets. Her gorgeous ex, Josh Granger, has secrets in spades. And the town of Anderson Butte—well, you can imagine how hush-hush a small community can be.

Anderson Butte is just that kind of place. A town where, if your ex comes looking for you and your daughter, he’ll never be able to find you because the locals will go to their graves swearing they’ve never met you. They are fiercely loyal, even to misfit former residents like Meg. Of course, if your ex turns out to be the kind of guy who’s willing to take a bullet from your gun-toting grandmother to prove how much he wants you back—like Josh does—they might be willing to give him a second chance. Download on Kindle Download on Audible

Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It [Kindle Edition]

By: Marc Goodman Length:  464 pages Category: NonFiction

NEW YORK TIMES and WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER One of the world’s leading authorities on global security, Marc Goodman takes readers deep into the digital underground to expose the alarming ways criminals, corporations, and even countries are using new and emerging technologies against you—and how this makes everyone more vulnerable than ever imagined.

Technological advances have benefited our world in immeasurable ways, but there is an ominous flip side: our technology can be turned against us. Hackers can activate baby monitors to spy on families, thieves are analyzing social media posts to plot home invasions, and stalkers are exploiting the GPS on smart phones to track their victims’ every move. We all know today’s criminals can steal identities, drain online bank accounts, and wipe out computer servers, but that’s just the beginning. To date, no computer has been created that could not be hacked—a sobering fact given our radical dependence on these machines for everything from our nation’s power grid to air traffic control to financial services. Yet, as ubiquitous as technology seems today, just over the horizon is a tidal wave of scientific progress that will leave our heads spinning. If today’s Internet is the size of a golf ball, tomorrow’s will be the size of the sun. Welcome to the Internet of Things, a living, breathing, global information grid where every physical object will be online. But with greater connections come greater risks. Implantable medical devices such as pacemakers can be hacked to deliver a lethal jolt of electricity and a car’s brakes can be disabled at high speed from miles away. Meanwhile, 3-D printers can produce AK-47s, bioterrorists can download the recipe for Spanish flu, and cartels are using fleets of drones to ferry drugs across borders. With explosive insights based upon a career in law enforcement and counterterrorism, Marc Goodman takes readers on a vivid journey through the darkest recesses of the Internet. Reading like science fiction, but based in science fact, Future Crimes explores how bad actors are primed to hijack the technologies of tomorrow, including robotics, synthetic biology, nanotechnology, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. These fields hold the power to create a world of unprecedented abundance and prosperity. But the technological bedrock upon which we are building our common future is deeply unstable and, like a house of cards, can come crashing down at any moment. Future Crimes provides a mind-blowing glimpse into the dark side of technological innovation and the unintended consequences of our connected world. Goodman offers a way out with clear steps we must take to survive the progress unfolding before us. Provocative, thrilling, and ultimately empowering, Future Crimes will serve as an urgent call to action that shows how we can take back control over our own devices and harness technology’s tremendous power for the betterment of humanity—before it’s too late.

Download on Kindle Download on Audible

Betrayed by Your Kiss

by: Laura Landon Length:  270 pages (Contains Real Page Numbers) Category: Romance

It should have been the happiest night of her life…

Lady Olivia Sheridan knows one thing: she has loved Lord Damien forever. But when her beloved is accused of fathering another woman’s child, Olivia’s world is shattered in ways she never thought possible. Especially when Damien’s accuser sets a huge price on his head, and Olivia discovers Damien’s death will be the only outcome…unless she does the one thing he will never forgive her for doing.

When Olivia’s plan to save him goes disastrously, dangerously awry, Damien doesn’t think he’ll ever see the light of day again and, with bitterness, he realizes that the woman he loves is capable of the ultimate betrayal.

Now, four years later, Damien has returned. His eye is on one thing: seeking revenge for what Olivia did to him. Only his heart may get in the way…

Because hell hath no fury…like a man betrayed.

Download on Audible

Crock Pot: Crock Pot Recipes – Simple And Delicious Crock Pot Recipes For The Whole Family

By: John Web Length:  113 pages (estimated) Category: Cook Books

Simple And Delicious Crock Pot Recipes 44+ Crock Pot Recipes For The Whole Family BONUS: Get Free Recipes! Discover more than 44 delicious and satisfying Crock Pot recipes that the whole family is sure to enjoy. Each recipe calls for simple and easy to find ingredients, and beginner to intermediate level cooking skills. Start your day bright eyed and bushy tailed by preparing slow cooked breakfast dishes such as the broccoli and bacon quiche and peanut butter and jelly oatmeal that you can whip up the night before. Warm up your tummies with savory soups, stews, chowders, and chilis, such as the classic chicken soup and the bacon and corn chowder. For lunches and dinners, you no longer have to spend so much time in the kitchen. All you need to do is throw together the ingredients for your main course. Choose from a variety of slow cooked beef, lamb, pork, poultry and seafood dishes. Of course, everyone in the family needs to have their everyday serving of vegetables. Stir together a medley of vegetables in your Crock Pot that even the kids will love! Last but not the least, dig your forks into Crock Pot desserts apple bread pudding and carrot cake. Who says you cannot slow cook your sweets?

Download on Kindle

What’s up in Bard books!

Books

Be the message: taking your faith beyond words to a life of action

Book Number: DB80615 By: Shook, Kerry; Shook, Chris. Reading time: 6 hours, 8 minutes. Read by Gregory Gorton. Category:  Religion

The authors present their views on applying the Christian gospel in intention and action as well as words and sermons. Biblical context is provided for the authors’ message, as well as examples of how this approach has affected both their faith and their daily lives. Bestseller. 2014.

Download from bard

Now I see you: a memoir

Book Number: DB80131 By: Kear, Nicole C. Reading time: 8 hours, 17 minutes. Read by Celeste Lawson. Category: Disability

Kear, diagnosed at age nineteen with retinitis pigmentosa, shares her struggles with acceptance of the condition and the risks and adventures she engaged in during her twenties. Describes falling in love and having children, and how she focused on them before admitting to having RP. Strong language. 2014.

Download from bard

The constant gardener: a novel

Book Number: DB51467 By:Le Carre?, John. Reading time: 18 hours, 17 minutes. Read by David Hartley-Margolin. Category: Suspense Fiction

After his young wife Tessa’s murder in Kenya, British diplomat Justin Quayle investigates her death and the disappearance of her African colleague. He eventually discovers that Tessa had uncovered a scheme involving a multinational pharmaceutical company that unethically tests drugs on the local populace. Strong language. Bestseller. 2001.

Download from bard:

From the corner of his eye

Book Number: DB51274 By: Koontz, Dean R, (Dean Ray). Reading time: 23 hours, 25 minutes. Read by Chuck Benson. Categorys:  Suspense Fiction

Junior Cain feels rejuvenated after pushing his beloved bride to her death, but he senses enemies in a spooky cop and a boy named Bartholomew. As Cain ruthlessly seeks Barty, the gifted boy uses quantum physics to overcome his blindness. Violence, some descriptions of sex, and some strong language. Bestseller. 2000.

download from Bard

Fast food nation: the dark side of the all-American meal

Book Number: DB51561 By: Schlosser, Eric. Reading time: 13 hours, 34 minutes. Read by Randy Atcher. Category:  Diet and Nutrition, Social Sciences

An expose? of the fast-food industry, revealing its dubious production techniques, marketing strategies, and exploitation of workers. Deplores the industry’s indifference to health problems it has fostered (obesity, food-borne disease) and criticizes its role in the spread of global corporate culture. Suggests solutions to the “McDonaldization of America.” Bestseller. 2001.

Download from bard

Remember me

Book Number: DB50471 By: Sala, Sharon. Reading time: 8 hours, 39 minutes. Read by Sharon Murray. Category:  Romantic suspense fiction

Construction worker Clay LeGrand’s wife, Frankie, disappears on their first anniversary, and Denver police assume Clay killed her. Two years later, Frankie appears in their house, with evidence of a concussion and no memory of having been gone. Some explicit descriptions of sex, some violence, and some strong language. 1999.

Download from bard

Aretha: from these roots

Book Number: DB49374 By: Franklin, Aretha; Ritz, David. Reading time: 7 hours, 19 minutes. Read by Mary Kane. Category: Music Appreciation and History,  Biography of Musicians and Composers

Hoping to set the record straight about her life, Franklin tells of her childhood, the noted performers she grew up around, the mistakes she made in business and in love, the honors she has received, and her recent enrollment in the Juilliard School of Music. 1999. Download from bard

Shania Twain

DB49365 by:McCall, Michael. Reading time: 4 hours, 45 minutes. Read by Mary Ann Nichols. Category:  Biography of Musicians and Composers,  Music Appreciation and History

Biography of the Canadian country-pop singer-songwriter who, after an unspectacular 1993 debut album, gained widespread fame and awards with her second album, which was expensively produced by her now-husband Robert Lange. Details such controversies as the dismissal of her manager and Twain’s initial claim of being Native American. 1999.

Download on bard

What’s up in bard magazines

Sports Illustrated

date: (March 30, 2015) Reading time: 7 hours, 10 minutes. Read by Mark Ashby.

Download from bard

Talking Book Topics

Date: (March-April 2015 Volume 81, Number 2) Reading time: 4 hours, 46 minutes. Read by Mark Ashby; Maria Pino.

Download from bard

Smithsonian

Date: (February 2015)

Download from bard

People

Date: (March 30, 2015) Reading time: 2 hours, 10 minutes. Read by Joanne Giaquinta.

Download from bard

The New York Times Book Review

Date:(March 22, 2015) Reading time: 4 hours, 8 minutes. Read by Gary Telles; Mary Kane.

Download from bard

Feel free to send your feedback on this podcast to: whatsuppodcast1@gmail.com If using iBlink Radio for your iOS device, the Kindle Fire, the Mac or your Android device. You can even leave us an iReport right from the iBlink app.

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You can always find the latest on this show and others on the SeroTalk Podcast NetworkListen to What’s Up Episode 2: The Knife In Your Chest Edition

This Second episode of What’s up is packed full of Books from Audible, , and kindle, And we have even added a brand new segment. What’s Up on bard!

What’s UP in Samnet

To Get things started, Derek Lane updates us on all the newest DVS movies added to samnet. He also informs us about some excitement going on in the forums.

what’s up in samnet?

First of all, we get started by letting you know What’s up on samnet!  This week we have several new Movies, and a bit of excitement in the users forum.

What’s up in movies?

Ten Little Indians AKA And Then There Were None

rateing: PG Released: 1974

A group is invited, under false pretenses, to an isolated hotel in the Iranian desert. After dinner, a cassette tape accuses them all of crimes that they have gotten away with. One by one they begin to die, in accordance to the Ten Little Indians nursery rhyme. After a search is made of the hotel, they realize that the murderer is one of them. A few members of the group attempt to trust each other, but the question still remains, who can one trust? And who will leave the hotel alive?

Pride

rating:R Released: 2014

In 1984 20 year old closet gay Joe hesitantly arrives in London from Bromley for his first Gay Pride march and is taken under the collective wing of a group of gay men and Lesbian Steph, who meet at flamboyant Jonathan and his Welsh partner Gethin’s Soho bookshop. Not only are gays being threatened by Thatcher but the miners are on strike in response to her pit closures and Northern Irish activist Mark Ashton believes gays and miners should show solidarity. Almost by accident a mini-bus full of gays find themselves in the Welsh village of Onllwyn in the Dulais valley and through their sincere fund raising and Jonathan’s nifty disco moves persuade most of the community that they are on the same side. When a bigot tries to sabotage the partnership with a tabloid smear Mark turns it back on her with a hugely successful benefit concert to which most of the villagers, now thoroughly in tune with their gay friends, turn up. The miners are defeated and return to work.

Penguins of Madagascar

rating: G Released:2014

Super spy teams aren’t born…they’re hatched. Discover the secrets of the greatest and most hilarious covert birds in the global espionage biz: Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private. These elitists of the elite are joining forces with a chic undercover organization, The North Wind. Led by handsome and husky Agent Classified (we could tell you his name, but then…you know). Together, they must stop the villainous Dr. Octavius Brine, from destroying the world as we know it.

Mr. Turner

Rating: PG Released: 2014

Mr. Turner explores the last quarter century of the great if eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). Profoundly affected by the death of his father, loved by a housekeeper he takes for granted and occasionally exploits sexually, he forms a close relationship with a seaside landlady with whom he eventually lives incognito in Chelsea, where he dies. Throughout this, he travels, paints, stays with the country aristocracy, visits brothels, is a popular if anarchic member of the Royal Academy of Arts, has himself strapped to the mast of a ship so that he can paint a snowstorm, and is both celebrated and reviled by the public and by royalty.

Paddington

Rating: PG Released: 2014

A young Peruvian bear with a passion for all things British travels to London in search of a home. Finding himself lost and alone at Paddington Station, he begins to realize that city life is not all he had imagined – until he meets the kind Brown family, who read the label around his neck (‘Please look after this bear. Thank you.’) and offer him a temporary haven. It looks as though his luck has changed until this rarest of bears catches the eye of a museum taxidermist.

Dumb and Dumber To

Rating: R Released: 2014

It’s been 20 years and Harry Dunn has found something out – he has a daughter! Lloyd Christmas, his equally dim witted friend, takes one look at a picture of her, develops a crush, and insists the two track her down. What ensues when Harry finally agrees is a bizarre encounter with an old lady and more hilarity because of their sheer stupidity.

Into the Woods

Rating: PG Released: 2014

Into the Woods is a modern twist on the beloved Brothers Grimm fairy tales in a musical format that follows the classic tales of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel-all tied together by an original story involving a baker and his wife, their wish to begin a family and their interaction with the witch who has put a curse on them.

The Remaining

Released: 2014 Rating: R

A supernatural thriller that addresses questions of life, love and belief against an apocalyptic backdrop. A group of close friends gather for a wedding, but the celebration is shattered by a series of cataclysmic events and enemies foretold by biblical end-times prophecies. The survivors face a horrifying, uncertain future as they scramble for safety, but as their world collapses around them in chaos and terror will they choose real life through faith, or just try to survive?

Interstellar

Rating: PG Released: 2014

In the near future, Earth has been devastated by drought and famine, causing a scarcity in food and extreme changes in climate. When humanity is facing extinction, a mysterious rip in the space-time continuum is discovered, giving mankind the opportunity to widen its lifespan. A group of explorers must travel beyond our solar system in search of a planet that can sustain life. The crew of the Endurance are required to think bigger and go further than any human in history as they embark on an interstellar voyage into the unknown. Coop, the pilot of the Endurance, must decide between seeing his children again and the future of the human race.

What We Did on Our Holiday

Rating: PG Released: 2014

Doug (David Tennant) and Abi (Rosamund Pike) and their three children travel to the Scottish Highlands for Doug’s father Gordie’s (Billy Connolly) birthday party. It’s soon clear that when it comes to keeping a secret under wraps from the rest of the family, their children are their biggest liability…

The Riot Club

Rating: R Released: 2014

SPOILER: Alistair and Miles, both with aristocratic connections, start their first year at Oxford University though they are very different, Miles is down to earth and happy to have a girlfriend from a lower background, Lauren, whilst Alistair is a snob with aspirations to follow his uncle, a Tory MP. The common bond is that both become members of the Riot Club, a long established elite drinking club priding itself on hedonism and the belief that money can buy anything. Having been barred from most establishments in Oxford they have their annual dinner at the function room in a country pub, where their rowdy behaviour angers other patrons though they reimburse Chris, the landlord. They hire a prostitute but she refuses to perform group sex, then one of them rings Lauren, whom they importune to Max’s horror. Getting progressively more drunk and ingesting drugs they start to trash the room and when Chris comes to complain Alistair savagely assaults him, landing him in hospital. Though …

Coalition

Rating: PG Released: 2015

In 2010 in the run-up to the British election PM Gordon Brown, pushed by spin doctor Peter Mandelson, nervously agrees to a televised debate with the Conservative leader David Cameron and his Lib Dem counterpart Nick Clegg. Polls show Clegg to be the most popular as a result. However on election night his party gets less votes than expected but the Conservatives are also nineteen seats short of an overall majority. Shadow chancellor George Osborne suggests to Cameron a coalition with the Lib Dems to secure the required amount of seats but some Labour ministers have the same idea . Liberal elder statesman Paddy Ashdown tells Clegg the party’s natural affinity is with Labour but Clegg is idealistic and feels that to ally himself with the stronger Conservatives would help him to bring about the changes the country needs. And thus begins a very strange and not always harmonious coalition.

Fletch Lives

Rating: PG Released: 1989

Fletch is a reporter for a Los Angeles newspaper, but he acts more like a detective. When an obscure relative leaves him a Louisiana mansion in his will, Fletch is naturally curious. Arriving in Louisiana, events occur that make him suspect that all is not well, and there is more to the property than he has been led to believe.

Birdman

Rating: R Released: 2014

Actor Riggan Thomson is most famous for his movie role from over twenty years ago of the comic book superhero Birdman in the blockbuster movie of the same name and its two equally popular sequels. His association with the role took over his life, where Birdman is more renowned than “Riggan Thomson” the actor. Now past middle age, Riggan is trying to establish himself as a true artist by writing, directing, and starring in as well as  co-producing with his best friend Jake his Broadway debut; an adaptation of Raymond Carver ‘s story, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. He is staking his name, what little artistic reputation that comes with that name and his life savings on the project, and as such will do anything needed to make the play a success.

What’s up in the forums?

According to our “users forum,” last week, David M has started the baseball chat.  He wrote: > Though today is not such a beautiful day for baseball in Chicago, we can anticipate another great season across the country.  Even in Chicago, optimism raigns supreme.  And so it is, with the often immitated, never duplicated Samobile baseball chat. > > Beginning on Friday, April 10 at 9:00 PM ET, 8:00 CT, 7:00 mt and 6:00 pt, you are welcome to come into the Sports of all Sorts room to talk baseball.  Who, as a rookie will wow the big leagues this year?  Who will win MVP honors?  Will the Braves be back?  Will the Cubs actually win?  Will the Cardinals fly high again?  Will the Giants keep their giant reputation without the big Panda?  Will the Dodgers prove to the world that money can buy you love?  Stay tuned as these questions and many others are answered during this baseball season!  Of course, all of us as baseball fans have thoughts about these and other questions about the game.  So come on in, express your thoughts, talk about the good old days and make your predictions for the season known.   Se you all next week.

So how do I get on that samnet that you’re talking about… you may ask?

Simply go to samobile.net and sign in, if you’re an existing member.  If not, consider starting your 7 day trial, and checking out all the network has to offer.

What’s up on Audible!

Hardwired

Written by: Meredith Wild Narrated by: Jennifer Stark Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins series: Hacker, Book 1 Category: Romance

Determined to overcome a difficult past, Erica Hathaway learns early on how to make it on her own. Days after her college graduation, she finds herself face to face with a panel of investors who will make or break her fledgling startup. The only thing she didn’t prepare for was going weak in the knees over an arrogant and gorgeous investor who’s seemingly determined to derail her presentation. Download from Audible

The Unleashing: Call of Crows, Book 1

Written by: Shelly Laurenston Narrated by: Johanna Parker Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins Series: Call of Crows, Book 1 Category: Romance

Kera Watson never expected to face death behind a Los Angeles coffee shop. Not after surviving two tours lugging an M16 around the Middle East. If it wasn’t for her hot Viking customer showing up too late to help, nobody would even have seen her die. In uncountable years of service to the Allfather Odin, Ludvig “Vig” Rundstrom has never seen anyone kick ass with quite as much style as Kera. He knows one way to save her life – but she might not like it. Signing up with the Crows will get Kera a new set of battle buddies: cackling, gossiping, squabbling, party-hearty women. With wings. So not the marines. But Vig can’t give up on someone as special as Kera. Download from Audible

The Gemini Effect

Written by: Chuck Grossart Narrated by: Phil Gigante Category: Science Fiction & Fantasy

A single raindrop opens a Pandora’s box of horrors when the spawn of perverse genetic research performed during World War II – refined by Cold War enemies and perfected by nature – are unleashed on an unsuspecting world. By dawn only a dead city remains, eerily quiet and still except for the mutant beasts who hide from the light, multiply, and await the shadows of day’s end.

Ordered to investigate the unfolding crisis, biowarfare specialist Carolyn Ridenour barely escapes the creatures’ nocturnal onslaught, saved in the nick of time by Colonel Garrett Hoffmann, who has lost hundreds of his troops to the mutant army that neither bombs nor bullets can break.

Download from Audible

Warspite: Ark Royal, Book 4

Written by: Christopher G. Nuttall Narrated by: Ralph Lister Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins Category: Science Fiction & Fantasy

The First Interstellar War is over, but the Royal Navy still has plenty of work to do. As Earth struggles to recover from the bombardment, Captain John Naiser is placed in command of HMS Warspite – an experimental heavy cruiser – and ordered to escort a squadron of colony ships to a star system of immense strategic importance. But as the crew struggle to survive hundreds of light years from Earth, they find themselves dealing with the legacy of the war…and a threat that may sow the seeds of renewed conflict or a deadly civil war that will rip the human sphere apart.

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Isle of Dogs

Written by: Patricia Cornwell Narrated by: Karen White Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins Category: Mysteries & Thrillers

Newly installed superintendent of the Virginia State Police, Judy Hammer, and her right hand and confidant, Andy Brazil, are at their wits’ end trying to protect the public from the politicians – and vice versa. And amid the mayhem, an island off the coast of Virginia declares UDI, claiming its independence lies in the history of America’s first settlers – those who set sail from London’s Isle of Dogs in 1607.

Download from Audible

Darknet

Written by: Matthew Mather Narrated by: Tom Taylorson Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins Category: Mysteries & Thrillers

One minute Jake O’Connell is on top of the world, with a beautiful family and bright future as a stock broker in New York; the next it’s all ripped away when he’s embroiled in a fraud investigation, his childhood friend is murdered, and he finds himself on the run. Dodging the FBI and targeted by the Mob, Jake is thrown into a Wall Street underworld of crypto currencies and autonomous corporations, where he discovers a dark secret setting the world on a path to destruction. He must evade the shadowy forces hunting him and find a way to redemption – but the faster he runs, the deeper he becomes entangled. In the end his only path forward is to return to the ghosts of his past.

Download from Audible

What’s up in Kindle!

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

The Dead Key

by: D. M. Pulley Length:  467 pages (Contains Real Page Numbers) Category: Mysterys and Thrillers

When engineer Iris Latch gets her first field assignment out of college, surveying an abandoned bank, she’s just looking forward to a break from her cubicle. Instead, hidden among cobwebbed desks and dusty files untouched for twenty years, she finds hints that something rotten used to go on in the back offices. She comes to believe that someone else, a young secretary named Beatrice Baker, may have left those clues on purpose—and at great risk to herself. The “dead key” in the title can grant access to wealth and forgotten secrets, but for me, the most valuable thing it unlocks is Iris’s connection to this young woman from the past. They share a lonely but fierce spirit that won’t let them step aside as corrupt and powerful men go unpunished. Their stories intertwine even though they don’t know each other, and in a strange way, they are counting on each other to expose the truth at last.

Download on Kindle Download on Audible

Literature & Fiction

It Had to Be Him (An It Had to Be Novel)

By: Tamra Baumann Length:  287 pages (Contains Real Page Numbers) Category: Romance

It Had to Be Him is full of delicious secrets. Meg Anderson has secrets. Her gorgeous ex, Josh Granger, has secrets in spades. And the town of Anderson Butte—well, you can imagine how hush-hush a small community can be.

Anderson Butte is just that kind of place. A town where, if your ex comes looking for you and your daughter, he’ll never be able to find you because the locals will go to their graves swearing they’ve never met you. They are fiercely loyal, even to misfit former residents like Meg. Of course, if your ex turns out to be the kind of guy who’s willing to take a bullet from your gun-toting grandmother to prove how much he wants you back—like Josh does—they might be willing to give him a second chance. Download on Kindle Download on Audible

Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It [Kindle Edition]

By: Marc Goodman Length:  464 pages Category: NonFiction

NEW YORK TIMES and WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER One of the world’s leading authorities on global security, Marc Goodman takes readers deep into the digital underground to expose the alarming ways criminals, corporations, and even countries are using new and emerging technologies against you—and how this makes everyone more vulnerable than ever imagined.

Technological advances have benefited our world in immeasurable ways, but there is an ominous flip side: our technology can be turned against us. Hackers can activate baby monitors to spy on families, thieves are analyzing social media posts to plot home invasions, and stalkers are exploiting the GPS on smart phones to track their victims’ every move. We all know today’s criminals can steal identities, drain online bank accounts, and wipe out computer servers, but that’s just the beginning. To date, no computer has been created that could not be hacked—a sobering fact given our radical dependence on these machines for everything from our nation’s power grid to air traffic control to financial services. Yet, as ubiquitous as technology seems today, just over the horizon is a tidal wave of scientific progress that will leave our heads spinning. If today’s Internet is the size of a golf ball, tomorrow’s will be the size of the sun. Welcome to the Internet of Things, a living, breathing, global information grid where every physical object will be online. But with greater connections come greater risks. Implantable medical devices such as pacemakers can be hacked to deliver a lethal jolt of electricity and a car’s brakes can be disabled at high speed from miles away. Meanwhile, 3-D printers can produce AK-47s, bioterrorists can download the recipe for Spanish flu, and cartels are using fleets of drones to ferry drugs across borders. With explosive insights based upon a career in law enforcement and counterterrorism, Marc Goodman takes readers on a vivid journey through the darkest recesses of the Internet. Reading like science fiction, but based in science fact, Future Crimes explores how bad actors are primed to hijack the technologies of tomorrow, including robotics, synthetic biology, nanotechnology, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. These fields hold the power to create a world of unprecedented abundance and prosperity. But the technological bedrock upon which we are building our common future is deeply unstable and, like a house of cards, can come crashing down at any moment. Future Crimes provides a mind-blowing glimpse into the dark side of technological innovation and the unintended consequences of our connected world. Goodman offers a way out with clear steps we must take to survive the progress unfolding before us. Provocative, thrilling, and ultimately empowering, Future Crimes will serve as an urgent call to action that shows how we can take back control over our own devices and harness technology’s tremendous power for the betterment of humanity—before it’s too late.

Download on Kindle Download on Audible

Betrayed by Your Kiss

by: Laura Landon Length:  270 pages (Contains Real Page Numbers) Category: Romance

It should have been the happiest night of her life…

Lady Olivia Sheridan knows one thing: she has loved Lord Damien forever. But when her beloved is accused of fathering another woman’s child, Olivia’s world is shattered in ways she never thought possible. Especially when Damien’s accuser sets a huge price on his head, and Olivia discovers Damien’s death will be the only outcome…unless she does the one thing he will never forgive her for doing.

When Olivia’s plan to save him goes disastrously, dangerously awry, Damien doesn’t think he’ll ever see the light of day again and, with bitterness, he realizes that the woman he loves is capable of the ultimate betrayal.

Now, four years later, Damien has returned. His eye is on one thing: seeking revenge for what Olivia did to him. Only his heart may get in the way…

Because hell hath no fury…like a man betrayed.

Download on Audible

Crock Pot: Crock Pot Recipes – Simple And Delicious Crock Pot Recipes For The Whole Family

By: John Web Length:  113 pages (estimated) Category: Cook Books

Simple And Delicious Crock Pot Recipes 44+ Crock Pot Recipes For The Whole Family BONUS: Get Free Recipes! Discover more than 44 delicious and satisfying Crock Pot recipes that the whole family is sure to enjoy. Each recipe calls for simple and easy to find ingredients, and beginner to intermediate level cooking skills. Start your day bright eyed and bushy tailed by preparing slow cooked breakfast dishes such as the broccoli and bacon quiche and peanut butter and jelly oatmeal that you can whip up the night before. Warm up your tummies with savory soups, stews, chowders, and chilis, such as the classic chicken soup and the bacon and corn chowder. For lunches and dinners, you no longer have to spend so much time in the kitchen. All you need to do is throw together the ingredients for your main course. Choose from a variety of slow cooked beef, lamb, pork, poultry and seafood dishes. Of course, everyone in the family needs to have their everyday serving of vegetables. Stir together a medley of vegetables in your Crock Pot that even the kids will love! Last but not the least, dig your forks into Crock Pot desserts apple bread pudding and carrot cake. Who says you cannot slow cook your sweets?

Download on Kindle

What’s up in Bard books!

Books

Be the message: taking your faith beyond words to a life of action

Book Number: DB80615 By: Shook, Kerry; Shook, Chris. Reading time: 6 hours, 8 minutes. Read by Gregory Gorton. Category:  Religion

The authors present their views on applying the Christian gospel in intention and action as well as words and sermons. Biblical context is provided for the authors’ message, as well as examples of how this approach has affected both their faith and their daily lives. Bestseller. 2014.

Download from bard

Now I see you: a memoir

Book Number: DB80131 By: Kear, Nicole C. Reading time: 8 hours, 17 minutes. Read by Celeste Lawson. Category: Disability

Kear, diagnosed at age nineteen with retinitis pigmentosa, shares her struggles with acceptance of the condition and the risks and adventures she engaged in during her twenties. Describes falling in love and having children, and how she focused on them before admitting to having RP. Strong language. 2014.

Download from bard

The constant gardener: a novel

Book Number: DB51467 By:Le Carre?, John. Reading time: 18 hours, 17 minutes. Read by David Hartley-Margolin. Category: Suspense Fiction

After his young wife Tessa’s murder in Kenya, British diplomat Justin Quayle investigates her death and the disappearance of her African colleague. He eventually discovers that Tessa had uncovered a scheme involving a multinational pharmaceutical company that unethically tests drugs on the local populace. Strong language. Bestseller. 2001.

Download from bard:

From the corner of his eye

Book Number: DB51274 By: Koontz, Dean R, (Dean Ray). Reading time: 23 hours, 25 minutes. Read by Chuck Benson. Categorys:  Suspense Fiction

Junior Cain feels rejuvenated after pushing his beloved bride to her death, but he senses enemies in a spooky cop and a boy named Bartholomew. As Cain ruthlessly seeks Barty, the gifted boy uses quantum physics to overcome his blindness. Violence, some descriptions of sex, and some strong language. Bestseller. 2000.

download from Bard

Fast food nation: the dark side of the all-American meal

Book Number: DB51561 By: Schlosser, Eric. Reading time: 13 hours, 34 minutes. Read by Randy Atcher. Category:  Diet and Nutrition, Social Sciences

An expose? of the fast-food industry, revealing its dubious production techniques, marketing strategies, and exploitation of workers. Deplores the industry’s indifference to health problems it has fostered (obesity, food-borne disease) and criticizes its role in the spread of global corporate culture. Suggests solutions to the “McDonaldization of America.” Bestseller. 2001.

Download from bard

Remember me

Book Number: DB50471 By: Sala, Sharon. Reading time: 8 hours, 39 minutes. Read by Sharon Murray. Category:  Romantic suspense fiction

Construction worker Clay LeGrand’s wife, Frankie, disappears on their first anniversary, and Denver police assume Clay killed her. Two years later, Frankie appears in their house, with evidence of a concussion and no memory of having been gone. Some explicit descriptions of sex, some violence, and some strong language. 1999.

Download from bard

Aretha: from these roots

Book Number: DB49374 By: Franklin, Aretha; Ritz, David. Reading time: 7 hours, 19 minutes. Read by Mary Kane. Category: Music Appreciation and History,  Biography of Musicians and Composers

Hoping to set the record straight about her life, Franklin tells of her childhood, the noted performers she grew up around, the mistakes she made in business and in love, the honors she has received, and her recent enrollment in the Juilliard School of Music. 1999. Download from bard

Shania Twain

DB49365 by:McCall, Michael. Reading time: 4 hours, 45 minutes. Read by Mary Ann Nichols. Category:  Biography of Musicians and Composers,  Music Appreciation and History

Biography of the Canadian country-pop singer-songwriter who, after an unspectacular 1993 debut album, gained widespread fame and awards with her second album, which was expensively produced by her now-husband Robert Lange. Details such controversies as the dismissal of her manager and Twain’s initial claim of being Native American. 1999.

Download on bard

What’s up in bard magazines

Sports Illustrated

date: (March 30, 2015) Reading time: 7 hours, 10 minutes. Read by Mark Ashby.

Download from bard

Talking Book Topics

Date: (March-April 2015 Volume 81, Number 2) Reading time: 4 hours, 46 minutes. Read by Mark Ashby; Maria Pino.

Download from bard

Smithsonian

Date: (February 2015)

Download from bard

People

Date: (March 30, 2015) Reading time: 2 hours, 10 minutes. Read by Joanne Giaquinta.

Download from bard

The New York Times Book Review

Date:(March 22, 2015) Reading time: 4 hours, 8 minutes. Read by Gary Telles; Mary Kane.

Download from bard

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